Hello Everyone! My name is J.L. Holdsworth and I’m an asshole. I tried to fight it, but at the end of the day you just have to know who you are and embrace it. Some people love me for it and others hate me for it, but no matter where you fall, you’ll always be entertained. I used to think I didn’t want to be known as the guy who didn’t give a fuck, but then I realized, I don’t give a fuck. Some of you may remember me from my training logs on EliteFTS, and I may have slept with some of you (Jim), but others have no idea who I am, so I’ll give you some background.

I’m from a small town in Michigan. I actually grew up with Josh McMillan (the newest member of Team EliteFTS), and I went to college with Kroc. Yes, there was test in the water where we come from. My athletic career started young with wrestling, and in high school I placed second (first loser) in the state. I played college football (fullback) at a Division II school, Ferris State University, and transferred to Wayne State University in Detroit, where I finished my degree in Exercise Science with a specialization in Nutrition and Fitness.

After college I was an assistant strength coach at Wayne State and then at the University of Kentucky. This is when I first met Jim, and immediately I didn’t like him. I was Olympic lifting at the time, and since he was powerlifting the “Westside” way (ie: he thought Louie was God), he thought I was gay for Olympic lifting. After talking to Jim, I decided that powerlifters seemed like my kind of people, so I started training for a meet. This is when I was first introduced to what it means to be in the FIVE percent.

While following the FIVE percent principles, I managed to become one of the top 275 pound powerlifters in the world in only four powerlifting meets. I had a best squat of 905, a 775 bench and an 804 deadlift, with a 2435 pound total. While training for my first WPO meet, I herniated my L5/S1 disc. Along with my stenosis, this caused some serious pain and problems.  While injured, I managed to fuck up the “pull and pray” method (apparently the injury slowed the pull), and now I have a wonderful little three year-old boy named Charlie and an ex-wife whose name is not important.  At least she was hot, and that is important.

You’re probably wondering, “What is this FIVE percent, and why is JL such an asshole?”  Well, you’re at least about to get the answer to one of those questions. The FIVE percent is that group of elite athletes and champions that sacrifice much and have the discipline of many. I belonged to that FIVE percent when I left my career as a collegiate strength coach and moved to Columbus to train at Westside after only doing one meet (in which I beat Dave and Jim).  The FIVE percent guided me as I set my work schedule up around when I was going to train, eat and sleep. These are the types of things it takes to be in the FIVE percent. So if you’re sitting there reading this article wondering why I’m writing for ELITE again, it’s because I’m rejoining the FIVE percent.