VikramDeshpande

Vikram is the reason there is eighteen metres of turf down one side of the room and a pair of farmer’s handles leaning against the wall. He competes in strongman at a regional level, which mostly means picking up objects that were not designed to be picked up.

He is also, slightly against expectation, the coach most concerned with people not hurting themselves. Odd-object lifting is unforgiving of a sloppy setup and he coaches accordingly.

How he coaches

By making you do it slowly first. A sandbag over the shoulder is not a complicated movement but it is a fast one, and Vikram will have you do it at half speed with half the weight until the position is right.

His conditioning classes are the ones people describe as the worst and then come back to. Sleds and carries do not look like much written on a board.

What he is less good at

Programming a long block. He is a specialist and he knows it — if you want twelve weeks planned out, that is Aditya’s job, and Vikram will tell you so.