• Home
  • Features
    • Essays
    • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
    • Fitness
    • Masculine Style
  • Reviews
    • Books
  • About
    • Contact
  • JOIN OUR VIP MAILING LIST

  • SUPPORT US ON PATREON

  • Follow CHEST On

  • Home
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • Essays
  • Lifestyle
    • Masculine Style
    • Fitness
  • Reviews
    • Books
  • About
    • Contact

Elliott Hulse is Making Men Strong Again

March 25, 2022
Jack Donovan
Website | + posts

Author of The Way of Men, Becoming a Barbarian, A More Complete Beast, and Fire in the Dark.

  • Jack Donovan
    #molongui-disabled-link
    Beyond the Man Cave : Sex Pollution and the Retreat of Men from the Arts
  • Jack Donovan
    #molongui-disabled-link
    You Don’t Have to Be Very Good at Being a Man to Be a Good Man
  • Jack Donovan
    #molongui-disabled-link
    Arthur Kwon Lee - Painting and the Pursuit of Truth
  • Jack Donovan
    #molongui-disabled-link
    John Lovell - The Warrior Poet

Elliot Hulse made a name for himself when he opened his first Strength Camp gym and started promoting strongman-style strength training on YouTube in 2007. 

Since then, strongman competitions have grown and become more popular. I remember being interested in strongman training myself around that time — back when I was delivering exercise equipment — and there were far fewer resources available. You could mail-order some molds for making cement stones, or get ideas from books that became classics in the genre, like Dinosaur Training from Brooks D. Kubik. Strongman training at that time was kind of a fringe, DIY subculture for men. 

Strongman training reaches back to the primal roots of strength training — back before everything seemed to revolve around dumbbells and barbells, and long before exercise machines as we know them today were even a twinkle in anyone’s eye. 

You can easily picture a group of guys in Ancient Greece or in Scotland or just a bunch of cavemen standing around shooting the breeze.

“I bet I can lift that big rock.”

“I bet I can lift that rock and carry it farther than you can.”

“Well, I bet I can lift that log over my head.”

And they did, and there’s evidence of traditions like stone and log lifting all around the world. 

One can imagine that the guy who lost the bet went out into the woods every day for the next six weeks and lifted that stone or that log over and over again until he knew he could beat some of the other guys in the next competition. Perhaps that is the true and natural genesis of strength training. 

Many young men were and are hungry for that kind of primal physical experience. Hulse tapped into that because it was something he enjoyed and excelled at doing. And over time, he became a kind of mentor and father figure within that growing community of men. 

Over several years, his YouTube channel blew up to over a million subscribers. He found himself answering questions about fitness, naturally, but also about life and philosophy. 

Hulse told me that one of the things he really enjoyed doing at his gym was hanging out with the young men at his gym after their workouts.

“They asked me questions — because — they trusted me, about life, relationships, careers, family, and things of [that] nature. And apparently, they benefitted greatly from hearing my insights on things outside the gym.”

So he started a second YouTube channel devoted to answering questions about life outside the gym, and that also gained almost a million subscribers.

“And now, here I am sitting as a washed-up old strongman strength coach who posits as a father figure to perhaps millions of men worldwide.”

Hulse is a big personality online. High energy and right up in your face. I remember hoping that he wasn’t that way in person. I met Elliott for the first time at the 21 Convention in 2019. That online personality is obviously part of who he is, and when you get him started talking about something about which he is passionate — you definitely get that energy and authority. But Hulse is also polite and pensive, and generous. He has mature, grounded confidence. He’s not the kind of guy who has to “big-dog” a whole room. 

I snapped the photos for this article quickly in the “green room” at the 21 Convention in 2021. Hulse was in “guru mode” when I met him in 2019. But in 2021, he was looking bigger in preparation for his first strongman competition in years. His presence was stylish and athletic, and his wife was at the conference with him. I’ll also say that I thought Hulse appeared to be especially…happy. I reached out to him in early 2022 to conduct the actual interview for this article online. 

