JWTraining athlete Dan Marashi recaps his year and reflects……..

This year I competed three times in what can be described as a mediocre performance in every one of these contests.  I finished third place, then fourth place, and then finished out of the top four in the contests respectively.  In other words, going by my placing, I got worse as the year progressed.

So what went wrong?  Dunno.  Is it because I’ve been battling illness and recovering from surgery through the year?  Don’t think so.  Judging by the photos I don’t think it effected my bodybuilding too much – at least not how I looked anyway, although I will admit that it was more of a struggle than I ever let on to anyone.  But the fact is that bodybuilding is a sport (if you call it a sport – it’s debatable) in which the winner is picked by a panel of judges based on what they like best.  Without any concrete criteria, there is no definite scoring system.  It’s as bad as a beauty contest really to be honest.

As for plans for the future, I really don’t know about competing.  I’ve just started a new diet and training programme in an attempt to grow and gain size.  I literally spent the whole of this last year staying super lean and in contest condition, and in doing so didn’t give myself any chance to grow bigger.

But while achieving growth is my goal, it certainly isn’t my reason for training – I work out because I get a kick off the natural high it gives you.  It is this incredible feeling that I want to be able to share with people.  I’d encourage anyone to work their muscles and get that blood flowing – whether you get a pump by lifting weights, doing push ups, running, whatever you do, just get active, because that high you get is far superior to anything drugs will ever give you!  You could say my plans for the future are to motivate and inspire people to achieve their fitness goals – I don’t think you can understand how much more fulfilling and enriching your life will be!