Mr_Aestheticz

My name is RJ Perkins, I am a IFPA Professional Natural Bodybuilder looking to make a name and leave a mark in the world of all natural bodybuilding. Before I began my journey and my quest in natural bodybuilding I played numerous sports growing up as a kid beginning with baseball at the age of 5, I also picked up and played basketball and football. As I got older into my teenage years I was more passionate and focused towards football that I made it my priority sport when I got to high-school. I achieved great heights and achieved many awards that I got picked up and played at Springfield College. During my four years there I played varsity for all four of those years, I rotated my freshman and sophomore year and was a full time starter my junior and senior year. I was an all conference linebacker my senior year and during my time in college is where my love and passion for lifting came about. Post graduation from college I tried out for a few arena football teams and leagues and never made the cut, I was picked up by my home states semi-pro football team and played for one season.
I began bodybuilding in January of 2008 being I felt I was not progressing with football. I was always constantly in the gym and found myself becoming a regular and needed a new challenge, so after much research, reading, experimenting, and so forth I began my quest into bodybuilding at the beginning of a new year to start fresh. I told myself that year I wanted to compete in my first show, I was a bit lost as I was doing everything on my own and truly knew nothing much about the sport besides I wanted to be the best at it. I continued to research competitive organizations for natural athletes and came across one with nation wide shows and was highly reputable which was the OCB. I saw that there was a show in a town an hour away from my hometown and was in September 2008 which gave me 8 months to prep and get ready for. I had a very short offseason and jumped right into prep. I dieted for 20 weeks using a diet I found online which basically had everything from A-Z laid out.
I went back to school during this time as well to obtain my personal training certification is where I met a guy who is now a close friend by the name of Tony. After talking with him in and out of class we realized we shared a common interest, I was getting ready for a show and he was a competitor himself, I asked him for his help and assistance and could not have ran into a greater person. He taught me everything I needed to know about posing along with other diet tips and lifting techniques. When the show came around I was truly afraid but in the end was a phenomenal experience especially being I had won both of my divisions I had competed in and won the best posing award. Ever since that show I was bit by the big and knew this is what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
After that show I relocated and moved down to Raleigh, NC in November 2008 where I began my new personal life. I landed a job as a personal trainer and truly loved it, unfortunately the gym was shut down but landed another job working in a corporate setting doing what I did prior in CT. I took a good year and a half off focusing on becoming a better and smarter athlete. I did a lot of experimenting with training and dieting until I discovered what works best for me and my body. As I made my gains and made my improvements I began to get that itch to compete again, I knew that I wanted to achieve great heights in this sport and after speaking with my girlfriend and family I decided the next show I competed in I was going to go for my IFPA pro-card. One of my favorite things to say is