The Joy of Being a Brute

Hulse got into strongman training — and eventually competing, coaching, and YouTube — because he played football in high school and college and learned that he really enjoyed “smashing heads.” 

“It was such a joy to be a brute!”

“That’s what I’m built to do. I’m like a Mack truck. I like to smash myself and smash into things.” 

When that ended, Hulse said he felt a little lost until he discovered strongman training and eventually got his pro card in 2010. Strongman is a little less predictable than sets and reps under a bar, and Hulse thinks his YouTube audience grew because he was always doing something different — flipping tires one day and pulling a truck the next. 

He kept filming and competing and winning until he popped his bicep and stopped competing. That’s when Hulse decided he could make a bigger impact by going “all-in” on the Internet.

The Mid-Life Opportunity

Between age 30 and 40, Hulse said he was busy building a family and a brand and a business, but around 40, he stopped to re-evaluate. 

“They like to call it a mid-life crisis, and maybe it is in a way, but it is also an opportunity to take a look at your life. I took a look at my life from a helicopter view, and had to come to peace with the things that weren’t going to be, and I had to be realistic about the things that I am called to be. So I revived my love for lifting again. I can do it. It’s a gift. Why not exercise the gifts God gave me? So I decided to go back into strongman training, and I competed last year for the first time as one of the “masters” — that’s what they call the old guys.”

Elliott said he was nervous about competing again after so many years, and at 5’9”/220#, he found himself surrounded once again by much larger men. But he said he “wiped the floor with them” and “zipped through everything” and figured “this is what I am supposed to be doing.”

Hulse thinks he will continue competing in strongman, perhaps once a year. 

“I want to be OLD. I want to have gray hair and a big long beard and still be jacked and lifting stones.”

Hulse has a collection of atlas stones ranging from 100 pounds to 300 pounds, but he says there is one right in the middle — a 220 pound stone — that he has his eye on. 

“Well into my old age, maybe 80-year-old Elliott, I want to be able to pick up that stone and put it on my shoulder.”

On Becoming a Leader of Men

We talked about his evolution from being a strength coach to becoming a leader of men. Hulse admitted that he got carried away with it for a while and convinced himself that he was changing men’s lives — which he absolutely does — and changing the world. But eventually, he felt that he was becoming prideful and needed to humble himself, and he wanted to make it clear that, at the end of the day, he’s just a man. 

“I give my opinion on stuff. That’s what I do.” 

Hulse also felt the weight and responsibility of being a leader, and he wants to make sure he’s leading men in the right direction.

“When I die, it’s true that God’ is going to judge me, and he’s going to say, ‘Look, you had all these guys — and THIS is where you led them?”

“We are suffering as a people because men are weak, men have been feminized, men have been subverted in their powers in the home and in the world.”

Hulse explained that because of this dire situation, the sentiment that motivates his work of “answering questions and giving opinions” is his belief that we can only restore what is lacking in the world today by “making men strong again.” 

Estranged from Our Own Nature

I asked him what problems he encounters most with younger men, but he pointed out that so much of the confusion he sees in young men today is a consequence of the breakdown of the family. They’re confused because their fathers weren’t present, or they were effeminate or incompetent. He attributes this to the proliferation of communist ideology in the West after the Bolshevik revolution. “If you want to break down the power structures in the home, you make women hate men.” 

While men are often accused of misogyny, Hulse said he doesn’t see a lot of it out there. He admits that there are some angry men — some of them justifiably angry about what has been done to the family and the country — but Hulse believes that we see far more misandry than true misogyny in the world today. 

“We’re living in a matriarchal world, where men are trained to think in a gynocentric, pro-feminist way — which, number one, is not attractive to women at all. It destroys relationships, it destroys the authority structure that is important to any organization”

“Men are so estranged from our own nature.”

