Tonight was my last gym session at my current gym. I have been going to that gym for two and half years.

I started off at home training with no knowledge at all on lifting or nutrition. I just did the basics exercises at home. This consisted of curls, shoulder press, sit-ups, Press-ups, pull-ups and a few other light exercises. I eventually joined a gym and then started again from scratch.

Over the first year I got to learn the basics of what to do with the weights and also what exercises would work which muscle. I took the powerlifting route to start, as it was much easier to stick to in the gym, due to the lack of facilities needed to really isolate the individual muscle groups.

The second year I started to understand a little more of what to do to work each muscle group. I spent a lot of time looking for knowledge to help me progress in and out the gym. I trained on my own for a good part of the time I was at the gym, although this year I have had a training partner.

Having a training partner who has the same goals as yourself can be a big benefit in the gym. You can go past your comfort zones knowing you are safe, as-well-as training beyond failure with help on the last rep or two. You could do drop sets if you don’t have a partner though, they are also good from my experience.

What now?

Sunday I will be going to sign up at the new gym. The first few weeks are going to be quite difficult till we settle in. Once settled in, I hope that I can continue to push as hard as possible and have my best year yet.

Talking about progress. I have pictures from when I first started lifting and every time I take a picture I compare it to my last. In my head, every picture has been a positive progress from the picture before. I have been very proud of comparing my new pictures to my old pictures and comparing the two, to see what has changed.

When I compare my pictures from mid 2012 to mid 2013, I can see a good change in size. Looking back now, I can see just how much fat I still had to lose. I know I still have a lot of fat to lose now, but fortunately I have no where near as much as I did this time July 2013. I still have the same strength as what I had in August, just my weight is close to a stone lighter now. Side by side pictures show how much fat I had covering me just a few months back.

I am in bulking mode at the moment and will be till March. Then I will cut until I have slightly visible abs. That is my aim for summer and a seriously big aim for me. I will report back on this later in the year…

Why do I even care?

Passion. It’s that simple! I love watching bodybuilding DVDs, reading book, studying the body, training, bettering my diet, resting and so on. I have never found it a chore and simply love everything about what I do. I even love blogging stuff like this! Once I get my free time at night, this is what I want to be doing.

I just simply love what I am doing!

It’s easier when driven by passion…