In opening, I'd like to thank EFS for the opportunity to let me announce the opening of my gym, which is full of chalk, bands, chains and more chains. Elite has been a major resource in my quest for strength, and I truly believe that they’ve been a huge propelling factor in the mass strength gains we've seen in powerlifting and all other sports. So here’s a 1000 thank yous to all the contributors.
If you were to ask anyone who knows me and what I’m passionate about, it’d be easy for them to answer. The two things I have extreme passion for are strength and opening a gym. I want to get myself and others as strong as possible, but somewhere that I can proceed with passion and not have gym owners telling me to keep the noise of the chains and grunts to a minimum, that the chalk is too messy, to stop snorting those capsules and have some gym etiquette. All so that the girls on the elliptical don’t go running out at the site of the freak in briefs and tights (suit slippers). Luckily with the opening of my new facility, Progressive Sports Performance, I'll be allowed to train in the intense environment that I've been so desperately craving and can continue my mission of getting myself and my clients as strong as possible.
Both of these pursuits have been a long time coming - and the pursuit of getting stronger is one that I know will never end for me...because as we all know, we're never strong enough! But it was my pursuit of getting stronger that led me to want my own gym, so let’s start there. In my freshman year of high school, I was a fairly successful and a weak 90-pound wrestler who did well because I wrestled other 90-pound weaklings. By the end of my high school wrestling career I had bulked my puny self up to a 135 pounds and I wanted more...a lot more! At this point I just tried to lift more each time I went to the gym, you know, pick up heavy shit. If you haven't tried this, it works for a while, but then you reach a point were you need more of a “system.” Fast forward a few years in life and I was a 175 pounds, but still not strong enough. I decided to give myself something to train for and tried some bodybuilding and powerlifting through the late 1990's and early 2000’s. In 2005, I made what was for me at the time, a successful return to powerlifting. I flinch as I write my numbers for this meet; a 1300 total with a 500 squat, 300 bench, and a 500 pound deadlift. However, I realized that these numbers were the starting point of greater numbers and A LOT more hard work!
It was at this point I decided to get my wife hooked on powerlifting as well. In only 6 months, she was able to hit a 314 squat, 189 bench, and a 304 deadlift in the 148 pound class in her first meet. Within three more months, her competition numbers went to 341 squat, 209 bench and 314 deadlift. As I write this, I'm still seeking the strongest people and the individuals who create the strongest people to pick their brains and gather what they've learned to enhance my journey to become stronger and to get others stronger, a form of open theft that I plan to continue until I die…trying to get stronger.