Hulse credits much of his understanding of this to having been lucky enough to grow up with an “alpha male dad.” Elliott’s father is from Belize, and he “grew up in the jungle.” His father grew up around manly men who “climbed trees and killed things.” Elliot’s father wasn’t indoctrinated in the school systems with “all the garbage that keeps us weak.” Elliott was, however, and when he was younger he said that he resented his father and thought he was “some kind of caveman.”

Hulse said he couldn’t relate to his father or really understand him until he was in his late twenties or early thirties. He slowly started to realize that, “I and everyone else had this backwards, and my dad’s been right the entire time.” 

“Some people said I had become toxic, but really, I’ve atoned with my father and recognized who I really am, and this is what the world needs: strong fathers.”

On Raising Daughters

Elliott Hulse has one son, but he also has three daughters, and he had some thoughts about raising daughters in our upside-down world with a patriarchal mindset, “without making them hate me.” He told me that he prides himself on creating an environment where his daughters can learn to be like their mother, who he described as a great wife and a great mother to her children. 

Elliott chuckled and told me that he has some selfish motives involved in his work with young men. “There’s no way I’m going to send my daughters off with any of these weak, weird men.”

Hulse says part of what he is doing is “planting seeds” in a generation of men so that hopefully, some of them will make good husbands for his daughters. 

He also observed that so many alpha male types “raise their daughters to compete with men. So they raise their daughters to be alpha women. They’re doing a total disservice to men. by teaching your daughter that “you don’t need any man.” 

“Hold on, buddy. That’s not your son. You want to do us a favor here by allowing your daughter to be feminine. Especially in a world that’s so anti-sexual polarity — because it’s anti-male and it’s anti-female. As much as it is gynocentric, it’s not feminine. It’s a perverted form of female nature that they’re promoting. And so, if we’re going to get this all right, it can’t just be us men making men strong, somebody, somewhere, at some point has to make these women wife-worthy.”

I asked him about some of the challenges he’s encountered in the process of raising daughters, and he said that the primary challenge was dealing with the prevailing culture. 

“Everywhere you look, every movie you watch, every series on Netflix, every song you hear sung, everywhere you look — it’s feminists and feminism. It’s teaching men how to be effeminate and teaching women how to be feminists.”

Hulse explained that part of the problem is the way that people from the 1960s forward have been trained to see generations laterally instead of vertically — identifying primarily with their same-age peers instead of their parents, ancestors, and extended families.

“Children feel the need to separate themselves from the vertical integration of the family. There was a time before this idea of “generations” when a son would want to behave more like his father and grandfather because there was wisdom there. Now it is a matter of ‘this is what my friends are doing, this is what the movies are doing, this is what the Zeitgeist is all about — and my parents are dumb.’”

He says his strategy for combatting all of the ideological propaganda slipped into cartoons and entertainment and the attempts to turn children against their parents is to point it out immediately when he sees it and talk about it with them.

“A lot of dads leave the raising of their daughters up to their mothers. We don’t know what to do — they don’t even know how to be men, so they don’t want to interfere with these girls. But we need to be able to understand the enemy and point it out to our children. I would hear my daughter say certain things — and I’d say ‘whoah, I know you heard that on a YouTube video and that’s what your friends are saying, but you have to understand that that’s not realistic and you have to understand that is, in fact, a form of ideological subversion meant to destroy your psyche and your soul and ultimately your life because that doesn’t work in a family.”

“With my daughters especially I plant the seed that family is the most important thing that you will achieve in your life.”

He noted that they also see bad examples in their friends’ homes, and he believes it’s important to point that out, too. 

We ended our discussion with some shop talk about censorship. Hulse says he’s been banned, shadow-banned, and de-monetized on several platforms. But he said he realizes that the idea that we get to use these platforms and advertising channels for free to disseminate our messages is very new. People always had to “pay to play,” and he is working on investing in other channels and outlets so that, no matter what happens, he can keep making men strong. 

