I am from Australia have background in fine art from university and became interested in strength training and body building as a result of figure drawing. I've Lurking for a month or two reading about different systems and finally thought I should sign up. The HOPC community seemed to be a great community who have a wealth of experience without the hype that is usually found in the fitness industry.
I think I first came into contact with physical culture is probably rather different to most. I had been reading 19th century works influenced by François Delsarte and looking at how his poses and exercises could be applied to poses for the visual arts. This brought me into contact with early physical culture proponents and eventually Sandow and Maxick. I am not a huge fan of the products of contemporary professional body building but that is probably just an artistic preference but I do have a great respect for their dedication and commitment.
I had always been fairly athletic and gone to the gym with friends who were serious about body body building but many things had put me off from being serious about strength training. I recently started muscle control through the Maxalding course with basic calisthenic exercises which I hope with be a good foundation after a few months to progress to further training routines. I think David has done a great service putting all these materials in together in one library and the information on this forum has been great to compare different methods and get tips on training
