The enigmatic John Keating.

Thank you for the warm welcome.
Up to age 18 I played sports, cycled and ran cross country (badly). At 18 I was 8 and a half stone (about 53kg/115lb). I started doing push-ups, chins and sit-ups for about six months; then I got Arnold’s ‘Bobybuilding for Teens‘ from the library and started doing weights in a gym in town.
I mixed Arnold with Stuart McRobert’s ‘Hardgainer‘ approach and started training twice a week – focusing on the powerlifts. That worked well for the next 6 years (I got to eleven stone of pure muscle).
Then I blew my ACL. I spent five years running, cycling, swimming and doing yoga; before I said “Lets lift again like we did last summer”. It took a couple of years to kick back in and I discovered the fitness world was filled with wonderful gurus; notably Pavel, Dan John and Paul Wade. Now I deadlift to the max (140kg at 70kg bodyweight), do regular kettlebell and calisthenics work and have lifetime goal of deadlifting with 5 plates on either side. I’d also like 15 clean chins, 60 push ups in a minute, 200x24kg kb snatches in ten mins, 5 handstand wall push ups; and focus on health rather than muscle.

Cheers John, appreciated.