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Thread: From Fat Man, to Weak Man, to Strongman

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    406

    Default From Fat Man, to Weak Man, to Strongman

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    Figured I wanted to write one of these here testimonials on the off chance it helps someone “on the fence” about running the program, so here’s my story in a nutshell:

    Last year this time I was roughly 315 pounds. I was in a bad place with myself, and something finally convinced me I needed a change. I did not run the program. I changed my eating, small at first, then drastic. I slashed carbs. I did yoga because I was too fat to run. Around 250 pounds I started running. I did LOTS of running. I dicked around with dumbbells and benched. I did it every day. For hours. I thought it would make me “stronger”. I was eating less than 2000 calories a day. At the end I found myself at about 200ish pounds (my absolute rock bottom being 198). I thought I would be happy. What I was, was beat down, depressed, and probably had a borderline eating disorder. I literally had a panic attack once because I wanted to buy ice cream.

    Somewhere around that time I remember hearing James Yeager talk about Matt Reynolds and Starting Strength (I was a gun guy before I was a barbell guy). Yeager had initially helped me along my weight loss path, so I googled the program. It seemed simple. Too simple. I figured I’d give it a shot.
    Like many before me (and many after) I didn’t actually READ the program. My bench stalled 3 weeks in and my form was atrocious. I figured out what I did wrong, and restarted. I continued with atrocious form however for some time. As I went on numbers went up, but inevitably I would hit a wall that would force me to fix my form in order to move on.

    I ran the program for about 4-5 months before I had pretty much exhausted my LP. My squat had gone from 150, to the low 300’s. My deadlift from 225 to mid-high 300’s. My press went from 110 to around 170. I was eating 3000 cals a day and had gained about 20-25 pounds. I had NEVER been happier.
    Somewhere along the line my interest in Strongman was sparked listening to (now SSC) Alan Thrall. I had grown up watching Magnus Ver Magnusson in the 90’s and thought that kind of stuff was only reserved for guys who were 5x my size (well, it sort of still is), but all of a sudden I had a shot to do something athletic in my life. I hooked up with an aspiring coach who had experience in Strongman through the forums and started wading into advanced novice/intermediate programming. I decided to go all in and signed up for a (relatively light) comp a city over from me, and started training.

    As of typing this my best press is 190x4, my best squat is 360x5, my best DL is 420x4, and my best bench is 255x5. I was able to walk into a room full of powerlifters, and hold my own placing 4th out of 7 after being tied for third. My boys got to watch their dad hit 7 clean reps on a 165lb axle clean and press, deadlift an SUV 6 times, carry a 150lb sandbag 60ft in 8 seconds, and load a 180lb atlas stone over a 52” bar for 8 reps. I plan to get much stronger (I’m chasing a 500lb DL by Christmas), keep competing, and help to grow the sport of Strongman in my area.

    Do the F’ing program.
    progression.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    South Carolina
    Posts
    62

    Default

    This is awe inspiring work you have done. Do you think running was compulsory in getting your weight down so low?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    406

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Nightfly View Post
    This is awe inspiring work you have done. Do you think running was compulsory in getting your weight down so low?
    I probably believed that THEN... not really sure I believe it now. Would I have dropped it so FAST with strength training and not mind-numbing amounts of cardio? I don't know, but if I could go back I probably would have done it differently. I mean I got results for the most part insanely quick but I was also a train wreck so...

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