About Me

Hi, I’m Tom, the Strength Nerd. Thank you for taking the time to read this page (not that it's gonna take long, only about 3 minutes). I can’t wait to tell you a bit about myself!

Here I am squatting. I like it. It's probably the lift I'm most technically proficient at.

I began my journey from just about the weakest and unhealthiest I've ever been. In 2012 I was diagnosed with what is essentially a muscle wasting disease which left me weak and severely underweight. It had been happening for months before I sought help because I was not in touch with my physical body, and it was a very slow process. I didn’t notice my weight change because I wasn’t measuring it. I didn’t notice my physical capacity erode until it was too late because I wasn’t doing anything physically demanding. Recovery was slow, so it not only cost me 4 months in hospital, but also over a year of freedom after I was discharged because I was too weak and frail to live my life. It sucked.

I'm not very strong at Bench Press, but it's grown on me and I enjoy it much more than I used to.

I would turn down invitations for fun, physical activities like sports, hiking and swimming because I knew I would fatigue too quickly and would be embarrassed because I was unable to keep up. I even missed a whole summer of swimming because I was embarrassed about the way my body looked. I wouldn’t go out with my friends to get a meal because eating had become a physical challenge, and my options were limited and I didn’t want to be an inconvenience. Really all these worries were ultimately just in my head, but they were real to me at the time and had a profound effect on my life. Really. It sucked more than I can put into words.

This is my deadlift. I cheated and pulled sumo (that's a powerlifitng joke),
which is why it's my strongest lift.

It sucked so much that I resolved to never let myself get into that position again. I needed a way to monitor my muscle mass and strength, as well as build myself up so if I flared I could get onto it early. Being properly medicated was key, but that just stops me from going backwards. Building muscle and strength, as well as conditioning to support them, is essential. I fell in love with the process, and the liberation that came with a stronger, more capable body that looked more like something I was proud of. I could spend hours reading into the technical side of training, how to eat to maximise my results and build the body I wanted, how to recover, how to program, how to execute exercises, and how to coach people to do the same.

This is me winning a medal in a powerlifting competition. I won 2nd place at this meet, in a field of 2 lol

I loved this gift I’d found so much I had to share it with others. I took up powerlifting as a way to give structure and direction to my goals. I got my Cert III and IV in Fitness so I could work as a personal trainer, and enrolled in Sports Science at uni to level up my skills.