MIke's Power Pit

07/09/2017

Yes, It's true. For all those who are not already aware, I have taken a position in the Tri-Cities and no longer have any reason to stay in Pullman. My best efforts to pass the gym on to a new owner failed, and it is now closed.

05/17/2017

Well, well-- it looks like there are people here in Pullman that want to be big and strong after all!

04/08/2017

I've been slacking on my social media "responsibilities" lately. We have a new member and trainer-- Dustin Edwards, who will be with us while he and his wife are at the University of Idaho.

I'm thinking that between Dustin, Angela and me we can accommodate any shape, size, goal, etc. with either classes, evaluations, coaching or one-on-one personal training.

03/28/2017

Had a great weekend with my friend and mentor Ryan Kennelly, sharing the joy of the bench press with a great group.

02/11/2017

An ode to MgCO3.

02/07/2017

The evening crew gets it's lift on at 7pm. If you want to see the pit in action swing by and check it out.

02/02/2017

It's all coming together and we are up and running. Come check it out.

01/08/2017

Well, we are going back to High School!

I will not be held liable for anyone having nightmares that they are late for class, and sit down to figure out that they are naked—I know that you have had that dream too, don’t lie.

None the less, I have found a new home for the Pit. Our new, suitably below grade home is in the basement of the old Pullman High building. When the district upgraded, the building was bought by a consortium of community minded folk who didn’t want the brick and terracotta fortress of education torn down. Now called the Gladish Community and Cultural Center, the building houses projects ranging from a daycare to an applied mathematics think-tank. Since there is some room to spare, small, independent, awesome businesses like mine can apply to rent space here as well.

There is a massage therapist at the other end of the hall, who will hopefully appreciate the challenge and the increased business. There are at least 4 rooms big enough to hold a meet that I can rent, not counting the 900-seat theater. There is also an open mic night the first Tuesday of the month—one day when am swole and famous, I’ll gather the kiddies around and explain how Frank Sinatra saved their gym.

Let’s just say “I did it myyyyyyyyyy wayyyyyy”

So we are back on a roll with only a minor delay. Tentatively planning moving day for the 14 or 15 th. Yes, I would appreciate help, thank you for offering. PM me. Pending the Benchmonster's schedule, we should have a grand opening the 21st.

01/03/2017

Elsa came to visit, and “Let it go” all over the #*&^%$ # door!

During our initial move in, no snow had been cleared. So I “shared some vision” with the landlord. Once I finally raised someone on the phone they were as surprised as I was. Apparently, the snow removal service had a breakdown of their plow, and didn’t feel obligated to tell anyone about this. Within a day or two this got fixed and I thought we were off to the races.

NOT!

Within a few days of my actually doing anything in the gym, I was greeted to a 2-inch-thick wall of ice, where the door had once been, and it took the remainder of the week to free the door, so that it can be opened from the inside. The lock is still stuffed with ice, so I’m using the roll up door to get in. This was a problem that was going to be taken up with the landlord, until I got the power bill.

If you’re not from the northwest having an expensive power bill may not be shocking, but in the land of hydropower we pay roughly half the national average for electricity. When I opened the bill and saw that it was very nearly as much as the rent I just assumed it was an error. After all, I pay less than 9 cents per kilowatt hour for power. My heater is on a 30-amp breaker so that’s 240v X 30 A= 7200W at most, probably closer to 5000W, so there is no way I could use 360 dollars of electricity (4 MILLION Watt-hours!) That would mean that despite the fact that the heater was set just high enough to keep the gym above freezing, it ran 24 hours a day!

So now I get to break a lease and go find a new location. I can happily report that the management company is being understanding- but It will be a tense few days. As is usually the case, I am teetering between things totally blowing up in my face or being the most awesome thing to ever happen.

Stay tuned about the timing of our grand opening, which will likely change a bit!

12/23/2016

Another installment of the Mike’s Power Pit saga is in the books. Chris M. and I have made a pilgrimage to Portland, and picked up an entire truckload of equipment for the gym. Chris Duffin had told me that he had saved some things for my new gym. “Some things” is apparently an entire U-Haul for Chris, who has never been one for moderation, except perhaps in moderation.

This whole picture pretty much sums up the sort of friends that I have. A typical group of “muscleheads”-- I am the least educated adult in the picture, because I only have 1 master’s degree! Not everyone will drive 7 hours each way with you to help you run an errand, and not everyone will set aside a gym worth of equipment for you when they are upgrading their own gym. Not pictured, but no less awesome friends are Mr. Kevin Wells who was kind enough to put us up, and Jim Freeda, who insisted on making sure I got a massage before I left (like I was going to argue).

Needless to say, the gym Looks a lot more like a gym now that there is equipment inside of it. Our opening schedule is looking a lot more feasible now than it did before as well, Feasible enough that I can now say that I am planning a grand opening on the 14th of January. I am also pleased to report that another great friend and beast among men, Ryan Kennelly, will be coming out for opening day. I will be getting the schedule of events out ASAP. If you want a big bench, you will want to come to see and hear what Ryan has to present.

12/08/2016

I was thrilled when I read this, because I have gotten to hear Dr. McGill speak, and heard about his experiences with the Msrs. Tsatsouline, and even more thrilled to see several of my old saws get written up by a NY Times Best selling author.

Human flight in the form of judo. (Photo: Fabiogis50) Pavel Tsatsouline was punching me in the ass. It’s not every day that you have a former Soviet Special Forces instructor punch you in the butt cheeks.