I started lifting when my Mom bought me my first York barbell set when I was 16 yrs. old; I had wanted to train in the martial arts but my Dad was afraid that I would get injured (he had a friend that lost a testicle during sparring). So, after I followed the York "system" (a sheet of 24 exercise) I started reading Muscle and Fitness, Flex, Muscular Development to try to understand what I was doing...
As I got older I started learning more about nutrition and more intensive training techniques. I tried working with personal trainers (which I still do from time to time b/c you can always learn from people better than you!)... I even went as far as getting my accreditation with CANFit Pro as a ceritifed Personal Trainer!

I love the feeling that I can do anything (physically, mentally, spiritually) as long as I take care of my self! I love knowing that I am in a special group of individuals that love challengine themselves and helping others - this is not the narcissitic sport that the general population thinks it is...