Author’s Note:
For the record, GMB stands for Gold Medal Bodies — a movement-based training organization that focuses on building strength, mobility, and control that actually works in real life, not just inside a gym.
Before I pursue their Level 1 Coach certification (because yes, I’m seriously considering it and want to level up my repertoire), I wanted to document where I’m starting from, what I’ve learned the messy way, and why this path even makes sense for someone like me.
This is less a résumé and more a field report from the chaos trenches.
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Learning to Be Chaotic Life Strong, Not Athlete Strong
I’ve had a lot of time to play with different training programs: boxing-inspired circuits, football conditioning, wrestling drills, bro-splits, calisthenics routines, you name it. My logic was simple:
If I trained like an athlete, maybe I’d become stronger, faster, and harder to mess with — even as a regular person.
And to be fair, I did get stronger.
But… then real life slapped me in the face.
I’d get winded pushing a grocery cart up a slight incline.
I’d struggle carrying my groceries out of the cart, into the car, out of the car, up the steps, and into the house.
I’d finish a “monster workout” only to be absolutely useless at my actual job.
It was embarrassing, despite being the only one who knew this.
I was young, healthy, training hard…
And I couldn’t perform basic human tasks without feeling like I was about to collapse.
What was wrong with me?
Turns out nothing was “wrong.” I just discovered that the way I was training — and the way most people train — doesn’t transfer well to real life.
That realization hit me like a medicine ball to the ribs.
Suddenly, I had a swarm of uncomfortable questions:
• How does bench-pressing more than my bodyweight help me haul trash bags or move boxes at work?
• How does eating “clean” 24/7 help me reach my goals if I’m miserable, under-fueled, and ready to bite someone?
• Why is my “gym strength” not showing up when I actually need it?
It was distressing. Everything I “knew” about fitness felt flimsy.
Because what if I wasn’t training for:
• the NFL
• the UFC
• the Olympics
• the military
• or any other institution that requires an identity and lifestyle I don’t want?
What if all I wanted was to be capable, mobile, adaptable, and strong in the weird, unpredictable ways my life expects from me?
What then?
That question — what then? — kickstarted five years of experimentation, logging, testing, failing, recovering, and trying again.
Some days I trained intensely.
Some days I did active rest.
Some days I said “fuck this” and didn’t train for weeks.
All of it went into the log.
Because all of it was data.
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How Shows Like Physical 100 Broke My Brain (in a Good Way)
A huge part of why I’m pursuing this style of training came from watching shows like:
• Physical 100 (Korea)
• Physical: Asia
• Siren: Survive the Island
They exposed how incomplete athletic training can be depending on the demands.
CrossFitters struggled with grip tasks.
Bodybuilders gassed out.
Martial artists couldn’t always apply leverage under unusual constraints.
People who looked like “monsters” on paper were suddenly ordinary.
And some people — including a few women — surprised me by pushing back against bigger, stronger opponents.
It was fascinating.
It also validated the exact questions I’d been asking myself.
Because even with all my job demands (heavy lifting, pushing thousands of pounds of product, long hours on my feet) I don’t think I would survive half of Physical 100’s challenges.
But I want to.
Not to win.
Just to see what I’m capable of.
Just to show up and make it difficult for someone to run me over.
GMB’s approach — strength + mobility + control + adaptability — clicked perfectly with that goal.
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Why I’m Writing This as a Pre-Certification Bio
This isn’t a “look how fit I am” intro.
This is:
• the starting line
• the messy context
• the real-life background that traditional fitness ignores
• and the mindset behind why I want to be a coach in the first place
I’m not trying to become an athlete.
I’m trying to become chaotic life strong — resilient, adaptable, useful, capable in unpredictable environments, and confident in how my body moves through the world.
And confidently push a grocery cart up the smallest of inclines too.
GMB feels like the right framework to refine what I already know and fill in the gaps I’ve collected through years of experimenting alone.
So this is my pre-GMB bio — where I’m coming from, what I’ve realized, and what I’m heading toward next.
Reflection Questions for Your Own Training Journey
Before you bounce, take a minute to check in with yourself:
• Are you training for the life you actually live, or the life you think you should be living?
• Do your workouts make your real-life tasks easier — or just make you tired on top of tired?
• Where are you strong on paper but weak in practice?
• What tasks in your daily or job life expose the gaps in your fitness?
• What part of you wants to become “chaotic life strong” — and what’s stopping you from exploring it?
• If you took away aesthetic goals and athlete fantasies, what kind of movement would you genuinely enjoy?
• What skill, sport, or discipline secretly interests you but you’ve never allowed yourself to try?
• Are you tracking the things that actually matter to you — or the things you think you’re supposed to measure?
• What would you want your body to be capable of in the next year, if “looking fit” wasn’t even on the table?
Answer them out loud, in a journal, or while staring at the ceiling at 2am — whatever fits your chaos.
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Call to Action
If you vibed with this, learned something, or felt unusually called out in a helpful way, you can:
• Like this post
• Share it with someone who trains but hates the gym-robot approach
• Subscribe to The Stratagems Archive
• Or honestly?
Just sit here quietly and soak in the fact that you made it all the way to the end.
Either way, thanks for spending time in the Archives — it means more than you think.
Now go train for the life you actually live, not the fantasy highlight reel everyone thinks they need.
Check out My More Than Muscle Articles
- More Than Muscle: My No-Gym, No-Excuse Home Setup
- More Than Muscle: Becoming Strong on My Own Terms
- More Than Muscle: What Real Strength Looks Like to Me.
- More Than Muscle: Living on the Edge of Sleep
- More Than Muscle: What I Eat to Survive—Built on Stubbornness and Spite
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