Brit-based, 27-year-old Sam Perrin rendered himself unrecognisable after gaining a physique-smashing 75 pounds of pure muscle and a rather dashing beard.
Hard-gainer Sam Perrin changed his entire life after breaking free from the constraints of self-doubt by piling on the pounds. “I felt insecure and weak; like everyone was better than me” begins Sam, as he starts to describe his pre-gym existence. “I was a typical mesomorph, very small and was scared of every other man” he says candidly. “I didn’t like myself and had nothing to be proud of.”
At 5’11” Perrin tipped the scales at a mere 130 pounds at the tender age of 21 and he became notorious in his hometown of Taunton for always sporting a jacket to hide his small frame, even in the height of Summer. With Arnie as his childhood hero he provided a stark contrast to the shadow he dreamed of casting.
A breakup with a girlfriend further exasperated Sam’s feeling of low self-worth and to add insult to injury, an altercation with his ex’s new partner, who dwarfed him physically caused a nasty concussion. “I hated myself even more after that, so I started boxing. I had some early success, but my heart wasn’t in it, so I tried my hand at MMA” he reveals. “I supplemented sparing with weights at the gym with a friend and started gaining a little bit of size.
“It was then I realized it was bodybuilding that was producing a visible difference to my physique.
I hated myself so much, and just wanted to be a normal size and look average and it was bodybuilding to create the opportunity to make this possible” he exclaims fervently “and so I rerouted my efforts towards the weights room.”
Sam’s journey to swole wasn’t without obstacles; “I was scared of every other man in the gym to begin with” he recalls. “I would wait until nine in the evening when the premises were dead, and always took a buddy for support.
If one evening they couldn’t make it, I wasn’t able to pluck up the courage to go alone.
“When I started seeing results, I felt like God’s gift” he chuckles
“I started going out and wearing nice clothes and being proud of my appearance” recalls Sam. “Not to mention, I finally found the confidence to wear a shirt without a jacket on!”
For the first five years into his training regimen Sam Perrin dabbled with a push/ pull split but was forced to take a more aggressive approach when he signed up to compete in his first bodybuilding show. Sam levelled-up with an uncompromising ‘bro-split’ that he perfected in his personal mecca of Sups Gym, focusing on one body part each session to allow for optimal recovery.
“Abs are my best asset despite never training them” he says, “but I hit them with lots of compound movements like squats.” Nearing the end of his competition prep, Sam incorporated cardio by utilizing the Stairmaster and treadmill to further decrease bodyfat, his sights set on a podium finish.
“The biggest struggle was working long eleven-hour shifts alongside being a family man and finding time to train for two and a half hours every day” says Sam. “The time constraints put a huge strain on my current relationship and I almost ended up single whilst preparing for the competition” he reveals sombrely.
The sacrifice was all worthwhile though as Sam explains: “Girls like me now I have more self-confidence, I feel more attractive, and I finally don’t feel like I’m the loser in the room” he says. “I’m no longer trying to blend in… now I want to stand out as the biggest guy in the room, I wanted to be the absolute best”
Check out the Man On A Mission: The Total Upper Body Workout.
