Sanjiv Gupta

When we first started the Garage Gym Competition, the ideas was centered around trying to make an event that anyone with the basics could participate in. Whether you were a powerlifter, or not. In some ways that worked, because we got guys and gals who train grip, olympic lifts, CrossFit, and more… all tossing in their numbers. And today we get to talk to one of those dudes, my man Sanjiv Gupta. If you don’t know him, he has provided a number of Training Tips for our Newsletter for over the years, his friends and family compete in the GGC, and he is a grip strength specialist. Take a look at some of his lifting videos, and I honestly don’t even know what half of those implements and things are. Which is freaking rad!

Lets get to know Sanjiv Gupta is today’s Contributor Highlight.

I grew up in a middle-class home.  My parents immigrated from India in the 1960s and I was born in Philadelphia. The family moved to Memphis in 1980 when my dad took a job with a fledgling delivery company to help them design a package sorting system. Currently I live in Denver, Colorado with my wife and two daughters. I am a professional engineer working in transportation safety.  When I am not working or training, I enjoy coin collecting and archery.

Were you active as a kid?

I did not do much in terms of sports growing up.  I tried little league baseball; we played tennis as a family, and I played basketball with the neighborhood kids. In high school I ran cross country and distance events in track. My senior year, I did a triathlon. In 1989 multisport racing was a very new thing.

I started lifting in 1985 with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding, a DP Magnum bench and 110 pounds of DP standard weight plates.  I gained some confidence but was still a shy kid. When I got to college, I was initially excited by the rec center, all the club sports and the exciting facilities there. That enthusiasm was slowly replaced by fraternity life, wild parties and less than athletic endeavors. I started college as a scrawny 150-pound kid, put on the freshman 15 and then some.  The only time I worked out in earnest was senior year when I spent 6 months getting in shape for Spring Break.

My drinking continued to take precedence over my health and well being until I found myself thrown out of medical school and waiting tables (with a college degree). To turn things around, I moved to Colorado on a whim. I happened to land a tech job through a temp agency and started working out in the company fitness center.  It was a simple bodybuilding split of chest/tris; back/bis; leg day; arms/shoulders.  The happy hour crowd at the gym was great and we formed teams for basketball, flag football, softball, etc.  Colorado offered a ton of outdoor activities, and I dabbled in skiing, mountain biking and rock climbing.  I even got back into multisport racing.  Colorado is also where I met my wife and where our two daughters were born.

What came next?

After 15 years of general strength training and recreational sports, I was looking for something new (call it a midlife crisis). In 2015 I bought a Groupon for a CrossFit on ramp program and was quickly hooked. I loved the gymnastics, Olympic lifting, Powerlifting and Strongman movements. I have trained on and off at affiliates, but now train mostly at home and focus on powerlifting, running and some grip sport.  I am always excited to try new things and for my 50^th birthday, I took a trip with the family to go canyoneering in Utah.

I credit CrossFit with giving me the mental and physical toughness to survive and thrive after I got laid off from my tech job in 2017 and ended up swinging a hammer up in North Dakota frac’ing.  Going to the sparse camp gyms was enough to maintain my sanity when working 12 hour days on two week hitches away from the family.

What does your training look like today?

My programming is simple. I try to run a couple of times per week, swim once a week, 2-3 days of strength work and/or high intensity interval training.  I will usually steal high intensity interval programming from a couple of CrossFit affiliates who publish their programming.

I have never really sought to share my knowledge about lifting. I started writing a blog simply to track my workouts and that body of knowledge started to morph into a joy of writing. I have contributed articles to Garage Gym Competition (GGC) and the United State All-Round Weightlifting Association (USAWA). I have trained my now teenage daughters and sometimes my wife will work out. We quickly learned that it is better for me to train them first and then work out myself. I cannot do both at the same time.

In addition to my blog, I post on some of my events on Instagram and upload videos to YouTube.  I wanted to contribute to GGC to give a voice to the grinders who are not going to be on the big stage, don’t focus on nutrition or dialing in programming, never considered performance enhancing drugs, but just enjoy training and testing their limits. My perspective might get somebody to buy a singlet and sign up for a powerlifting meet. It might also get somebody to go out and learn a new sport.

Tell Me About Your Garage Gym

My gym is the finest training facility I have ever been in. It is equipped with the basic barbells, plates, dumbbells, rack and benches.  It is supplemented with atlas stones, sandbags, farmer’s carry handles, strongman log, yoke and axle bar. Functional fitness equipment includes plyometric boxes, wall balls, kettlebells, Olympic rings, pull-up bar, parallettes and a climbing rope.  Cardio equipment includes jump ropes, Concept2 rower and Concept 2 ski erg.  I have a set of Crossover Symmetry bands, Bandbell and a Reverse Hyper for shoulder and posterior chain health respectively.  Finally, there is a wall of grip implements.  I have been looking to purchase a sled. After using one in a Deka.Fit event, I discovered a big hole in my fitness.

I typically train by myself.  I do not have the same intensity training by myself that I did when I had a couple of lifting partners.  That conservatism has left me with fewer lost training days due to injury.  I like having my own programming and being able to switch gears around an event season.  I also don’t like trying to figure out what I am going to program in a certain week or the set/rep scheme for a specific workout.

When training my daughter, I put her through a squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press rotation.  We start with a short warm-up, lift one of the big four and then finish with some arms and/or core work.  She started lifting for sports and to look better in tank tops/crop tops.

Why The Garage Gym Competition?

I got involved with the GGC after seeing a post on social media in the Spring of 2022. I had just finished the CrossFit Open workout and was dabbling in some of the Rogue Challenges, when I came across the GGC.  I had never tried a powerlifting total and was excited to get a 750-pound total.  I would like to say that I have improved every time since then, but instead I have bounced around with a best total of 765 pounds and a worst total of 730 pounds.  I am proud of the fact that I have participated in the last four GGCs and am looking forward to the next one. I have been focusing on bench since the last GGC.

I keep coming back because I think a powerlifting total is a true indicator of fitness along with a 1 mile run time and the ability to do pull-ups.  When somebody asks, “What do you bench?” I want to answer proudly.

In addition to the GGC, I also compete in unsanctioned local powerlifting, Highland Games, All-Round Weightlifting, Grip Sport, unsanctioned Strongman, and triathlon.  Having a primary event on my calendar twice a year helps me stay focused and train consistently.  Knowing that I must be lighter for a running event or need to be strong to avoid injury during the Highland Games season gets me into the gym. 

What goes through your head before a big lift?

When I eye down a big lift (or am fatigued during a training session), all I think about is fundamentals.  I get situated, brace and execute.  When setting up to train, I will think about where the bar may end up if I miss.  You will not see me snatching next to my car, but I don’t visualize the miss.

What is the most important thing people should know about you?

I can control my attitude and when I think about enjoying the moment and what I can do to bring joy to those around me, I am a better person.

Thanks Sanjiv!

You can find more from him in the GGC Newsletter, on his Instagram, or on YouTube.