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About Me

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Name.....Nigel Taylor
Birthdate.....10/10/1964
Birthplace.....Derby, England, UK
Hometown.....Chesterfield, England, UK
Current Address.....Round Rock, Texas, USA
Height.....6'
Weight.....220 lb.

Part 1 - My interest in the Gym - How it all began

One typically cold rainy night in Chesterfield England way back in 1980 i was feeling very bored, flicking through the only
three TV channels we had (BBC1, BBC2 & ITV) hoping to find something entertaining when a documentary called
`Pumping Iron` came on, not knowing anything about this i decided it may be worth watching, so i settled down and was
completely shocked by the size of these `monsters` filling my small TV screen, after about 15 minutes i realized these were
real people and not some camera or computer enhanced figures. Right from that moment i knew i was destined to become
a `Gym Rat` for life!

Immediately after the show ended i called my friend who had also been watching equally impressed, after a few minutes of
telling each other "Did you see the size of that guy?, and what about that Arnold character with the weird last name?" we
both agreed on a time and set off the next morning to a sports store in the local town center to purchase a cheap weight set
(plastic sand filled weights)-well, they seemed good at the time!

In our eagerness we hadn`t considered how we were to get them home. Since neither of us could drive at that time we had
to walk the 5 miles home carrying a 100lb. weights set! After a few very hard & long hours we finally got them home by which
time we were both so tired and sore we didn`t start working out for another week!......And that`s how it all began.

Part 2 - Mum`s Kitchen

So, six months later I’m training like crazy, seven days a week sometimes twice a day! (impressive eh?) Constantly waking
up the next morning unable to move because i`m so sore through over training No-Pain-No-Gain right?, i`m quite proud of
the fact that i`m able to get rid of the soreness each day just in time to hit the weights again! No thought to any kind of diet,
eating everything in sight and drinking lots of beer at the weekends, dressed in muscle shirts everywhere i go showing off
those tiny biceps to anyone who is crazy enough to look!

Of course I’m not making any gains and have no idea why-but by now I’m totally obsessed with the weights, like a drug I
must have my fix of iron (yes I have progressed from the plastic sand filled ones to real iron weights-and no I didn’t walk
home 5 miles with these-I ordered them from a catalog along with a lightweight bench) I’m working out in the kitchen now
(my gym) with dad spotting me on a 150lb. bench press, this is getting hard work as dad isn’t sure he can lift this-come to
think of it I’m not sure I can either!

Now this really isn’t an ideal situation…to have to carry all the equipment from a closet, set up the bench and all the weights
(a workout in itself)! Work out, then put them all back again in the closet afterwards, and all the time we are keeping mum
out of her kitchen. This goes on for a further two years with very little gains to show for my efforts, then I finally see the
light......I really need to join a gym.

Part 3 - The Gym with no Name

This is great- a real gym with real bodybuilders working out there. In fact it’s an old Doctor`s surgery that someone has
turned into a gym with very old equipment, some of which is home made! The gym has no name and comes complete with
a hole in the roof above the leg press machine.

Now winter in England is no joke as it’s freezing and always seems to be snowing on leg day. Each time I emerge from the
leg press in a light covering of snow! I love this place-it has real character and I’m still working out almost everyday with of
course no gains to show for my pains (plenty of pains at this point).

One day I get lucky and meet the owner-a real genuinely great guy who informs me I’m over training and need to cut back to
three sessions a week if I really want to develop muscle and strength, and also pay attention to my diet. I never considered I
was doing too much and being a `gym addict` now I’m worrying about what I will do on my four days off . But I take his word
for it and do as he says, and like magic I start developing muscles without the previous pain-now I’m experiencing a nice
soreness that isn’t severe.

I’m getting to train with lots of experienced people now all offering great advice, and I’m in the best shape since I started
and start to realize the mistakes I made in the beginning. Two years later the owner moved to another part of town and
opened a fantastic gym! Much more modern equipment, bigger building, a name and no holes in the roof! (and still going
strong today) On my four days off i`m studying about various aspects of everything associated to the gym-correct form,
nutrition, cardio etc etc.

By this time it`s four years since I first started working out. I have a great training program, and for the first time I really know
what I’m doing in a gym, in fact to the extent that I’m now a certified personal trainer!

Part 4 - The End - A Serious Message

This is the final part of my story, the part that has the serious message that I want to get over to anyone who may be thinking
of starting out lifting weights….I don`t claim to know everything, but from my own experiences and mistakes I feel that I`m
qualified to offer some serious advice.

The first three years-or-so I pretty much wasted by throwing myself head first into this without any serious thought behind
what I was doing-it was very much trial and error (mainly error I must admit)! All this pain and wasted time could have been
avoided if i`d have thought to seek the help of a good trainer to start me out on the correct path. But then again, looking back
now some twenty plus years ago I`m glad to have made these mistakes because it really makes me aware of how a client
is feeling when first coming to me for help, and I`m very happy to guide them away from that kind of start I made. I know first
hand the `No-Pain-No-Gain` attitude can be a very dangerous guide to follow and certainly know what it feels like following
this style of training.

Present Day - I have now swapped the cold weather in England for the hot weather in South Texas! After working for one of
the `Big name` gyms I have now found the perfect place to work. As an independent trainer I feel I`m more able to work on
my own style rather than training like everyone else.

So basically, if you come to me as a client you will be getting well over twenty years experience and I will be more than
happy to give you value for money and really help you to the best of my ability to help you bring the best out of yourself
without over doing it, and to reach your fitness goals, but to first start you out on the correct path.

Well I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed telling it - I know a lot of it sounds funny, but it also carries a
very important message about safety and starting off in the correct manner. NIGEL TAYLOR

Me & my 15lb. Cat `Pretty` May 2008