About Me

Competitions
July 2008 - Allegheny Valley's Strongest Man - 1st Place, Masters
June 2009 - Oil Region's Strongest Man - 2nd Place, Masters Heavyweight
December 2009 - Hope For The Holidays - 3rd Place, Masters Heavyweight
May 2010 - Central Ohio Strongman - 1st Place, Masters Heavyweight
June 2010 - Oil Region's Strongest Man - 3rd Place, Masters Heavyweight
July 2010 - Allegheny Valley's Strongest Man - 1st Place, Masters

I'm an amateur strongman, having come to the sport relatively late in life - at age 45. I seem to have an affinity for it, and certainly enjoy the challenges it offers.


Training

For my debut competition, I selected the NAS Sanctioned Allegheny Valley's Strongest Man. I began seriously training for this competition in March of 2008; in July, I won the Master's Class.


I typically train by myself, in my own home gym. The garage is filled with weights and equipment; tires and kegs litter the driveway.  I'm pretty content with the solo training thing; like anything, there's pluses and minuses, but I think my success shows that you don't need to train with a group.


Mike Tuchscherer of Reactive Training Systems has been coaching me since January of 2009.  If you're looking for the the best in a long-distance coach for strongman or powerlifting, Mike is the man.

Overcoming
In 2005, I realized that I had to make some changes. My waist was 52-54"; I weighed in the 340lb range; it was becoming increasingly difficult to hike or to do virtually any physical activity. I began simply, eliminating the worst food from my diet, and made a committment that I would start to lift weights and do some cardio again. So, in November 2005, I started.


In May of 2006, I was diagnosed with a spinal disease (DISH), as well as severely degenerated discs, and spinal and hip arthrosis. After researching my disease and my options, I decided that the best strategy was to aggressively work on strengthening my back muscles, developing as much flexibility as possible, and losing bodyfat.


The sport of strongman seemed to fit the bill as well as anything, offering a combination of strength, conditioning, and mobility requirements that I was fairly sure would meet my rehabilitation needs and keep my attention.

If there's a moral to this parable, it's that you should never see limitations in your situation, only opportunities to think through and work at!


strongmanbob@gmail.com