Who are your inspirations?

[Chebass88]

Who inspired you when you were beginning to lift? Do you have any current people who inspire you?

For me, one of the biggest inspirations for me to get stronger was a man named Greg Matonick. I met Greg through a Craigslist ad for a power rack. When I talked to Greg on the phone, he was in the hospital recovering from some open heart surgery (this was why he was selling his rack). Despite several major car accidents and health issues, Greg continues to train. He also did ridiculous things - like bending steel, bending horseshoes in his teeth, or other feats of strength. . His positive attitude was overwhelming, and he had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the people he'd trained or old timers in the Iron Game. He gave me a book on The Mighty Atom, the story of Joseph Greenstein, an old time strongman. I re-read that story probably every year. Despite some serious adversity, the Mighty Atom become one of the strongest people of all time, while maintaining a strong moral character and a positive attitude.

Greg, also known as the NJ Superman exposed me to many names of lifters & strongmen I had never even heard of at the time - Grimek, Marvin Eder, Paul Anderson, Alexander Zass, Sigmund Klein, Goerner the Mighty, and even Kazmaier. I began reading their stories and articles, soaking up as much useful information as I could. Greg taught me how to bend steel, rip decks of cards, roll up frying pans and other fun feats of strength.

My friend Greg passed away five years ago. I saw him a week before he passed, and he was upset that his arms were only 15" or so. He was working on a program to build back up. Our dogs played in his gym while he sat and spoke of the training plans of people he's trained decades before or some obscure bit of iron game history. He was always quick to praise progress, and give positive encouragement. It is an excellent approach, and something I've tried to do in my own life. Greg is definitely one of the people who have been big influences in my life.

So, who inspired/ inspires you?

[Manveer]

When I was beginning to lift, Arnold Schwarzenegger was inspiring to me. I was maybe 15. I had his bodybuilding bible. I lifted at home with plastic/concrete weights and pretty much just did upper body work. Didn't eat that much, so I was still really skinny. I was naive at the time and didn't realize all those guys and girls pictured in his book were on massive amounts of steroids with physiques that were unattainable otherwise.

I used to watch World's Strongest Man competitions all the time. Some of those guys like Big Z, Magnus ver Magnusson, Mariusz Pudzianowski were (and are, in the case of Big Z) really fun to watch.

A lot of lifters I've met through the forums inspire and continue to inspire me.

It probably comes as no surprise that Mike Tuchscherer is a major inspiration for me. I saw a video where he squatted 705x4 (https://youtu.be/BrGIh84HBzg), alone, in his garage, no belt or knee sleeves. One of very few elite powerlifters I believe is lifetime drug free. He's doing a lot to test out programming ideas, trying out things that sound kind of off-the-wall, keeping what works and discarding what doesn't.

[mgil]

Arnold was certainly huge when I was a lad.

Some of my inspiration came from my father. One, when I was young, he made sure I knew what hard labor felt like. Two, he kept me physically laboring through the age of 15 or so. Three, he would tell me stories about what he could do when younger. All of his strength came from being a farm boy and working on cars. There was no progressive overload, just getting shit done.

When I got to be around 23, I realized that the strength capacity that I had built up just from labor, eating, and being filled with testosterone was starting to wane. I started looking Into how this could be reconciled, and henceforth a nearly 2 decade intermittent relationship with strength training.

Chebass, those stories about the old time strongmen are great. What's always been an excellent juxtaposition is the ability to bend a penny. The massive strength and musculature to do so is amazing. But the demonstration is so minute. For those "in the know" it's an incredible feat, for others, the beauty is lost.

[Murelli]

My dad. He grew up in a farm and made sure we also went to the farm and worked with the animals and crops. He should me the value of strength, both physical and mental, and of work ethic. He is still pretty strong despite never having touched a barbell, just from the work he keeps doing on the farm.

Since I'm half city boy and half cowboy, I gotta keep my strength going up with weight training. If I lay off I get pain in my hips, back, shoulders and knees (I'm built all wrong). Discovered strength training from a bodybuilding friend telling me there was a 5x5 training, which led me to stronglifts, which led me to Izzy Narvaez' videos, which led me to SS, which led me to the rabbit hole and here I am on the promised land.