How I Got Started, My Inspiration and Where I Wanted To Be.
I was always an active kid, playing every sport known to man. I was one of those annoying kids that never was able to sit still for too long and even now sitting through a film still proves difficult (even a good one).
So you get the picture, I was always active and loved running around blah blah blah.
BUT,
Where did the idea of training come about at such a young age? Rather than just doing it for fun and playing football, tennis or rugby with my pals? Well this is where the legend that is my Grandad comes in to it.
Unfortunately my Dad past away when I was just a toddler so my Grandad had always been the father figure in my life.
He did an amazing job if you ask me, I mean look how well I turned out :-)
My Grandad was a huge presence of a man, 6ft 2, broad shoulders and hands like shovels. Even into his 70's, he was incredibly strong. As a kid I was in awe of him and still am to this day. I wanted to grow up to be just like my Grandad - big, strong and to have a presence.
I was 8 years old and at this point I was a huge Jean Claude Van Damme fan. I mean, not only did this guy have an awesome physique but he could kick some a***. I remember watching one of his films where he was training for an upcoming fight, I saw him lifting weights and doing press ups, star jumps and pull ups. I turned to my grandad and asked him if I could have some weights just like that, he looked at me blankly for a bit and then said, "wait there".
He returned a minute later with 2 tins of baked beans in his hands. "When you can curl these 50 times you can have some weights", he said. I gave him a look like the little gangsta I thought I was and said "Grandad, that's easy, I could do that now". "Go on then", he replied.
So, I took my stance and proceeded to curl the baked bean tins with just the ease I expected to. 28, 29 and 30 I counted out load with a victorious look already on my face.
But wait... I got to rep 35 and all of a sudden my arms were burning like crazy and I started to slow down, my grandad then got all army like on me and told me off for not fully extending my arms at the bottom. He then said that the reps, that I didn't fully extend on, didn't count. I got to 42 and that was me done. My Grandad smirked and told me to get practicing if I wanted the dumbells I had asked for. I threw a wobbly as I hated the fact I had failed, I asked if I could have the dumbbells anyway as I tried so hard but my Grandad was having none of it.
I am, and always have been, very stubborn. I went away and I trained my little arse off, well I kept curling the baked bean tins as often as I could aiming for the 50 every time. I remember even at that age liking that pumped feeling and also the satisfaction of pushing through the muscle burn, it was quite addictive for me even then. Then a couple of weeks later, I was in the kitchen at home and I had done it, I had done the 50 reps, I was over the moon and leaping around the kitchen. BUT WAIT, no one was there to see me do it, how could I prove to my Grandad I had done it? I called him immediately and yelled down the phone, "I have done it I have done it". To my surprise, he told me I could have the dumbbells. "I didnt think you were going to believe me", I said, to which he responded "you couldn't fake that excitement, plus I know you wouldnt lie to me".
The following week my Grandad presented me with a pair of 3kg light blue dumbbells that he had bought from a car boot sale for 50p. I was over the moon with them and could not wait to get started with them. But of course, I was 8 and if I was to do this and train just like Jean Claude Van Damme then I had to look the part. So I got a pair of jogging bottoms and cut them to the knee, I used 2 of my nans tubie grip bandages to cover my ankles and one of my grandads ties to wrap around my head. I then proceeded to replicate the moves he was doing in the film I mentioned earlier. I was sweating like mad and getting really tired but I was loving it.
So here it is. This is where it all started for me, at the age of 8 I found inspiration in my Grandad's appearance, his physical strength and his supportive influence and I had an idol in a film star who was everything I wanted to be.
The next post in the series covers how I never lost the craving to better myself and how I advanced from 3kg dumbells from the car boot sale to a far more serious and disciplined training and diet regime.
Hope you enjoyed my little insight here and look forward to sharing the rest of my journey with you.
Matt
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