Who is Mehdi & Why is He Doing This?

Hi, my name is Mehdi. I’m the author & founder of StrongLifts.com. I’m 27 & live in Belgium. This page will give you more info about how I got into strength training & weight lifting, and eventually started StrongLifts.com

Mehdi
Personal Stats

  • Body-weight: 72kg (158lbs)
  • Body fat: 10% year-round
  • Height: 1m73 (5’8”)
  • Never used drugs or steroids


Raw Strength Stats

  • Olympic Squat: 140kg (308lbs)
  • Front Squat: 132.5kg (291lbs)
  • Overhead Squat: 70kg (154lbs)
  • Power Clean: 95kg (209lbs)
  • Overhead Press: 62,5kg (137,5lbs)
  • Deadlift: 160kg (352lbs)
  • Weighted Pull-Ups: 30kg (66lbs)
  • Weighted Dips: 37,5kg (82,5lbs)




1996. After losing arm wresting to my friends, and to a girl, I decide to build strength doing push-ups. The first time I try them I can’t do a single rep.


1998. I can do 70 push-ups in a row on my knuckles. My shoulders, chest & arms have developed from the daily push-ups.


Summer 1999. School ends & I subscribe to a gym with 2 friends. They quit 1 month later. I continue alone, doing the gym instructor’s bodybuilding routine.


2000. I meet Nico. He’s my age, strong & muscular, and seems to know what he’s doing. He lets me workout with him. First time I do Squats. I puke. My legs hurt for 4 days. During the next 2 years we’ll workout 5x/week, 52 weeks/year.


2001. One guy at the gym says, “You progressed well. One year ago you were a skinny guy”. I’ve gained 10kg and Squat 1.5x my body-weight. I’m not aware of protein intakes, carbs, etc. I just train hard & eat 5 healthy meals daily.


Summer 2002. Nico quits weight lifting to focus on his studies. First time I train alone again. More & more people at the gym come to me for advice after seeing how I look & workout. I help them out.

I get my first job. I learn how to mix going to the gym & eating healthy when working shifts. I don’t like my job, so I spend most of my days reading about weight lifting and helping people on Internet forums.


2003. I lose interest in bodybuilding. But I fear losing my physique if I train for strength. I start doing Max-OT: a mix of bodybuilding & strength training.


March 2004. The gym instructor doesn’t like people coming to me for advice, especially since my advice is different than his. The son of of the gym instructor happens to date the gym manager. They throw me out of the gym.


August 2004. The new gym I go to is not the same. Plastic dumbbells, barbells without middle knurling, too far from home, etc. I don’t use machines a lot anymore and I’ve got place at home. So I build my home gym.


2005. I can’t lift without pain in my lower back & shoulders anymore. I find out I lift with incorrect technique, lack flexibility & have bad posture. I reduce the weights, relearn how to lift, and work on flexibility & posture.

I’m forced to rely on barbell exercises now that I train at home. I come across Bill Starr’s routine. It has no isolation exercises. I once again fear losing the physique I’ve built. I decide to give it a try for 2 months. I never go back.


2006. I teach friends & colleagues how to Squat & Deadlift in my home gym. Everywhere I go I get questions like: “How many times per week should I go to the gym?”, “Which exercises should I do?”, “What should I eat?”

But I’m living the Rat Race. I read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad“. Eye-opening. I set as goal to find something better to do with my life within the next 5 years. “The Law of Success“ prepares me for what’s to come.


February 2007. Conversation between Nico & me. He gives me the idea to teach others what I’ve learned during the last 10 years. At first I think, “Isn’t there enough information on building muscle & strength training already?”

No. Most websites are full of myths & misinformation. You need to dig deep to find what works. I decide to start a blog about how to build muscle & lose fat through strength training. Deadline: May 1st.


May 1st 2007. StrongLifts.com goes online. May 13th 2007 I decide to quit my job. My company and I settle July 31th 2007 as the end of my career. This blog becomes my full time occupation. I never regretted resigning.


Today. StrongLifts.com gets 200,000+ monthly visitors. 9500+ subscribers read the daily articles. I’ve so far shared what I’ve learned during the past 10 years in 200+ articles.

If it’s your first time here, start by downloading my free eBook on how I build muscle & lose fat through strength training and how you can too. Click here to download my 52 pages eBook for free.

Comments are closed.