My dad had a friend who had a friend who owned a warehouse not far from where we lived who needed someone part-time to help with his work there. The warehouse was used by a number of companies who were to small to have their own place but needed storage space.

The work was very hard. It required moving heavy boxes and equipment from trucks to storage and from storage to trucks. Though we had a couple of forklifts many times we had to physically pick them up and move them. When I started I was so out of shape and weak I could barely move anything. In fact Dad's friend didn't think he could use me.

I didn't really blame him. I was 5'8" and weighed in at 110lbs! I was skinny as a rail and weak, I had never played sports and never lifted weights. Mr. Smith did two things. One, he had the supervisor begin me with smaller items and he showed me his personal gym at the warehouse. He said he would pay me if I would put in an hour an half a day in the gym and then go to work in the warehouse. I agreed.

So for the first time in my life I was lifting weights. Mr Smith had been doing it for years and was very well built. I had never really even paid much attention to muscles but when he walked into the weight room the first time only in gym shorts I dropped my jaw. HE WAS HUGE! I felt very much out of place but he quickly got me comfortable by just talking and telling me I'd gain strength soon

Between the work in the warehouse and the weight lifting I was getting stronger. I could tell as it was getting easier and easier to move things around. After the first month I could tell a difference. I'll never forget that day I was off work and was standing around I crossed my arms and for the first time I could feel a hardness in my biceps I had never felt before. When I got home I hurried up to the bathroom where I took my shirt off and flexed my arms. Now what I saw got me all excited. A month earlier I had done the same thing and hadn't seen any movement on top of my arm, but now there was a bit of a bump!! I felt it and it was hard too. Though there wasn't much difference I could tell my body was getting harder all over too.

The next day I was working out with the boss when I told him of what I had discovered the day before. He asked me to show him so I did. A nice little bump rose up on my arm where before it had been flat. He reached over and felt it and said it felt hard too. That day he made some changes to my workouts. He also began to give me his protein shake. I had noticed he drank one before and after his workout.

Now when I said he was big and muscular I didn't really tell you what he looked like. He had told me he was 50, but looked like he was in his 30's. He wasn't tall, only a little bit taller than me but man was he built. That day he told me he had 19" arms, 52" chest, 32 waist...his legs were fantastic. He had very little body fat so they all showed through. I asked him how long he had been working out. He told me that he hadn't been doing it very long, only about a year. He had decided to when his Dr told him that if he didn't lose some weight and get some excercise that he wouldn't live much longer. At that point he had weighed in at 275, and only 5'8", and almost all that was fat.

I didn't believe him! He looked so good now. He told me the first months he worked out he went on a strict diet, worked up to an hour of cardio a day, and lifted weights. The fat had just melted off him and the muscle began to grow. But then he discovered his "protein" drink. It was a mix of herbs and some supplements that had done the trick. He said he had really began to put on muscle then.

Well, we continued to workout and he gave me his special drink. Almost immediately I could see a difference. But not only could I but so could my coworkers who were amazed at how I was growing. In a couple of months I had gone from 110 lbs to 130. Not a monster by any means but none of my clothes were fitting right, they had all gotten to tight. I started wearing muscle shirts like some of the other guys did. At first some of the guys ribbed me about it, butI think they cold see the difference too.

Summer came and I started working full time and working out five times a week with my boss. The guys couldn't believe how strong I was getting. One day I was moving some boxes and one of the guys asked if I knew how heavy they were? I said...probably around 25 pounds or so, he said, "No way man...look a the label, those are 100lbs each! Wow! I couldn't even push 100lbs before and now I was lifting them and moving them like they were nothing!

I kept up my workouts and lengthened them to an hour and a half each day and kept on working. In addition to this I was taking my bosses special protein shakes 2x a day and eating like a pig. My parent's couldn't believe in the change in their little boy. I was getting more muscular each day and getting stronger and stronger.

In August when school was starting my Mom got out my school clothes. All I had been wearing all summer were shorts and muscle shirts. Though I hadn't grown any taller none of my clothes for school fit me. There were some tshirts but they were tight on my chest and arms!

It was unbelieveable how much I had changed. Because I had worked all summer and worked out I hadn't really hung out with my friends. When I got to school the first day no one recognized me at first. It was in first period when the girl sitting next to me kept on staring and then said, "Hey....you're Jim! I didn't know you, what have you done to yourself?"

I just smiled and shrugged my beefy broad shoulders

When I got to gym class we had to change clothes. This used to be a horrible time of the day for me as I had been so skinny and weak. Now things were different. I slipped my shirt off and I could almost hear the gasp of disbelief. There I was, big chest, huge pecs, deep 6 pack, tiny waist. My arms which had been about 11" when I started working out were now 17 and hard. I had such low bodyfat that all of them stood out in relief on my body

When I took my pants off, there were my huge quads and calves, a big tearshaped muscle formed on my legs and my calves had a big split in them when I got on my toes flexing them.

I felt fantastic and got the stares all over the room. •