Related

atlas stonesbig techcensorshipelliott hulsefatherhoodleadershipmanhoodmasculinitypropagandastrengthstrength trainingstrongmanyoutube
Share

Features  / Front Page  / Interviews

Jack Donovan
Author of The Way of Men, Becoming a Barbarian, A More Complete Beast, and Fire in the Dark.

You might also like

You Don’t Have to Be Very Good at Being a Man to Be a Good Man
June 2, 2022
Masculinity, Morality & The Problem of Identity
May 25, 2022
John Lovell – The Warrior Poet
January 10, 2022
  • Warrior Poet Society
  • SIGN UP FOR OUR VIP MAILING LIST

  • SUPPORT US ON PATREON

  • chestmagazine

    chestmagazine
    New essay, in which @tannerguzy breaks down the ri New essay, in which @tannerguzy breaks down the rite of passage he just put his son through is now live on the site.
    One of our main objectives here at Chest is to spe One of our main objectives here at Chest is to spend less time and energy lamenting the present and more on building the future. 

The subject for our latest feature - @fendevilliers - typifies this approach. He is not naive to the current state of the world, but he is focused on helping to build a better one. 

Go check out his interview, give him a follow, and appreciate the beauty, strength, and ambition of his art.
    Spirit and Science - one of the many seemingly con Spirit and Science - one of the many seemingly contradictory pairs we see in life that, upon real scrutiny and honest assessment prove to be dependent on each other in their best form. 

Check out the latest piece from @caffeineandphilosophy and learn more about the crucial and historical relationship between the two.
    Now that we’re neck deep in winter, you may be r Now that we’re neck deep in winter, you may be realizing your coat game is lacking - maybe in function, or form, or both. 

We just published an article with two coat recommendations that will not only keep you warm but also make sure you’re looking your best from the most casual to most formal situations - and everything in between.
    I took this photo of John Lovell from @warriorpoet I took this photo of John Lovell from @warriorpoetsociety before interviewing him for @chestmagazine. I wouldn’t have chosen a beach scene for John if I’d had better options — but we were in Cancun and I had to work with what was available. As soon as I edited the photo, I texted it to John with the words “Charlie Don’t Surf.” With the cigar and the palm trees and John’s look — and his Special Operations background — it immediately gave that “Apocalypse Now” vibe. As Bob Ross would say, it was a “happy accident.” ⁣
⁣
Read the interview with John at CHEST and share it wherever you can. John’s a mover and a shaker in the world right now when it comes to advocating masculinity, fighting censorship, and protecting our freedoms. ⁣
⁣
We can complain about who the mainstream media lifts up as exemplars, or we can choose who we want to elevate ourselves — and that is part of CHEST magazine’s mission. We have a Patreon if you want to help us pay the bills and produce more quality content. ⁣— @starttheworld 
⁣
#⁣chestmagazine #menwithchests #johnlovell #warriorpoet #warriorpoetsociety #charliedontsurf #apocalypsenow #portraitphotography #portrait #masculineenergy #masculinity #specialforces #cinematic #cinematicphotography #heroes #idealism #bobross #happyaccident
    New interviews and articles up @chestmagazine toda New interviews and articles up @chestmagazine today with @ryanmichler and @johnlovell_wps . Also an essay on C.S. Lewis’ Abolition of Man from @praxisofman as well as an essay on anger from @zebulonmccain and an article on offsetting central fatigue from @liftrunbang1.0.
    Most therapists are anti-masculinity and probably Most therapists are anti-masculinity and probably even anti-male — and the industry certainly is, as a whole. But we know a few therapists who work to help men. Dr. Shawn T. Smith is a therapist working out of Colorado, and @tannerguzy interviewed him for the latest drop of CHEST magazine. Check out the article titled, “Men Would Rather Do X, Y, and/or Z Than Go To Therapy.” Also check out Dr. Smith’s books, including “The Tactical Guide to Women,” and “The Practical Guide to Men.” 
.
Photo: Adobe Stock, Statue of Freud, Prague.
.
#freud #therapist #therapistformen #psychology #psychologist #masculinity #drshawntsmith #tacticalguidetowomen #menwillliterally
    “A gritty exploration of the struggles of everyd “A gritty exploration of the struggles of everyday Americans and the search for happiness.” @praxisofman reviewed @jockowillink ‘s new novel for CHEST magazine. The book comes out soon and you can pre-order it on Amazon now. Big thanks to @ryanmichler for getting @chestmagazine an advance copy of the book.
.
#finalspin #jockowillink #jocko #chestmagazine #novel #fiction #bookreviews #books #booksformen
    Load More... Follow on Instagram
  • Chest MagazineFollow

