I got a chance to talk to Tyler after a hugely sucessful weekend in Boston on August 8.  There he bested all his competitors by winning four out of the five events.  Congratulations, Tyler, on your dominating performance!  Here is my interview with him:

ET: What is your athletic background?

Tyler: My athletic background lies in football. I played all throughout middle and high school. In high school I played middle linebacker, leading the team in tackles my junior year and was awarded all conference during both my junior and senior year. I went on to play a year of college football at the University of Saint Mary , where I started at defensive end and led the team in sacks.  I stopped playing college football after one season to pursue strongman at a more serious pace

ET: How long have you been lifting weights?  Who got you involved in lifting?

Tyler: I started lifting weights as a freshman in high school, like most football players do. Lifting wasn’t mandatory, but all of the upperclassmen did it often, so I took it seriously from an early age.

ET: How did you get involved in strongman?

Tyler: I was introduced to strongman by Justin Cantwell, a strength athlete and personal trainer who introduced me to strength athletics during the winter of my junior year at the 8th Street YMCA in Kansas City , Kansas . Justin was previously a powerlifter, but had began competing in these “strongman competitions” around the time I met him. I never really thought anything of it, and definitely thought it wasn’t for me. About two years later, Justin decided to promote his first strongman competition. After a lot of prodding from Justin, I agreed to enter the competition. I ended up taking 2nd out of 7 in the 231 division, and from then on I was hooked.  

ET: What are your strongman experiences prior to nationals 2009?

Tyler: Before 2009 NAS Teenage Nationals, I had competed in 6 competitions, gradually getting better and better as time wore on. After I did Justin’s competiton and did pretty well, Justin convinced me that I should give the 2008 Teenage National competition a shot. I went up there, but quickly realized I was way over my head. I definitely wasn’t prepared to compete on the national level and my performance showed. I took 8th out of 16. 2009 has been great however. In February, I took 4th out of 13 in the middleweights at Topeka ’s Strongest Man, and took 3rd out of 8 in the middleweights at the Missouri ’s Strongest Man competition in April. In June, I won the first ever NAS Collegiate Strongman National competition as a heavyweight. This competition was run in conjunction with Kansas Strongest Man, which I was also entered in as a middleweight. I took 4th out of 10 here.  

ET: What is your training like.  Where do you train, and who with? How did it change going into nationals?

Tyler: I train 4 days out of the week. On Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, I train at the 8th street YMCA of Kansas City, Kansas. For my Saturday event training, I’m a proud member of the Belton Hanger in Belton , Missouri .  Monday is my overhead day. I mainly press with a 12” log or an axle. Whichever one gets more attention depends on what I have in my next competition. Tuesday is my lower body training day, where I usually do a squat variation (safety bar squats, box squats, zurcher squats, ect.) followed by 3 or 4 of excerises like glute-ham raises and reverse hyperextensions to really hammer the posterior chain. After I finish this, I usually will do some ab work. Thursday is a repetive effort training day, and its mainly upperbody work. Saturday is my event work day. I usually stick to three or four events, and what I train usually depends on the competition I have coming up. When a competiton isn’t looming, I like to spend my time practicing the bread and butter events like the yoke, farmers walk, tire flip, and atlas stones. You can always plan on seeing these events at meets and if you aren’t good at them, success is not in your near future. About 8 weeks out from Teen Nationals, and right after I won Collegiate Nationals on June 6th was when I decided I was going to give strongman everything I had. I seriously tweaked my training to attack some of my glaring weaknesses like muscular imbalance in my legs and lack of core strength. I also started to drastically improve my overall GPP with sled work and other conditioning tools. I knew If I wanted to be the best in Boston , I needed to be able to give it everything for the whole five rounds. 

ET: Describe your nationals experience to me?

Tyler: Nationals was one of the greatest experiences of my entire life. My training partner, Josh Aguilar and I trained as hard as we possibly could have for this competition. Having all of my family there made it really special too. I got to travel to an amazing city, win a national title, meet some great competitors, talk to America ’s Strongest Man, Derek Poundstone, and see my training partner and best friend have an amazing competiton. What’s not to love about it?

ET: So where do you go after winning Teen nationals?  What are your goals?

Tyler: Teen Nationals has only left me hungrier for more success. I know if I keep working as hard as I have been, more success will follow. I am very ambitious and I hope to be competing for an ASC heavyweight pro card in the next two to three years. I love this sport, I’m pouring everything I have into it, and I’m not going to stop until that pro card is mine.  

ET: What is your life like outside of strongman?

Tyler: Life outside of strongman…I need to work on this. Sometimes, I get so caught up in this sport that I need a reminder that Strongman isn’t everything. When I’m not busy with college, I like to spend my free time relaxing for the most part. I’ve been dating a girl for three years named Morgan that I enjoy spending time with. When I’m not with her, I’m probably hanging out with Josh or my brother Logan..

ET: Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.  And Congrats again on your NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!  Way to represent KCSTRONGMAN!!!