How I fell in love with Bodybuilding

Growing up, I stayed in pretty good shape. I played football during the Fall, which allowed me to bulk up. Then Spring time came, and I was on the soccer field cutting down. I had the best of both worlds!

Later on after marriage, kids, business startups, 9 to 5 jobs, and all that goes into adulting I woke up one morning to realize that I was 240 lbs. I was no longer that active kid, and seeing that number appear on the scale stimulated my eyes to open. I realized that fitness got shoved onto the back burner of responsibilities. For me, this did not sit well. I wanted to be a better example for my three children and my wife, family, and even my friends.

With a reignited zest for fitness, I found myself in the gym 5 days a week. I ran as well a couple of miles 3 to 4 times too. This season is when meal prepping was born. I began preparing food for myself and one of my friends, who I am still cooking for 5 years later. My first victory came 8 to 9 months into this new routine when I dropped from 240 lbs to 178 lbs. This change is where the real beginning of what we all know now as, Proper Prep Services.

Fast forward 4 years later, I was still thriving with a fitness life and Proper Prep Services was open to the public. While balancing my work, family, and fitness, gym buddies began asking me if I was trying to compete. I had no clue what they were talking about. I mean, I knew of bodybuilders such as Olympia and “The Arnold.” Me though? I would just laugh off their question stating “I am nowhere close to that.”

Then it happened. An ex-competitor not only told me about the NPC amateur bodybuilding, but took me under his wing. He showed me the ins and outs to train correctly as a bodybuilder. I originally started this competition journey as a marketing approach for Proper Prep Services. I saw it as giving the company more credibility. I could say “Bodybuilder Brian Likins designs and prepares all the meals”. Needless to say, this whole new outlook moved me to hire my coach Adam Andler, the owner of God’s of Iron Pro Gym in Columbus, GA.

I was now committed to an entire year of hard prep for my first show, but it only took 3 months before I fell in love with the process and culture. Bodybuilding took on a whole new meaning to me personally. I was now doing this for myself not just marketing for Proper Prep!

This journey was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done. From mental, spiritual, and emotional, right down to business, this transformation brought into my life so much personal growth. With a grateful heart, bodybuilding has brought about relationships filled with encouragement towards one another. It has given me the capacity to pay all that I have gained forward to others at the gym. There is not a day that goes by where I am not inspired by those sharing with me how my journey has impacted their personal transformation process and dedication to improving their quality of life.