Since I first signed with AMI's Weider Publications in 2005, everything has turned to gold.

I despised basketball for a long time.

When you see me at the show, I'm smiling because I want you to know I can do this all day.

I would probably lose my mind if I wasn't busy. There's only so many video games I can play.

I began bodybuilding shortly after I watched a couple friends compete at a state show and thought it would be cool to try.

I definitely stay on top of my Vitamin C.

There were actually a couple of times I fell asleep at the gym on accident after a workout, but it was still late enough, so I went home and caught some sleep.

I train as smart as I can. I'm not concerned what others think. I do what works for me.

Front squats have really helped my quad development, especially when I was preparing for the Ironman.

All the normal lifts that bodybuilders do, we didn't do them in basketball.

It can be 10 people or thousands of people: I want them to see something special. I want them to say, 'I saw the best in the world at something,' and maybe that will inspire them to go do something in their life with the same vigor.

When I decided to become a bodybuilder, I actually marked down a date. It was Oct. 8, 2002. The rest is pretty much history. It was an amazing feeling to know that I had the potential to become a champion.

When I started out in the industry, I turned to magazines like 'Flex' and 'Muscle & Fitness' - the people on their covers were my inspiration.

I've done, on video, 150-pound dumbbells in each hand -I think it was, like, twenty two reps - on an incline.

I received a lot of criticism early in my career, but people didn't realize that I'd only been training for three years when I turned pro.

I believe that if you're able to eat as much as a bodybuilder is supposed to, you're probably not going to overtrain.

I believe you need to take enough rest to lift heavy weights, but if it takes you 5-10 minutes to rest and get psyched up for a big lift, I don't know if that's going to be good.

I've actually read that isolation is the enemy, so why do that to myself?

For me, I've always tried to be a stand-up individual.

There are days when I don't count sets at all, but then there are some days when I have to realize that I don't want to overwork because I still have an hour of cardio ahead of me or another training session later that day.

Prior to stepping on stage, I prefer to continue being myself, whether that is making jokes with others, talking about other non-bodybuilding topics, or just sitting around listening to music.

If you've noticed that dumbbells work better than barbells for you on the bench press, then why change that?

I want people to realize bodybuilders are athletes. We have a very meticulous philosophy on how we are able to gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously.

To keep winning, I have to constantly outdo myself.