Whether you are a pro bodybuilder or simply training at home, everyone has a "first day in the gym." And, if you ask anyone who trains how he/she was inspired, you will always get a different story.

I saw my first bodybuilder when I was 13. His name was Danny. I couldn't take my eyes off him. I had never seen such big muscles before. He would wear a tank top and shorts and every muscle seemed to burst out of his skin. He was from California and he came back to Iowa to visit his family every summer.

When I was about 15, I started looking at the magazines and noticed more and more bodybuilders. My first real love of bodybuilding came when Bob Paris was on the scene. I thought he was perfectly sculpted. He had a small waist and bubbly muscles...perfect, I thought. At the time, Tonya Knight was also an up and coming female bodybuilder. I would cut out the pictures from the muscle magazines and make a little collage on hard posterboard.

I wouldn't see my first bodybuilding show until I was 26. The following year, I entered my first bodybuilding show.

Although, I would tell you I am a doctor first and a bodybuilder second, there is no doubting my passion for both of these disciplines. There are a lot of factors that determine how successful you are at bodybuilding. Training with weights, doing cardio on a daily basis, as well as following a specialized nutrition plan are the obvious factors. But, I will not forget the help I got along the way from family and friends. I hope that I have told them enough that if they are reading this right now, they would know who they are and feel the big hug I just gave each of them!

To my readers who have never experienced a "first day in the gym," I urge you to try it on for size. I think you will find that it fits just right!