Junior Haydon Stallsmith has been weightlifting since the start of his freshman year. Now, he is hardly seen outside the gym. 

“I just got obsessed with it,” Stallsmith said.

Stallsmith started working out because he was inspired by his family and other bodybuilders. At the beginning of his journey, he weighed 115 pounds and lifted at home.

“I started off in the shed; a little bench press, squat rack, and stuff like that,” Stallsmith said.

Even though it wasn’t much, it was enough to get him hooked. After continuously working out for six to eight hours a week with a huge appetite, Stallsmith now weighs 160 pounds.

“Haydon never stops eating,” Junior Tyler Dinh said.

Stallsmith eats so much because he is on a bulk. This is when someone puts on weight in order to increase the amount of mass and muscle they gain. Through this process, he has achieved personal milestones.

“I am most proud of hitting 225 on bench press and probably 375 on deadlift,” Stallsmith said.

Many have witnessed the impressive milestones and progress achieved by Stallsmith. 

“Haydon has a really strong passion for working out. He’s been doing it ever since high school started. There’s a lot that he wants to pursue, and he may make a career out of it,” Dinh said.

Things haven’t always been easy for Stallsmith, though, especially when he experienced an injury in his traps, a muscle group located between the neck and the shoulders. This prevented him from working out and stopped him from going to the gym for around a month. 

“Some days I don’t even want to go near equipment, but after looking back at old pictures and seeing steady progress of gaining size and strength is a big part of what motivates me,” Stallsmith said.

Even when being healthy, disciplined and motivated, the progress is what keeps him going. Many new gym goers stop working out because they don’t see progress right away. On the other hand, many just don’t know where to start. 

“Research about things you want to do: workouts, splits, nutrition, body type, and cardio. Research everything before you do it and then adjust and fix things as you progress, and focus on good form and eating clean,” Stallsmith said.

He finds it important for people to educate themselves beforehand. It may seem overwhelming to start weight lifting because of lack of experience or knowledge, fear of being judged, or insecurity in general. Stallsmith encourages people to start going to the gym, no matter where they are beginning.