Andrew Merrifield

Chronicle of 1984

Los Angeles The 23rd Olimpic Games open. Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean skated off with the Olympic Gold for ice dancing. Navratilova wins her fifth Wimbledon. Carl Lewis won Gold at the Olympics in the long jump and sprint relay. Andrew Merrifield Turns on the TV and is totally mesmerized by The Incredible Hulk and from that day forth, the dream started to build.

"I clearly remember going into a large newsagent with my grandma and her offering to buy me a comic. That was the point at which I saw my first ever copy of Flex which was carrying a picture of Louis Ferringo accompanied by the title ‘The Incredible Hulk’. I remember my grandma saying “don’t be silly, you don’t want a bodybuilding magazine” and if it hadn’t been for the The Incredible Hulk, I’m sure she wouldn’t have bought the magazine. I still have the magazine to this day, but unfortunately the cover is not attached.

The Hulk was my hero to the extent that I would draw his muscles onto my body with green felt tip pen. I clearly remember scratching the silhouettes of pecs and abs on my body until it was red raw then I would pose in the mirror. The Rocky series was also a big influence. I used to watch the videos and then imagine myself as Rocky and put my big red boxing gloves on and punch (well shadow punch) until I could no longer breath.

So it was going to be either boxing or bodybuilding and I chose bodybuilding. Even when I was at school I remember being dedicated. Whilst friends would cue at the ice cream van, I would come prepared with chicken drumsticks for the break times.

These childhood memories serve to remind me of the passion I had even at that young of an age. I guess that we all have images from our childhood that stay with us, and perhaps it’s not strange that a great number of mine relate to bodybuilding. I guess that what has happened since then in terms of the shows, training and lifestyle are all in some part a tribute to a man who turned green with rage and whose body transformed into an alien like phenomenon.
They say life can be strange sometimes..."