As a kid I was really in to sports (swimming, running, motorbiking, karate, boxing..to name a few) and pretty much had a hobby for each day of the week! I got into the catering industry at 16 and became a fully qualified chef in which I continued to do for around 7 years. Obviously due to the long and unsociable hours of being a chef I had to give all my hobbies up as they were at night and weekends, that's where the gym came in. I got in to training in the gym at 18, it was perfect as i could make it fit around my work hours (before, on my break or after) and being a chef helped a lot with the nutrition side of training.

The competitions have begun!

Over the years my training and involvement in the fitness industry became more and more serious and at the beginning of this year i left the catering industry and became a fully qualified personal trainer. Since leaving catering and having more time for training I decided to finally get on stage and enter my first competition which is something that's been a goal since I started training. The competition was the UKBFF North East (N.E.) Championships held in Leeds, in which I competed in men's physique class. I won this competition and earned the title of the 2013 North East Mens Physique Champion and earned my place in the UKBFF finals.

Check Matt out on Twitter @shreddedmatt.