    Chest Magazine
    Retweet on TwitterChest Magazine Retweeted
    DrSchmoeDr. Schmoe@DrSchmoe·
    13 Jun

    A great article by @ph2t3r at @ChestMagazine He says a lot of things that have been in my head, but I didn't know how to say. https://chestmagazine.com/2022/06/13/beyond-the-man-cave-sex-pollution-and-the-retreat-of-men-from-the-arts/

    Reply on Twitter 1536479784682782720Retweet on Twitter 15364797846827827201Like on Twitter 15364797846827827201Twitter 1536479784682782720
    Retweet on TwitterChest Magazine Retweeted
    tannerguzyTanner Guzy@tannerguzy·
    15 Jun

    Fantastic article from ⁦@ph2t3r⁩ over at ⁦@ChestMagazine⁩ on men as culture creators. https://chestmagazine.com/2022/06/13/beyond-the-man-cave-sex-pollution-and-the-retreat-of-men-from-the-arts/

    Reply on Twitter 1537187730735583232Retweet on Twitter 15371877307355832324Like on Twitter 153718773073558323223Twitter 1537187730735583232
    Retweet on TwitterChest Magazine Retweeted
    praxisofmanCameron Dixon 🪓☠️🪶@praxisofman·
    2 Jun

    @ph2t3r wrote a great response to my latest article for @ChestMagazine.

    Although he and I come to different conclusions, I agree with much of what Jack says and the importance of his nuanced approach.

    He raised some great points. Check it out. https://twitter.com/ph2t3r/status/1532419853625065472

    Jack Donovan@ph2t3r

    My response to @praxisofman ’s essay in @ChestMagazine , which argued that you have to be good at being a man to be a good man.

    https://chestmagazine.com/2022/06/02/you-dont-have-to-be-very-good-at-being-a-man-to-be-a-good-man/

    Reply on Twitter 1532422555235143684Retweet on Twitter 15324225552351436842Like on Twitter 153242255523514368411Twitter 1532422555235143684
    Retweet on TwitterChest Magazine Retweeted
    ph2t3rJack Donovan@ph2t3r·
    2 Jun

    My response to @praxisofman ’s essay in @ChestMagazine , which argued that you have to be good at being a man to be a good man.

    https://chestmagazine.com/2022/06/02/you-dont-have-to-be-very-good-at-being-a-man-to-be-a-good-man/

    Reply on Twitter 1532419853625065472Retweet on Twitter 15324198536250654723Like on Twitter 153241985362506547212Twitter 1532419853625065472
    Retweet on TwitterChest Magazine Retweeted
    ph2t3rJack Donovan@ph2t3r·
    25 May

    In a new essay for @ChestMagazine, @praxisofman wonders if one can truly be a good man without being good at being a man.

    https://chestmagazine.com/2022/05/25/masculinity-morality-the-problem-of-identity/

    Reply on Twitter 1529480405992148992Retweet on Twitter 15294804059921489925Like on Twitter 152948040599214899212Twitter 1529480405992148992
  • Follow CHEST On



  • CHEST MAGAZINE

    ABOUT
    CONTACT

     

  • Sign up for our VIP Mailing List

    Subscribe to get our latest content by email.

      We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.
      Built with ConvertKit

    © Copyright Chest Productions LLC