My Journey

"Kiril through the years"

This is the raw, unfiltered story about me - from an overweight kid, to a skinny-fat teenager, to a Pure Athlete.

It’s a journey full of struggles, set backs, slow progress and tough choices. No helpers - just food, training and commitment to staying true to the idea of pure.

In a world where most rely on supplements and steroids to break plateaus, choosing this path is special, but far from easy. It takes more precision, patience, discipline and heart because doing it pure means doing it the hardest way.

10 years old

Overweight as a kid

Yup - that’s me. I know I’m starting from the very beginning, but someone out there needs it.

As a kid, I was overweight and out of shape, even though I played football and basketball every day. The problem wasn’t activity, it was food. Pizzas, sandwiches, bureks, chocolate, chips... every day.

By 14, I weighed 86 kg (189 lbs) at 180 cm (5'11"). I was big, yes - but not in the way anyone wants. I carried a lot of fat, a lot of shame and a lot of silence.

15 years old

Massive Drop in Weight

Till 14 I was stuck - stuck in fat and stuck in basketball, mostly because my physique suited the game, they said. But I didn’t love it.

I was tired of carrying the weight and tired of playing a sport I didn't love. What I really wanted was to be slim and to play football. So I decided to change.

No plan, no knowledge. I just stopped eating junk, ate less, ran a lot and did crunches every day. That was my routine.

In one year, by the time I turned 15 - I went from 86 kg (189 lbs) to 69 kg (152 lbs). I was skinny-fat, yes, but finally, I wasn't overweight. I looked better and I could play the sport I love.

18 years old

Starting with Fitness

Back then, I didn’t care about fitness - I was just happy playing football. So, I stayed skinny-fat.

But, suddenly football was over. It hit me hard, especially with graduation around the corner and university ahead. Slowly, I started accepting that chapter was over. I needed a new focus. That’s when I turned to fitness.

During my final year of high school, I started working out at home with my dad’s old equipment. I had no idea what I was doing - no technique, no plan. I just started lifting.

And that’s where it all began.

19 years old

Initial Progress

So, I trained at home for a full year before it was time to move out and start university.

No structure, no plan - just consistency. And even with that, I made progress.

That’s why I always tell beginners: "It doesn’t matter if you don’t know everything at first - just start. Your body will respond."

But, I do advise everyone to train smart from day one. Newbie gains don’t last forever, so make the most of them while you can.

21 years old

Real Progress under Coach

Once I got to university, I decided it was time to train smart and make real progress. That’s when I joined a gym and started training with a semi-personal coach.

He guided my workouts and gave me a generic plan to follow. My physique improved a lot during those years.

In that time, I also started researching and educating myself on training and nutrition.

That’s when fitness stopped being habit, but became part of my lifestyle.

25 years old

Decision: supplementing or not?

By then, I was well educated - constantly testing routines, tweaking macros, cycling through bulks and cuts. My physique looked very decent, but progress was very slow - no matter how well I trained or ate.

That’s when the temptation came: should I start using supplements? Most lifters break these plateaus by supplementing, and when that stops working, they move on to steroids.

I never had desire to be enhanced, but I was considering creatine, pre-workout and other performance enhancing supplements.

But I told myself - I don’t want to follow the same path as everyone else. I want to be different.

In this period, people started noticing my effort, knowledge and results built without helpers - then I began coaching others, too.

29 years old

Status: Pure Athlete

I won’t lie - it was frustrating watching others blow past plateaus with shortcuts.

That pushed me to train smarter, learn more about food, eat truly healthy (foods God gives us, not what labs produce) and be precise, because I chose the hardest path: no helpers at all.

But, what bothered me most was being labeled “natural” - same as the ones using performance-enhancing supplements.

And then the idea hit me: the fitness world needs a new category. That’s how the Pure Athlete was born.

P.S. My current - Weight: 80kg (176 lbs), BF: 12%, Height: 185cm (6'1")

FAQS

Most common questions about My Journey

Are you a lifetime Pure?

Yes, I've never taken PE supplements.

What was the biggest motivation behind the idea of wanting to present the fitness industry with a new category?

My biggest motivation is fairness and clarity. I believe people who train without performance-enhancing supplements or drugs deserve their own category - because the potential and resources are very different. By creating the “Pure” category, I want to give this path the recognition it rarely gets and bring more honesty to the fitness industry.

Don't you think it took you a long time to reach your current physique?

Maybe, but I chose the pure route. In today’s world of physique inflation, people often underestimate how hard it is to build real muscle. Most chase quick results with enhancers.

Why do you say today’s physiques are inflated?

Because in reality, no one truly looks like they do. Many have stuff in their bodies that enhance their appearance beyond their true state. For example, a person on creatine has extra water in their muscles, which makes them look bigger and leaner at the same time.

Can your physique be reached faster than you did it?

Depends from where you start, but if you are starting from similar point like me, then definitely yes! I started with no knowledge and didn’t train or eat smart for my first two years. If you do things right from the beginning, you can build a decent physique within 3 years as a Pure Athlete, and even better if you add supplements.

If you started training again with your current knowledge, do you think you’d reach your current physique faster?

Definitely! I’d especially make sure to fully take advantage of the newbie gains and train smarter from the start.

Is there a limit to how much muscle a Pure Athlete can gain?

Yes. The physiques you see from bodybuilders or many influencers are enhanced by PE supplements or PE drugs. There are exceptions based on individual's genetics, but generally speaking you can't expect to have a freak physique. Also, once you get to the very top of what your body is capable as pure, the progress after that is very slow. That's why lifters take enhancers, to break that limitation and open up room for more progress.

Aren't performance-enhancing supplements safe? Why did you decide not to use them?

Generally, yes - they are considered safe. But back when I started, information wasn’t as accessible as it is now, so I was skeptical. As time passed, I felt inspired to take a different path - to stand out and prove what’s possible without them. I also believe in keeping things close to nature. Many supplements are heavily processed and filled with artificial ingredients, which doesn’t align with how I believe God created us to nourish our bodies.