About — HORNSTRENGTH

I WAS a Skinny vegan

Back in 2001, a “concerned” friend dragged my underweight ass into our college gym, and it changed my life.

By the end of my first month of training, I was hooked. The whole process was fascinating. Just by lifting weights and manipulating my diet, I could change my body.

I became obsessed with learning everything I could about training and nutrition. I devoured all the books, websites, articles, and blog posts I could get my hands on. I studied the bigger, stronger guys in the gym. I tried every crazy training program, supplement, and fad diet. It was constant experimentation and trial-and-error (mostly error).

During those early days, I focused on bodybuilding routines—training five or six days a week, with each session dedicated to one or two muscle groups. I did countless sets and reps and used every barbell, dumbbell, and machine available. And it worked. I packed on slabs of new muscle mass and drove my body weight over 200lbs.

But, like most young guys, I cared more about how I looked than how strong I was.

Ten years later, that all changed

In 2010, I had shoulder surgery to fix an injury caused by years of lifting with poor technique. The recovery kept me out of the gym for three months, and I decided to use that time to figure out how I hurt myself and, more importantly, how to avoid doing it in the future.

In my research, I stumbled upon a then-little-known book called Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training. The writing style was blunt, abrasive, and witty. And the author, Mark Rippetoe (aka Rip), was a master at breaking down complex principles of physics and biomechanics into easily-understandable, actionable advice.

The book challenged everything I thought I knew about training and convinced me to start prioritizing the pursuit of physical strength with a simple, barbell-based program.

When my doctor cleared me to go back to the gym…

I scrapped my bodybuilding-style training and embarked on the Starting Strength program.

It was different. I only worked out three days a week and only performed three exercises at each session. But, within a matter of months, I was one of the strongest guys in the gym.

I stopped caring about aesthetics and focused only on what I could do. I drove up the weight on my squats, deadlifts, and presses; pushed my body weight over 250lbs; and started competing in local powerlifting competitions.

Eventually, some of the younger guys in the gym started asking for advice, and my coaching career began.

In 2011, I took a trip to Texas…

To meet Rip and obtain the Starting Strength Coach credential. Shortly thereafter, I started traveling around the country coaching seminars with the Starting Strength team.

Back home, I trained friends, family, and co-workers in my garage until, what started out as a fun side project, quickly grew into something bigger. In 2013, I quit my full-time job, moved the gym out of the garage, and opened up Horn Strength & Conditioning—the first Starting Strength Affiliate Gym on the West Coast.

Over the next eight years…

I taught hundreds of people how to increase their strength with basic barbell training. My clientele came in all shapes and sizes. I worked with 16-year-old high-school football players, 89-year-old grandmothers, and everyone in between.

I spent every day coaching, tweaking, testing, and refining my skills and methods. It was incredibly rewarding work, and I got damn good at it.

I’ve always been a mediocre lifter

And while my painfully average genetics aren’t ideal for dominating the sport of powerlifting, they did help me become a better coach.

Naturally gifted athletes with impeccable kinesthetic awareness don’t get a lot of practice correcting the common form issues less coordinated lifters deal with. Trainees blessed with freakish strength don’t worry much about workout programming—almost everything they try produces results. And the lucky guys blessed with fast metabolisms and naturally low body fat don’t have to be all that diligent with their diet.

It’s hard to solve problems you’ve never experienced, and coaches that aren’t forced to overcome their poor genetics often have difficulty empathizing with average trainees. I used to curse my limited abilities, but now I’m grateful because the constant struggle taught me incredibly valuable lessons that allowed me to better serve my clients.

As time went on, my training goals changed

I had hit most of the modest strength benchmarks I was chasing, and I needed a new source of motivation to keep me excited about my workouts.

Several clients had expressed an interest in losing weight, but they seemed skeptical about my advice on how to modify their diet. I also noticed that during some of my gym consultations, many new trainees would tell me, “I want to get strong, but I don’t want to look like you.”

At first, I thought they meant “big, strong, and muscular,” but I eventually realized they meant “fat.”

In my quest to get strong…

I had accumulated quite a bit of excess body fat.

So in 2018, I decided to “walk the walk” and prove to my clients that I knew what I was talking about when it came to fat loss. I set the personal goal of getting substantially leaner and started dialing in my diet.

It took months of experimentation, but I finally hit my mark and got my body fat down to 10%.

The process taught me a lot about successful dieting

And it made me a much more well-rounded coach. I not only understood how to build strength and size but also how to consistently achieve a leaner physique.

I ran the experiment several more times—letting my body fat creep up and then stripping it off—to simplify the process and develop a reliable system for helping my clients achieve their body-composition goals.

When the Covid-19 pandemic forced my gym to close…

I had a lot of free time on my hands. I decided it was a good opportunity to write my first book.

I wanted to challenge myself to clarify my thinking about what I had learned over the last 20 years and formalize my approach to training and nutrition. My goal was to create the guide I wish I had when I started my fitness journey—something that would streamline the process for other guys like me.

So, I started writing every morning (with the help of my dog Bob).