While I can grill a steak, the only connection I have to curing meat or preparing grand, traditional meals is that my century old cinder block one car garage, which is now my gym, was once a smokehouse.  The only meat hanging around is yours truly and a garter snake living inside one of the walls.  

I’m a 57 year old father of two, a dedicated barbell enthusiast who used to blog on a forum supported by a commercial site.  That company elected to move their premier content to a new server and paywall for political and philosophical reasons, but I too saw the wisdom of controlling my independence, in case I want to turn this tiny voice crying in the wilderness into any kind of enterprise.  

I’m reasonably competent: at 5’11” and weighing 210, I’ve pressed 217.5, benched 310, squatted 465, and deadlifted 527.5 pounds.  I was a competitive Olympic lifter in college and an endurance athlete and martial artist for some decades, but I’ve been happiest to rediscover conventional strength training in recent years, mainly through the science that was not available years ago.  

As the pandemic lifts, I hope to find an opportunity to coach high school aged kids.  Getting strong plays a big part in growing up.   Strength, in various contexts, is what this blog is about.