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Mike’s Brief Bio

Mike is an Ohio native who is married to his high school “sweetheart”. They have 2 children ages 7 & 10.

Mike’s odyssey with the weights began the same as so many others; he had to lift weights for high school football. Contrary to what you hear from some titans of strength Mike was not one of those “naturals” who could play with big weights right from the start. To the contrary, he struggled with 185 lbs as his best high school bench (while weighing 270 lbs).

Mike was different from others in yet another way; he was not hit with the “iron bug” right from the get-go. In fact, the only reason he started training again once he was out of high school was because he was “tired of being the fat kid who got pushed around”.

Fortunately for him, and the powerlifting world, Mike met a police officer who was active in the powerlifting community. Randy Houseworth was his name and he was kind enough (or had the foresight that Mike himself lacked) to take Mike under his wing. It was under the tutelage of Randy that Mike’s true potential began to show itself. In less than 2 years Mike’s bench went from a meager 225 lbs to a prodigious 525 lbs!

The iron bug had bitten but the desire to be a strength titan was still only a flicker. Mike decided after a relatively short period of time with powerlifting to give bodybuilding a go. Dietary restriction not being a favorite of Mike’s meant that bodybuilding was destined to be a brief foray.

It was at this time that Mike took a 3 year hiatus from training to pursue his interest in competitive paintball. After this layoff Mike’s return to the gym solidified his lifting future. His very first bench session saw him play with 315 lbs for 6 reps. He knew powerlifting and bench pressing in particular was his calling.

Mike trained for another 2 years and got his bench up to 600 lbs (equipped). It was at this time 2 more men influenced his training career. Mike contacted Westside Barbell guru Louie Simmons and Louie agreed to work with him. Louie then introduced Mike to another legendary powerlifter named George Halbert. George is one of the best benchers in history on a pound for pound basis.

The combination of help from Louie and George mixed with Mike’s own potential proved to be explosive and he was soon benching over 800 lbs (making him a world class athlete)!!!