Our Origin Story (Director's Cut)

A lot of the training I promote is unconventional and it is no secret that the inspiration behind every routine and every exercise is the media I grew up on.

Batman, Spider-Man, Assassin's Creed, Green Arrow, the works. These stories all shared a central theme that someone - anyone - can rise to greatness. For the longest time I wasn't particularly interested in working out at all because the prominent gym culture wasn't cohesive with my goals. No one can convince me that Batman of all people is sitting on a bench doing 5x5 bicep curls or that Spider-Man does a leg press. Something was missing.

Being a lifelong martial artist, I understood the physical demands of the characters I resonated with. That was half the fun of watching them all in whatever T.V. show or movie was out at the time. I could relate to every punch thrown and received, every step taken before a jump kick, and every tumble of a failed spin. It wasn't until I discovered Ido Portal's movement training that things started clicking together. This was a man who moved with the same physical charisma as Spider-Man, who could contort and control himself any way he pleased. He looked like something straight out of a Chip Zdarsky book. Best of all, it was all real. No special effects, no drawings, no animation, just a man who had spent the time to do the things I only saw in fiction. If he can do it, why can't I?

I dove deep into calisthenics, wanting to learn every crawl, every tumble, and every hold I could find. But something was still missing. Moving felt good, but it wasn't the whole story. Weights were intimidating. I understood how to move myself, but there was still a barrier with manipulating the world around me. Being a smaller guy, I never had great luck with powerlifitng or bodybuilding. The repetitive and static nature just was not just difficult, but boring. That's when I discovered kettlebells and clubs.

A bridge between movement and weight emerged. It wasn't just a static lift or a dynamic flip, it was something new. Expressive, explosive, exciting. This is what the New Gods I grew up on would do. Or at least, it's closer.

I learned how to write routines and circuits with these mixed modalities that felt like they were stolen from the big screen. My clients were reduced to rags of sweat at the end of a session and performance across the board was through the roof. We were doing well, but things can always get better.

There were always holes in the programming.

Over time my method became more specific, finding exact angles and grips and footwork and ribcage positioning and breathing patterns and anything else you can think of inside and outside the gym. I was (and still am) obsessed. I was also missing the forest for the trees.

This level of specificity is not sustainable. It took me hours a day to craft routines. Much like how Spider-Man doesn't leg press, none of those heroes have hours a day to plan a work out. Something needed to change.

I built AIs to create routines for me, ensuring that lifts I felt had the biggest bang for the buck were consistent, but the remainder was variable. After all, to be ready for anything you must train everything.

And now here we are. The programs are constantly updating with new information, clients are getting faster, stronger, and more mobile, all with state-of-the-art technology at our fingertips. This is as close to a Batcave as anyone could dream. I'm happy we're on this ride together.