Day 12 : Nick Auger

Okay, one last photo from my earliest memories of wanting to get in shape.  This one is Nick Auger, and I never knew anything more about him than that I saw him here and there on the internet and workout magazines.

 

Day 11 : Joe Pride

The amazing physique of Joe Pride from the early 2000's.  I may never have pecs and abs like that, but I'm sure going to try!
 

Day 10 : Jake Campione

All-American Guys model Jake Campione.  I remember being in awe of abs like that.  Well, I still am, but twenty years ago all I was doing was wishing.  Now I'm working on it.

Day 9 : Rusty Joiner

Another of my earliest inspirations, Rusty Joiner.  I saw him in workout magazines long before I ever knew his name, and wanted to be built like that.  Sadly I spent more time wishing I could look like that than actually doing anything about it.  For kicks, you can see him in Dodgeball on Ben Stiller's team.

Day 8 : Ryan LeBar

Another of my earliest inspirations, model Ryan LeBar.  In the early 2000's we actually communicated about working on some video projects together, but none of them came to anything and I haven't heard from or about him in over a decade.  I did a simple search on Facebook and found several people with his name, but none had a profile picture that looked like Ryan Plus 20 Years.  None of which matters, because you came here to be inspired, and Ryan's photos were very inspiring to me as a new lifter looking to lose weight and make something good out of my body.

Day 7 : Mark Dalton

 

Another of my earliest inspirations, model Mark Dalton.  I remember wanting to be built like that so bad.  So bad that all I ever did was sit and wish I could be built like that instead of doing something about it.

Day 6 : Rob Sager

 

Muscle model Rob Sager was one of the earliest inspirations I knew by name, back when the internet was new (at least in my parents' home where I was still living).  God only knows what they thought if they found this photo in the history browser, but for me it was a big mental boost for doing something with my overweight body.

Day 5 : Aaron Yoder, Andrew Yoder

The last and perhaps most long-lasting inspirations that I got to meet in person: Aaron Yoder (blue) and Andrew Yoder (red).  These twin brothers were big into bodybuilding in 2006 at the age of 18.  They took it up together, they worked out together, they jogged together, they were an inseparable unit.  Andrew passed away in April of 2019 when he was working atop a construction crane in Seattle that collapsed.  I was only in his presence for about 6 days of my entire life, but I miss his friendship.

Day 4 : Matt Recknagel

Personal trainer Matt Recknagel of Michigan, and another guy I got to meet and work with in 2006.  Unfortunately I was never able to finish his DVD, but spending three days creating the video footage was another big boost to my own fitness pursuits.

Day 3 : Jason Borish

In 2006 I got the first significant motivation for getting in better shape.  I met and worked with Jason Borish on a fitness motivation DVD as part of what I hoped at the time would be a larger career in fitness media.  The career didn't pan out, but I'm in a lot better shape today than I was in 2006, and Jason is one of the reasons why.
 

Day 2 : Lazar Angelov

I spent many years of my life wishing.  Even now I'm not where I want to be, so there's no place for sitting back and thinking, "Man, I wish I looked like him!"  Either hit the gym or pick a different life goal!

A New Year, A New You

If you're reading this, you made it through the most unusual year of this generation and it's time to start fresh.  It's true that the new year is just a point in time and space that mankind created for tracking the cycles of life activity, but let's use its psychological impact to start or restart that fitness mindset and make the next 365 days a time of great growth and transformation!