I started bodybuilding because I just wanted to get bigger. I think it’s mostly about pushing yourself and lifting more than your friends is a huge motivator. Personally, I just find the process fun. Especially PRing, which means lifting a new maximum weight or number of reps for a certain weight, getting better, and seeing yourself improve — those are the moments that push me to keep working out. Right now, I train here at Irvington during athletic P.E., but I also used to train at the gym 24 Hour Fitness. My favorite exercise is the bench.

One thing I really like about the gym is the atmosphere. The people are really welcoming, and it’s a good space to be in. Hanging out with your friends at the gym is just fun in general. For my training plan, I usually do push, pull, legs. That means that I typically go to the gym three days a week. Hitting legs is the most difficult part of the training for me. Something that people might not know about bodybuilding is that there’s no specific ideal rep range for exercises. When you’re doing an exercise, you can do however many reps you want. But the most important thing is that you have to train to failure. Nutrition wise, I pretty much just try to stay away from junk food. As far as my bodybuilding goals, I used to be more focused on staying lean, but now I’m trying to gain more weight, which means starting  to bulk.

Another thing I think people should know about bodybuilding is that you definitely have to be patient to see progress. You have to be consistent, and show up every day. If you keep thinking, ‘oh, I don’t have the time for the gym,’ then you’re never going to have time. You have to make time. It doesn’t take that long to get a workout in. It’s really just around an hour per session, and you do that around three times a week – that’s just three hours. Nothing’s going to happen overnight. You have to be willing to trust your plan, even when you’re not noticing any progress, because you will see improvement eventually.