I’ve decided to start a new thread outside of my log that outlines my history in the iron game, my competitive history in Strongman/powerlifting, my essential diet and training philosophies, and then open things up to questions from anyone about anything!
HISTORY/DEVELOPMENT:
I was 18 years old, and under 130 lbs at 5’11 when I started lifting weights. I had multiple teachers in high school who were concerned that I may have an eating disorder, because I was so thin. So when I finished high school, I decided I wanted to change that. I started working out with some friends at a local gym over the summer, but not regularly enough to make much progress. Then I got to college that fall, had access and time to go to the gym regularly, and I saw my first bit of progress. I had no idea what I was doing, but I stumbled on a few ‘right’ things that would shape how I approached the gym going forward. 1. I learned very quickly that eating enough would be my biggest hurdle. I ate pasta bowls and omelets at the school cafeteria constantly, and I tried to drink a gallon of milk a day. I managed over half a gallon pretty consistently for a long time. I also learned that pushing myself really, really hard in the gym was going to yield results. I had a training partner who did everything I did, but he just didn’t work as hard as I did, and the results spoke for themselves. In my first year of lifting, I put on a really solid 30 lbs. I went from shaking benching an empty bar my first time in the gym, to a 200 bench press in about a year. About a year into lifting, I discovered TNation, and that’s when I started running actual programs. CT was a big influence to start with. He was just arriving on the scene at that time, and I remember running one of his programs with my dad the summer between my first two years in college. Coaches like Jim Wendler, Dan John and John Meadows have also heavily influenced my training philosophies.
I was inconsistent over the next few years, but when I was 22-23, I began to really embrace the grind, and the pursuit of strength. Prior to this, I chased numbers on a few lifts, but it was really all driven by an aesthetic pursuit. In my early 20’s, I fell in love with the squat and the deadlift, and finally started making lower body progress. I loved the feeling of low-rep, heavy sets, the pressure of a squat that felt like it shouldn’t go up, and then does. It was incredibly satisfying.
I ran through a lot of different programs over the years, and eventually settled on 5/3/1 variations for awhile in my late 20’s. I believe this is when I really started making the progress I was looking for, and started putting up ‘respectable’ numbers. I really started to look like I lifted. My bodyweight continued to climb over the years, and I was approaching 200 lbs when I was 30.
30 is the year that changed things for me. My son was conceived, and I decided, on the very day I found out that I was going to have a child, that I would get into the best shape of my life, so that in a few years, he’d be able to tell his friends that he had a strong dad. This whole journey has been about him as much as myself.
A few months after this, I competed in my first strongman competition. I had NO idea what I was doing. I had to cut 10+ lbs of water weight to make weight at 175. So, I was a big lightweight. I was also very lean. I came in thinking that I HAD to be a force, based on my gym experiences. And I was crushed. I came in last place in 4/5 of the events. This experience led me to believe that strongman was clearly not for me. So, I moved on.
The next year, I got really damn strong. And I competed in my first and only powerlifting meet, where I hit an Elite raw total in sleeves. My squat was in the low 500’s, my bench was high 300’s, and my deadlift was just under 600. This was at a 181 bodyweight. But as cool as it was to have that immediate success, I didn’t feel that the sport was worth pursuing. I didn’t see anything to achieve between an elite total and a world record, and for me, I needed that tangible success. So, I gave strongman another shot.
My next show was better than the first. I found a strongman-oriented gym, and some awesome people to work with, and I learned a lot. I learned the concept that strength is a skill, something I didn’t previously understand. Later that year, I took 3rd place in Texas Strongest Man, as a middleweight. Things were improving quickly. 7 or 8 months later I won my first show. Then I won several more. This takes me to 2018, my best year competing. I believe I took 7th place at Strongman Nationals, which landed me an invite to a World Championship a few months later, where I took 4th. It was a whirlwind of success I never expected to have.
Since then, I’ve won a lot of shows, but have not been back on the biggest stages. In 2019 I was going to be competing in Australia in the Static monsters log press/deadlift championship, but I tore a pec muscle a month before the competition. I was back to full health and competing later that year. Then in April 2020, I was going to be competing for an Arnold invite… and we all know what happened that month. Fast forward, and I last competed this January. I took second to one of the best competitors in Lightweight strongmen in the country. The dude is amazing, and he narrowly edged me out. Currently I’m in rebuilding mode, trying to once again get in the best shape of my life, at 38, so I can hold my own with all the young blood in the sport.
My next post will address my current diet and training philosophies, what I feel are the universal truths in weightlifting.
