Strength Training

Purpose of Page

To share the results of my training and what I learn on the pursuit of becoming the strongest version of myself. It’s purely selfish. I’m hoping sharing this publicly will add an additional element of accountability to my development as a strength athlete

Belief System

I think wisdom and wealth are sub-optimal without physical strength. I do not believe I would’ve had any success in my professional life if I didn’t train daily since 2009.

Everyone has their own definition for what strength is. I think it’s the unending pursuit to life heavier and heavier load in a safe and consistent manner.

The Journey

‘05 - ‘10: Distance running (1.5-4km), dabbling in wrestling, ice hockey

‘09 - ‘19: Powerlifting

• ‘12: AWPC Jr. Worlds 1st Place 67.5kg / CPF Jr. Nationals 2nd Place 67.5kg

• ‘12/’13: AWPC Jr. Squat Record Holder

• ‘15 - ‘16: Meniscus Surgery

• ‘17 - ‘19: Coached by RTS

• ‘18: CPU Ryerson Open 1st Place 66kg

‘20 - Now: Powerlifting / Calisthenics / Every day strong

I was super lucky to start powerlifting early. There weren’t many folks into the sport so I’d say I got extremely lucky with setting a few world records. It wasn’t as competitive as post 2015, and two years of misdiagnosis on my meniscus tear didn’t help with compounding my strength.

Much of my journey involved lots of experiments on diet and training on my own. I had no formal education and though I enjoyed aspects of having a coach, I realized I much preferred tinkering and learning on my own rather than outsourcing it.

This is what led to the strength training realm post-powerlifting. I may still compete and much of strength training is rooted in the major three lifts from powerlifting but I wanted to explore the kind of strength training that is extremely minimal (in equipment and programming) and unspecific.

Personal Bests

*Competition best was in 2018 Summer and Training bests were in 2018 Fall.

**Squat is low-bar with heels and belt. Deadlift is sumo-stance with belt.

Now

Training Approach:

Lift heavy weights. Low reps and many sets. High frequency. No belt. Never to failure or high RPE. One month training block. No specific sets/reps for training session. Listen to the body.

Goals:

To lift the same amount of weight I did in competition but in as ‘raw-est’ form possible. This means I will have to wear knee sleeves given the pain.

I’d also like to look strong. Like a piece of brick.

Numbers for context:

• Squat 450lbs with no belt and flats.

• Deadlift (Conventional) 530lbs with no belt

• Bench Press 315lbs

Progress Update