Long way up
Why I deadlift a t-bell with the handles flush to the floor — nine extra inches each way, a knee angle closer to a squat than a hinge, and what that extra range asks of you.
Posts tagged personal
Old man strength
Watching Ramesh carry a fridge up a staircase taught me lifting capacity is four things — and the one people skip is practice. On old man strength, and the awkward job.
A side quest in Kerala
A side quest from my working holiday: getting a simple gym up and running in Kerala — what's in, what's on the way, and the freedom of building from scratch with more room.
A slice of personal heaven
Tired of complaining about Madras, I started carving out a slice of personal heaven in Kerala — a gym full of the gear I love, and a first heavy lift on a trap bar I built ten years ago.
Thor, my ten-year-old trap bar
A nostalgic profile of Thor — the wildly overbuilt 47 kg trap bar I built in 2015 — and the design and build choices that have let it age without a single thing I'd change.
The smallest portions
A once-a-month scoop of ice cream with my daughter, 30 grams and 60 calories, dragged out over six spoons — why food is a tool for memories, and why micro-portions beat exclusion.
Positional tolerance
How Covid, a too-short t-bell and two plyoboxes led me to a deficit deadlift I've kept for five years — and the coaching lesson about individual tolerance you won't find in most books.
Little boxes and not being stuck in them
Nothing in my institutional experiences or college courses could have guided me to doing what I do. On exams, dead ends, and trying things.
Blast from the past
Following in the proud tradition of my dad and grandad, I walk into my forties proclaiming art was much better when I was growing up.
The habit of reading
As content gets more interactive, narrow and focussed, I have to fight stupidly hard to ensure the skill to read and dive into detail is never lost.
The weights that anchor me
100 days outside Madras in 4,200. Owning a gym is a maximalist life that weighs you down in literal tonnes.
My own museum of failure
Seventeen gym-equipment builds that didn't work, and what every one of them taught me.
An adult sandpit
Not every business wants to change the world. Mine is just somewhere fun to work while paying the bills.
Two events cured me of networking
In 2015 I needed clients, so I went to the parties. Two was all it took to send me back to just coaching.
The last hour of coaching
There will be a final coaching hour someday. A last cue for a last client. The thought terrifies me more than death.
The nice things always ran out
A 90s childhood of imported chocolates and toys that always ran out. Why I would rather make things than wait for them.
A reluctant entrepreneur
From a terrified salaried man to a twelve-year-old gym, via one prototype pull-up bar and a well-timed nudge.
Sucker comfort in strength
Via Lee Kuan Yew: we all find comfort in something. Mine is trying to get stronger, at 4am, every single day.
A personal story
I move terribly and was never good at any sport. But I love solving the problem of getting stronger.
Venkatesh, the lathe artist
In a 120-square-foot workshop by the canal, a lathe operator turns my crudest drawings into working parts. As much artist as worksmith.