Darren

My name is Darren Mehling, 31 yrs old, and live in Winnipeg, MB, Canada. I'm a Strength & Conditioning Coach and a competitive bodybuilder, and married to my wife of 6 yrs, Christina Mehling, who is an IFBB Pro Figure Competitor.I had worked at MB Lotteries for over 10 yrs, as a Senior Casino Investigator, before our entire department was laid off. I did have a blast doing that job, it was no biggy though to get laid off because I had already taken steps to start a new career... let me explain.Since I can remember, I have always admired athletes, especially strength athletes and bodybuilders. As many, Arnold was my hero, and watched every movie and read every book that had his name on it. It wasn't just Arnold's competitive accomplishments that impressed me, but it was his drive and relentless commitment to what he wanted that impressed me the most.Like many aspiring young men, I started working out to get "big and strong" to impress a girl. Even though that girl never did get impressed, I did eventually catch the eye of the girl of my dreams, of whom I married and now share the life I always dreamed of!After many years of training, I did finally did build up enough guts to compete, but not in bodybuilding just yet. I, like many, still felt I wasn't big enough to get on the posing stage (even though I weighed 300+ lbs), but I think I had some strength so I decided to try my hand at strongman competitions. After 3 yrs of pulling 50,000 lbs semi trucks, lifting 320+ lbs logs overhead, sprinting with over 335 lbs per hand, and establishing a new Cdn Deadlift record with a 805 lbs pull, I felt I accomplished what I wanted in that sport so decided I now may be big enough to finally compete in bodybuilding.In August 2004, starting at 331 lbs, I started to diet, and in 7 long months I lost 123 lbs to win my first bodybuilding show, the MABBA Novice Bodybuilding Championships, Men's Heavyweight Class (I weighed a svelt 218 lbs at show time). It was also at this point that I realized my true calling. Even though I had been helping people better themselves casually over 10 yrs, I now knew I could make a living at it.So, in 2005, along with my wife Christina, I created a personal training and online/long distance coaching business called Goal Oriented Training Solutions (GOTS). We help people with various goals, and specialize in helping clients prepare for physique competitions - bodybuilding, womens fitness & womens figure.In such a short time, we have become quite succesful. In 2006, every client we helped won their class, won their show, or turned Pro (FAME)!Our clients results speak for themselves! (www.teamgots.com)On top of this, I'm still a competitive bodybuilder myself and hope one day to join my wife on the Pro stage.My goals with myspace are to meet more great positive people and network with fellow coaches, bodybuilders, women fitness & figure competitors, and all other fitness minded people.