Terry Proctor
I didn't know it at the time but I got into power-lifting in November 2017. At the time I was living in Suzhou, China and my wife had just signed up for a gym membership so she could take yoga classes.
I was out of shape (skinny-fat!), and signed up too. At the time the gym had punch bags and I wanted to carry on with my Muay Thai/kickboxing bag work that I had been doing previously. Then the gym decided to remove the bags, as kickboxing wasn't making any money. So I was forced to go downstairs and use the cardio/weights
Like almost everyone else I started doing cardio on the treadmills/bikes, and unsurprisingly I hated it. I saw that some of the other guys in the gym were using the weight machines and free weights and they weren't drenched in sweat. They were also the shape i wanted to be.
I then picked up some programs from muscle and fitness magazines (aka programs for gym bros). I tried them and didn't enjoy them them. They were too complex and I never felt I mastered and exercise
Then I found Stronglifts 5x5, and although I struggled with form I enjoyed the fact I could get good at simple movements and I could get strong fast!
Fast forward to 2020.
I live and train in Edinburgh, Scotland. I have started to compete and my first competition was in February (Deadlift only).
I took 7 months off from during the lock-down and did a lot of body-weight workouts at home.
Now I'm back in the gym and getting myself back to my former glory. I'm looking to compete as soon as I can as well!