Michael Bryant
What is your story?
I am an out of shape 34-year-old patent attorney living in Las Vegas, Nevada. I am originally from Texas (go Aggies!) but moved to Vegas for work a few years ago. With my job, I spend a lot of hours behind a desk staring at a computer screen. The sedentary lifestyle can really sneak up on you if you do not have healthy habits in place, which I definitely did not have and am still working to develop.
I played some sports growing up but not any school sports, so I never stepped foot into a weightroom. I took strength training in college, and although I didn’t realize it at the time, it was a terrible class. The only compound lift that was “taught” was bench press. While growing up, I had no exposure to exercising or healthy eating. This of course led to the freshman 15+ in college, followed by even more pounds throughout law school, and even more pounds after getting married. I tried various diets and running a few times over the years, but nothing ever stuck; especially running, which I still hate.
I do not recall what motivated me to do it, but shortly before my 30th birthday, I decided to join a gym and try lifting weights. Thankfully, I stumbled upon good educational materials that pointed me to compound lifts. I started doing the standard SBDP lifts with the Starting Strength Novice Linear Progression and really began loving it. Lifting weights is the first exercise that I have ever found satisfying.
Lifting and exercising in general was going well until a friend of mine asked me to try Crossfit. I actually really enjoyed Crossfit for a few months until it came to testing week and I injured my lower back ego-lifting on a deadlift 1 rep max. This set me back for a while and although I did get back into the gym, it was not with the same consistency that I had before. I lifted/exercised on and off for a couple of years until April 2021 when my tax return turned into a big shipment from Rogue and the garage gym was born. I am now coming up on two years of lifting consistently on a weekly basis.
Tell Us About Your Garage Gym
Like many others, I owe my current home gym and exercise habit to the pandemic. When everything shut down, I was working from home and eating like the world was ending. I got to my heaviest ever weight of 275 lbs in May of 2020 when I finally decided to diet and make it stick this time. I also had a huge source of motivation in that my wife was pregnant with our first child at this time. I really wanted to be healthy for my future daughter and be able to set a good example for her.
I was armed with the experience of many failed diet attempts, so I knew a lot about what didn’t work for me. Instead of gimmicky diets, this time I simply focused on eating a balanced diet and hitting my protein target for probably the first time ever. And, wow, hitting your protein makes eating in a deficit much less miserable and really helps with the muscle gains. Seriously, do it. Anyway, I am now down about 50 pounds and have kept it off for awhile. I plan on losing at least another 20, but I am feeling good and am not in a huge rush. I am mostly concerned with making sure that exercising and eating healthier remains a lifelong habit for me.
Lets talk about the Garage Gym Competition
Most of my Reddit feed is fitness related, so I saw the GGC pop up there. I loved that there was a competition centered on the garage gym lifestyle. Working out alone in your garage is a different animal than going to a commercial gym and very different from any group fitness classes. It is great how strong the garage gym community is on the internet to provide some of the comradery and accountability that is missed without a gym atmosphere.
Even though the garage is only steps away, it still takes a lot of self-motivation to get in there every morning and do the work, and I think it helps knowing that there are tons of other people out there facing and conquering the same challenge.
Currently I do not do any other strength competitions, so I saw the GGC as a fun and casual way to test myself against other lifters. I won’t say I’ll never do a formal powerlifting meet, but it is not something I am really interested in. Strongman on the other hand seems like a ton of fun, and I may try to find an informal competition in the next few years.
2022 was the first year I participated in the GGC, and I did the Spring and Fall competitions. I approached Fall 2022 more seriously than Spring. I ran Deep Water beginner for 6 weeks, and then did a couple cycles of 5/3/1 leading up to the competition. I really wanted to break a 1,000 pound total and I did! My long-term strength goal is 3-4-5 (300 lb bench, 400 lb squat, 500 lb deadlift). I have a ways to go so that may not happen until GGC 2026 or something.
What Are Your Keys to Success
The key to success in fitness is no secret. Consistency, consistency, consistency. I have really learned this last year that a key part of staying consistent is riding the ebbs and flows of training. Sometimes everything is clicking and you can really push it in the gym. Sometimes you’re just not feeling it, so you have to accept that getting in the gym and doing anything is a win. Fitness a lifelong game.
My main motivation is setting a good example for my daughter so that she develops healthy habits in her life. I also want to be able to enjoy an active lifestyle so I can hike, bike, and snow ski well into my golden years.
What Do You Do When Approaching A Big Lift?
I still worry a lot (probably too much) about aggravating my previous low back injury, so when I approach a big lift, the main thing I think about is bracing as hard as I can and maintaining tightness throughout the lift.
I do not have a go-to PR song, but a Crossfit box I used to go to would play music by Sleigh Bells all the time. So now, whenever I hear Sleigh Bells, I get the unnatural urge to do a metcon or some burpees, especially with the songs Riot Rhythm and Crown On the Ground.
How are you preparing for future Garage Gym Competitions?
I find that the exercise variety keeps me engaged, especially on the cardio side. I am more focused on weight loss than strength right now, so I expect to improve only slightly. However, I think I have some room for easy improvement, especially on back squat, so I hope to at least see some gains there.
Good luck to everyone in the next competition! Thanks for reading and happy lifting!
