In order to view more & full sized photos, click here My name is Perry Merlotti and I am a fitness enthusiast. I grew up in St. Louis, MO and when I was 15 I moved to a little country town called Dixon. Moving from a huge city to a little farming town was quite a change and when I arrived there I had no clue what I would do with my spare time. Since I've been playing soccer since I was about 4 years old, I decided to join the Dixon High School soccer team. I also played numerous sports throughout my life that included basketball, baseball, and soccer. These sports however didn't cut it for me and I needed something else. That is when I picked up my first set of weights and started to lift. Once I curled my first dumbbell I was hooked and my love for fitness skyrocketed. I attended Missouri Southern State University, which is in Joplin, MO. I am a Health Wellness and Promotion's Major and my Minor is Marketing and Management. I was going to play soccer for the MSSU lions but I decided to pick up a new sport, which was bodybuilding. I am the type of person that loves to give all I've got to whatever I do and I knew that if I played soccer I would not be dedicating all my effort to the team. So it was a pretty easy decision for me to make and that's why I took up bodybuilding and fitness as my new sport. I train at the YMCA down in Joplin, MO and if you are looking for me you will find me there in the gym dedicating my time and effort to bettering my body. I spend a lot of time bodybuilding but I also concentrate a lot on my grades. Also, I have high hopes and dreams of someday having my own fitness business of some sort and that is why I want to learn as much as possible and due my best in school. To simple put it, I love everything there is about fitness and wouldn't ever choose another career path then the one I have chose today. In the off-season, I due not do any cardio. My diet is pretty simple; I just try to make healthy eating choices rather then bad ones. I stay away from fast foods because most of them are greasy and filled with unwanted fats. Of course I have my cheat days where I will go and get like 10 dollars worth of fast food and pig out but you can't live like that everyday or else you will get fat and you won't be living the whole fitness lifestyle. Also, I stay away from sweets because sugar isn't good for you. When I was a kid and throughout high school, I pretty much lived off of sugary foods and ate whatever I wanted to. You can say I got burnt out of eating those types of foods and that's why it really doesn't bother me to watch what I eat now so that's why I just make the healthier choices. I can lose weight quickly so my off-season weight this year, which was 2007, was 201 pounds. I dropped down to 184 pounds for the shoot, which only took me like a month to do. The way that I did that was I ate 5 meals a day, did cardio everyday, and did abs everyday too. I love having abs, so in the off-season I do abs everyday as well. The key success to my abs would have to be doing weighted abdominal movements such as decline crunches with weight plates and the weighted cable machine crunches. My training routines vary and I also switch up what exercises I am doing and what order I do them in. I believe that shocking the muscles is key and if your body gets on a specific regimen then it will get used to the workout and you will not make as great of gains as if you were shocking the muscles with different routines each few weeks. I normally train legs on a day, then chest, then back/biceps, and then shoulders/triceps. Then I will take a day off and then start all over again. My family and friends have been there with me and have supported me throughout this whole time I've been doing fitness/bodybuilding. If I didn't have such a great support team and if they weren't here for me I wouldn't even know what to do. My parents do everything they can for me and they believe in me and that's why I can keep on going each day in the gym. Also, my friends/workout partners are great support, pushing me through every last rep possible and doing every last set I possibly can do. I want to thank you all for being there for me and for supporting me, thanks guys! Working with John Mitchell was a great experience and was a really wonderful time. He showed so much professionalism and was there to help throughout the whole shoot. With his great ideas and photography we were able to capture amazing shots of me doing various poses and with unlimited backdrops. We worked on the beach, in some hay like grass, along buildings, by playgrounds, and in open fields. These different types of settings allowed for me to get a wide arrange of shots that will help me build my portfolio and help me market myself. John is more then a photographer, he is now a friend of mine and is a great helper. I recommend using John Mitchell for any type of photography that you may so desire. John treated me with class and was so friendly throughout the whole experience. Since this was my second photo shoot, I was still a rookie but John made me feel really comfortable and that allowed for me to be open to the camera and work with it so we could get some awesome shots. John and I plan on shooting again in 2008 out in Connecticut, which I am looking forward to. I know we will get some amazing shots out there, with the ocean and waterfalls and all the amazing scenery that he knows about. John Mitchell is an amazing photographer and I would like to thank you John for all your help, your professionalism, and your support, thanks John!
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