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I am just curious - for all of you beginners, what made you begin your workout regimen? Something must have changed. What got you interested? Was it a friend or a co-worker? Was it your spouse? Was it purely yourself? What sparked the change?

the first time i ever lifted weights was senior year during volleyball season. we were working on getting stronger and more explosive.

freshman year in college, gym passes were cheap for students and it seemed to be what everyone did, and i was tired of being a skinny runt. one of my close friends helped to teach me about the things he had learned, and i slowly learned more as time went on.

my most recent regimen i started because i have gotten tired of listening to the guys at work give me shit about being the least fit guy in the gym, and i have been feeling like my weight and health aren’t where they were even just a year ago, when i was much happier with my physique and everything else. i had let myself slip a little while being caught up in work and life in general.

I was always into working out and staying active ever since i was a little girl…
 
I use to follow the abs roller videos in 6th grade, I saw my older sister use it and I guess i wanted to be a big girl to! 
 
I joined my first gym in 8th grade… My dad would drive my friend and i to bally total fitness and her dad would pick us up.  We liked the idea of looking fit and staying healthy…
 
I maintained the gym and played soccer, basket ball and track on my high school team.  Senior year i got really into taking classes and becoming part of the gym scene.  I had small group of friends attending classes which made me look forward to going every day!
 
It wasn’t until freshmen year in college were i got REALLY serious.  I saw a picture of Angela Mraz on the cover of oxygen magazine and i knew right then that i wanted to transform my body! I started researching about working-out, nutrition and supplements and entered my first figure show 6 months later.
 
This became a lifestyle were i enjoy eating healthy, working out and continually researching new concepts…
 

The first time i ever lifted was junior varisty football. And ever since then ive loved lifting weights. I did a lot of bench press and body building type workouts that got me big. I workout with football and then started workingout by myself after which wasnt as fun but i still enjoyed it.
Now i olympic lift and i love it. Its a great sport and is more than just being strong. It has a lot of different aspects to it that make it more enjoyable.

I got into it by watching it on tv during the olympics.

Watching the Super Stars and World Strongest Man Competitions and wanting to be like my idols, Bill Kazmaier and Brian Oldfield.

The thing that got me into lifting weights was really my parents. They were always telling me to get out of the house and be active, so I decided to try going to the weight room. Our high school football coach at the time was also the weight room guy, so, since he was a guy I looked up to I wanted to maek sure I showed him I was working hard. Little did I know that would change my life from that point on. Every week I was going to the weight room I Was gaining confidence and gaining strength. I couldn;’t have been happier. Also, my performance in all my sports started going up. What is there NOT to like about it?

 
 
what got you into watching super stars and world csrongest man comp???

 
That is awesome…Bill Kazmaier is possible the biggest legend in the STRENGTH sport game. Of course ARNOLD himself is the biggest “icon” in the game, but KAZ is he man. He was a powerlifter and strongman. The dude benched 300kg for 1 rep….and made it look extremely hard. He struggled and strained to get the crowd going, well, after he made it he just happened to do 2 more reps for an easy 661lb bench press x 3. Just another demo, just another training day. With REAL weights too, and RAW.
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In fact…He won Worlds Strongest Man 3x. So, what happened? They kicked him out of the competition after that and refused to let him compete. It was all politics, and who knows he might have won the competition 6 times. By the times they let him compete again he was too old and got beaten pretty badly by Jon Pall Sigmarsson (if I remember right).
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Mariusz Pudzianowski then took the helm of the greatest Worlds Strongest Man athlete ever - winning it 5x, with a runners up finsih as well. And a 3rd place finish that was taken away.
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I personally got into it because of JESSE MARUNDE. The late Jesse Marunde. He was so athletic and had so much chariasma. He was just a beast. I always wanted to be like him. RIP. I always tihnk about him. He made me want to lift weights and to TRAIN for somethiing.

it is interesting your idols are power lifters and not olympic lifters.. these seem like great role models!!!!
 
i am shocked they kicked Bill out.. how could that be allowed??
 
there is no rule aboutwinning multiple times?

It is pretty crazy to me - but none of the people I wanted to be like were top level strength athletes. Maybe it was because I wasn’t exposed to it as much. I just wanted to be like guys in my school (older high school kids) and the guys who ran the weight room. Well, I wanted to out lift all of the high school kids and ended up hating the weight room guy haha! But, you ge tmy point. I just didn’t watch a lot of powerlifting or weightlifting or anything.

mike.. there is nothing wrong with that… i didnt have an idol when i was a kid.. i just looked up to great athletes in my school and people who looked in shape..
 
you just lift to look good naked.. you are not an olympic lifter, power lifter ect.. you were good a sports and thats was your thing growing up! i am sure you had
 
did you have por athletes related to your sport who were your idols??

I really started working out when my told me that he thought I was getting fat I was 5’9” 155lbs maybe 160…my dad was 300+ and 5’8”
I knew I didn’t want to be like he was. That comment changed my life. I remember what I was doing ,what I was wearing and the workout I did that night. Amazing the power of words from someone you trust and love. That was 27 years ago and I never looked back and never stopped working out.

jim.. i loved your story.. i remember reading it in your transformation story!!
 
here is is!!!
http://www.muscledog.com/forum/TRANSFORMATION_STORIES_MEN/1385/TRANSFORMATION_STORY_J-
IM_BOYD.html#

I once heard a wise man say “If a man wants something he will FIND a way to get it. If a man doesn’t want something he will MAKE excuses on why he didn’t get it.” I started on this journey because I chose to begin on this journey, because I have a dream in mind!

Jared.. that is a great quote to live by,.. you are obviously a driven motivated individual!you will reach your goal for sure… keep up the great work.

 Jared you took the words out of my mouth yet again, I am in the position I am in now because I had a vision in my head how I wanted to live my life. When people ask how I’m doing I respond “living the dream” because right now as corny as it seems that’s exactly what I am doing. I am living my childhood dream out.

 
TOM! i love your statement… it is actually cute lol.. its your childhood dream and you are mkaing it come true.. not many people have childhood dreams and challenge them.. good for u!