I started working out with weights at 20, but I didn't really know what I was doing back then. Before that, I had a chinup bar at home and stayed athletic by playing sports, hockey, volleyball, soccer, and using plyometrics at home whenever I felt like it. I ran track when I was younger in Belarus, and did gymnastics for a few years. When I moved to the states I read a lot of Men's Health and Men's Fitness magazines and always wanted to be like the guys in the magazines, so I set a goal for myself to eventually get to be like those guys - since then, I've been on a cover of Exercise for Men magazine, had a centerfold in there as well as a 4 page workout routine, and Men's Fitness magazine, in which I had a 7 page workout spread. Like everyone else who first joins the gym, I stumbled around and jumped on any machine I saw. Being sore the next day to me meant I was doing everything perfect, haha. Eventually I started reading more fitness books and developing my own routines, and that is how my results started taking off, I wish I knew at 20 years old what I know now.

It makes me feel amazing, I love seeing the progress, how your body reacts to different workouts, how you look and feel after, everything!