A lot of people come through my gym and if you follow our training videos and photos you will notice that you not only see a lot of fresh faces but you also see a core group of guys that are always there. Out of the core group that are training together on Sundays, we all have a lot in common. Right off the bat, we all own our own businesses outside of the gym, which I think says a lot about our mental mindset and drive...
But the drive is what keeps us together. It is what we have in common. At any given time I can ask any of my training partners "What is your next goal?" and they could tell me something within seconds because it is on the front of their mind. Goal DRIVEN!
So let me introduce you to my base training crew and a little bit about each of them.
Meet Lawrence. Lawrence loves to deadlift and play guitar! Sometimes he does them both at the same time. This guys is a licensed psychologist that owns his own practice and has some of the cleanest deadlift technique I've ever seen. Most of the time it is the picture of perfection the line is so crazy close. Right now he wants to get his deadlift over the 600 lb mark and his log press over the 90/198 mark as well. Once he gets his mind right he can really do some crazy things with a Husafell Stone!
Meet Chris. Chris loves to hold the nose torque for everyone and wait till I lift a big weight and then add 5 lbs to beat me 🙂 He is a nutritionist and works with a lot of national teams and national athletes and is always shocking me with his knowledge. Quick with a joke he is equally as quick to flip the crazy switch in his brain and do whatever it takes to win an event in training. Chris has fought some severe back pain over the last few years but, knock on wood, he has been on a great roll since training with us. He popped a bicep pretty good on Atlas Stones several months ago but every other event he can really shock you if you are not prepared!
Meet Kostis. We met many years ago in the sport of Weghtlifting where he competed before going to The Army. He has been training with me for about 18 months and he is a natural stone lifter. Atlas, Husafell, natural stones, etc...and great at putting almost everything over his head. If he can get his arms around it or his legs into it, he can lift it! Kostis is a Physiotherapy student and works non-stop as well.
Meet Ilya. Ilya has his own gravitational pull and in the last year has gained roughly 100+ lbs and is crazy strong. It is great training with someone stronger than me because it pushes me to not be last but he also has a lot of "new lifter" technical mistakes so he has a lot to learn. The great part is that he, like everyone in our group, learns non-stop from everyone else in our group without the attitude that we know it all. Ilya currently has a broken finger (badly broken) so it has changed what he can and can't do in training but he has found his way around it as best as he can. I wish that I could tell you what he does exactly, but I'm not sure. What I can say is that he does a lot of his work late at night and he keeps black plastic, an axe, and zip ties in the back of his car at all times. It is best if I just don't ask questions because any man that is nearly 6'6" tall and 365 lbs and carries an axe is not someone you really want to question.
His immediate goals are to get healthy, deadlift 750 lbs as quickly as possible, log press 330, and start making his way towards competing on a regular basis through Europe.
And then there is this guy...
Meet Clint. Clint has been doing a lot of this nonsense recently just trying to get healthy and relax for the moment she he can turn things up a level if/when the opportunity rises to compete again this year. He knows that he can't push year round anymore so it is better to spend this time now relaxing, fixing weaknesses, and healing than to create more injuries and deficits!
And those are the most seen members of The House of Biceps!