The man who contributed half of my DNA left my mother and me when I was 12 twelve years old. The woman he went to live with also had a son of my age and from that point on I barely heard from him again…
Up until then I had always been an average boy. My grades in school were not great but ok and most of the time I managed to stay out of serious trouble. But that changed dramatically. I became somewhat of a problem child, got mixed up with the wrong type of friends, my performance in school, if I even went, was horrible and because of my behavior they almost kicked me out. So after a year of me being a rebel, my mother decided to put me into a boarding school. I will never forget the day I first arrived there because incidentally it was September 11th 2001…I hated it. I hated the teachers, I hated all the other kids that were giving me a hard time for being the new guy, I hated school and the mandatory study hours, I hated having to share a bedroom with at least three other idiots and I especially hated the so called food they´d serve us down in the refectory. I had no friends within the institution. My only company was a constant feeling of solitude and burning home sickness…
I tried different sports to take my mind of these things. But team sports never really attracted me. I´ve always been a loner and wanted to depend on nobody else but myself. The boarding school had a tiny weight room with a bench, squat rack, a chin up bar, a couple of barbells and dumbbells and lots of weight plates. None of the other kids took interest in working out and therefore the place was in pretty bad shape. The air was moist down there, every piece of equipment was coated with rust, mold was growing in the upper corners of the ceiling and of course there was no AC or heater. Still, something about this place made me feel at home…
I was 15 at the time. 5`11at 121lb on a good day. I hated the way my body looked and felt, so I spend every minute of my free time down in my new found sanctuary. All alone, just me, my thoughts and the weights. I guess overcoming the challenge and the pain of lifting had some kind of a therapeutic or drug like effect on my mind. I was hooked…
Since then I payed my dues every day… Now I´m here.
After qualifying for pro status 3 times I finally turned pro in 2014. I haven’t made it to the Olympia stage yet. Placed a couple times at smaller shows but nothing worth mentioning, if you ask me.
Matt and I decided to change that and you are invited to follow alongside us…
