The enigmatic Benjamin Andrews.

I was that kid who was really fat in high school, and started hitting the gym hard after graduation. Since then, I’ve finished my first BA and somewhere along the way I’ve lost 30lb, and turned most of my mass from fat to muscle. I’ve been doing dedicated weight training in the gym for about a year and a half now, having just recently recovered from a bad case of Crossfit blues. Currently I’m training to compete in my first Strongman contest next summer, and I’m pushing myself hard to reach my goals before I do so.

My training approaches are almost entirely self-taught. Youtube and the internet community are both great places to learn techniques and get tips from the pros. I’ve been tinkering with my own routine for about 9 months, and I’ve settled into a rotation that fits my needs and my body’s abilities. I train a mixture of powerlifting and bodybuilding, mainly anything I can lift in the gym, and I devote one day out of my Eight Day cycle to training for strongman events, either using equipment my tiny gym has, or any lifts I can simulate using gym equipment. I’m working on some implement of my own at home, and hope to have my first lifting log carved soon.

Beyond that, I try to listen to my body when training. If I finish my squat sets on leg day, and my arms feel like they need to be hit, I’ll do a few exercises for the arms and call it a day. If I’m not feeling my training, I’ll probably call it a day, or change up my routine to something more suited to my energy levels. I think listening to your body, and learning what it needs, and when it needs a push, and when it doesn’t, is the most important part of training.

Cheers Ben, appreciated.