Impact-Site-Verification: -1666083998
My name is Dave, and I have been bodybuilding since I was about 15 years old. I was a skinny kid, and my parents bought me a 110-lb barbell set made of plastic-covered cement plates. If you grew up in the 1970s, you may remember these!
I played around with my weight set off and on for a few years without any real plan or routine, but I did become familiar with the basics.
As I got older, I began reading all the bodybuilding magazines I could find, like Joe Weider’s Muscle & Fitness (Muscle/Power back then), Strength and Health, and any others I could access.
It wasn’t until I was 19 that I joined a gym and went there every day after school (I was commuting to Lincoln Technical Institute for Electronics Technology) that I began to build muscle. People started noticing, and someone (a popular older student) tried to recruit me for a softball team for the first time in my life! It was the first time I realized how I looked made people think I was strong and athletic!
I found the older, bigger men at the club I joined in Allentown, PA, were not arrogant “muscleheads” but genuinely nice guys who often took the time to give me tips and encouragement. I worked out regularly for a few years and was happy with the results.
I have been bodybuilding on and off ever since (mostly on), and have been an avid reader of Flex, Muscle and Fitness, Ironman and Muscular Development magazines for decades.
I am now 57 years old and probably in the best shape. I work out at least four times weekly, hitting each muscle group once weekly with high-intensity workouts. I am also an avid bicyclist, which, to some degree, is at odds with bodybuilding. Most cyclists try to minimize body weight to cycle faster and climb hills. I refuse to drop body weight if it means losing muscle! I do my best at both disciplines and am content to be “pretty good” at both!
I am a massive advocate of protein supplements, primarily due to their convenience and consistency of quality. I eat a lot of red meat, chicken, and fish, but I ALWAYS have a protein shake first thing in the morning, after every workout (weight or cycling), and last thing before bed.
It has taken me years to create this website, and I hope the information it contains helps you reach your muscle-building goals!
Dave