Marcus Irwin

Qualifications: Australian Presenter of the Year in 2001, 2002, and 2003.

Personal History: Like many people, I first joined the gym to lift weights, lose weight and get fit after leaving school. The call of the aerobic room and its 'disco beats' was too strong. Before long, I was being urged by fellow class students to replace a teacher who had called in sick. Before I knew it, in the same year, I was leaping around on stage at the Aerobic Championships (making up a routine on the fly) and winning. I think it was a matter of right place, right time, and the right help. The people around me and fellow fitness colleagues saw a talent that I didn't recognise. They urged me onwards and upwards. Thanks to them, I've stuck with it and I am still here now.

Workout Philosophy: Less is more. Maybe as you get older, you slow down a bit. These days, I prefer to work out for health as opposed to running on the 'search for aesthetic perfection' treadmill. There is such a finite satisfaction derived from actually getting the 'perfect body,' considering the work involved to keep it oiled at that level. I prefer to concentrate on feeling great about feeling great.

Sucess Story: At a convention last year in Germany, a young man named Mathius Penner came up to me with a photo of him taken the year before. It showed a man of nearly 130 pounds greater in size than the one who stood before me. He told me that he bought all my videos and literally worked his butt off to them at home for a year. He had always wanted to go to a convention, but was too shy. I really had no idea that this kind of result was coming from my videos. There, I was thinking that people were just enjoying the different ways to grapevine and cha cha ... how wrong I was!