Joe Morden came to me 12 weeks ago with goals of increasing his one rep max in the squat, bench press, military press and deadlift. These goals are nothing out of the ordinary. What is out of the ordinary is Joe decided to get serious about his strength training while simultaneously training to climb Mount Rainier, he literally did two hours+ of straight conditioning many days during the previous 12 weeks and accomplished his goal of climbing Mt. Rainier.

Joe dropped twenty pounds over the last 12 weeks as well as climbing Mt. Rainier. His starting point at the beginning of the 12-week cycle was Squat 330, bench press 300, military press 215 and deadlift 430. After 12 weeks Joe Squatted 405, bench pressed 345, military pressed 250 and deadlifted 500. Joe did everything I asked, thank you for being a great client Joe!

Read Joe’s Story here!

"Life is a great adventure, and the greatest fear of all, is the fear of not living." At the time I read that great quote by the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, I had little to no idea how those seventeen words would affect me and my life. But as I stood at the highest point in the state of Washington, the 14,411 foot Columbia Crest on Mount Rainier, I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of all the hard work it took to get a kid who dreaded the mile run in middle school, a kid who was deathly afraid of roller coasters most of his life to finish what many in mountaineering consider to be the hardest endurance climb in the lower forty eight. By the time I got down, I was astonished that most of the lessons I learned on the mountain were the same as ones I learned in the weight room, under the bar.

Lets rewind a bit: Like most I picked up my first barbell (the glorious sand filled plate variety) along with Arnold’s encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding and the latest issue of Muscle and Fitness and would go blast myself with monster 2 a day workouts in my parents' basement. Sure it was idiotic, but I didn’t want to be anywhere else. I loved the feeling it gave me to be working hard for a goal. Of course this mentality carried over to sports in high school, where I learned that the weights were not only a great hobby but also a tool - one I could use to get better. I was never the biggest or fastest on the football field or the track, but I was always one of the hardest working. I took that outlook with me when I went to college, and though I was no longer in competitive sports, I found Elitefts, and Westside barbell, and starting setting personal goals in the powerlifting arena. For the next 6 years I continued to pursue my newfound passion for the Bench, Dead, and Squat, although I missed the conditioning aspect of training. Then, I came across that quote by Teddy Roosevelt, and suddenly that idea of actually training for an adventure rather than just for a PR in the gym was planted in my subconscious. So all I needed was the adventure.

Flying into Seattle, it is very hard to not be mesmerized by Rainier as it towers over the neighboring peaks of the Cascade Range. I had been to Washington a handful of times before, was coming in for Christmas and, suddenly, it hit me. That’s what the adventure will be. A summit attempt of the most prominent peak in the contiguous United States.

RULE #1

Get a Guide

Once I decided to undertake this climb, I knew I had to do one thing right off the bat. I would need two different types of guides: a guide for the prep, and a guide for the climb. For the climb, I researched two local guide companies and went with one based on client testimonials. I couldn’t have been happier with that decision.

For the prep, naturally, I dove into endurance training: biking, running, backpacking. For 1 to 2 hrs a day on top of that, I was lifting 3-4 days a week. It didn’t take long for my training to start going a little sideways, and my strength started to plummet. That’s when I got into contact with Josh. Right after we started, I was able to continually make strength gains week in and week out. It wasn’t long until I had surpassed the training weights I was using before I started all the conditioning. The whole time I just kept wondering when I was going to hit the wall, but the wall never came. As I close on my first 12 weeks working with Josh, I have posted all time PR’s in the Bench, Dead, Standing Military, Squat, Pull-up, Shrug ad all at a bodyweight that is 50lbs lighter than I was at at my heaviest and strongest. I continually tell people who ask me about what supplements they should take this week, to invest in a great trainer with Josh. I can't even imagine where I'd end up after working with him steadily for a few years.

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