Dripping sweat, his face drained and his body seemingly
exhausted, Tyler Hogeman had one last run in him. And even that
seemed like an improbable long shot. A 17-year-old incoming senior
at San Benito High School, Hogeman doesn’t play any sports, yet
delivered more of an athletic push than what transpires on a
football field any given Friday night. And he pretty much did it
for himself.
TRES PINOS
Dripping sweat, his face drained and his body seemingly exhausted, Tyler Hogeman had one last run in him.
And even that seemed like an improbable long shot.
A 17-year-old incoming senior at San Benito High School, Hogeman doesn’t play any sports, yet delivered more of an athletic push than what transpires on a football field any given Friday night.
And he pretty much did it for himself.
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Lifting a combined 260 pounds, with 130-pound bench bars in each arm, Hogeman did a farmer’s walk for 15 feet, dropped the weight, then sprinted 75 yards up a steep, ragged incline in the dry, 90-degree heat in Tres Pinos.
At the top, he then pulled 75 pounds some 30 feet up the hill he had just previously climbed.
“It’s kind of different,” Hogeman said afterward. “It keeps it entertaining.”
These aren’t your normal type of training methods, but then again, the gym that provides such instruction, Hunter Cuneo’s Strength Beyond Strength in Tres Pinos, isn’t your typical gym, either.
Although, that was part of the point when Cuneo opened the gym several months back. Using different techniques than some of those offered at other gyms, Cuneo says he does not sell an image, which is easier to understand upon visiting his place of business.
Even the word “gym” is substituted for “a movement of the physical underground” on the establishment’s website.
“It’s the way I’ve always trained, out of garages, shacks,” said Cuneo, 31. “It’s the atmosphere I think is needed for guys who want to go to the next level.”
Located off Airline Highway in Tres Pinos, the relatively small, dark shack is perhaps more reflective of an old barn than of a building that previously housed fire trucks, let alone a new gymnasium. The floor is concrete, but mostly padded; the walls are wood with exposed beams, although the outside is corrugated metal.
It’s rather minimalist, in fact. There are no mirrors; there is no juice bar. Supplements are not sold, and the only conversation among those in training is positive feedback and reinforcement.
In other words, there are no distractions. It’s a rugged, intense atmosphere, which is exactly what Cuneo is shooting for. Hopefully, he believes, that atmosphere will help instill both the physical and mental strengths that lead to healthy living.
“When you come into a barn and there’s just weights in it, you know there’s work to do,” said Ralph Morden, another one of Cuneo’s clients, who instead of lifting 130-pound bench bars like Hogeman did during the farmer’s walk, opted to twice lift a 175-pound concrete Atlas Stone above his shoulders before chugging uphill.
“When you’re running up a hill and competing against yourself,” added Morden, a deputy sheriff in San Benito County, “it becomes a pastime instead of a chore.”
Strength Beyond Strength has attracted a wide-range of clients so far. Training the obvious athletic types, including some football players and wrestlers from San Benito High School, Cuneo has also seen 9 year old Little League players enter his establishment, as well as middle-aged women.
But it’s not for everyone, he said — only those “committed and driven.”
While Cuneo’s Tres Pinos gym — or “strength cave,” as it is often referred to as, which is more appropriate anyway — does include some of the more traditional machines one might find in a more commercialized establishment, those machines remain few and far between, and it’s the more primitive training methods Cuneo employs that set Strength Beyond Strength apart.
The farmer’s walk is only scratching the surface.
“Humans were born playing,” Morden said. “It’s something to look forward to. It’s your play time.”
Lifting stones, sandbags, logs and tractor tires, the smallest of which is 350 pounds, is included after extensive training (Morden, for instance, has been training with Cuneo for four months). Cuneo calls it “Primal Training,” which is “simply training in a way that fits our genes,” and, at its very core, includes lifting heavy objects, carrying heavy objects, and sprinting and jumping explosively.
But lifting odd objects isn’t necessarily the central theme here; part of Cuneo’s philosophy centers on keeping the movement really intense in a short amount of time, which may sound similar to CrossFit, another strength and conditioning movement. But Morden, 33, who is also a CrossFit trainer and Marine Corps reservist, said CrossFit uses metabolic conditioning as its base.
Cuneo cuts down on what he believes are unnecessary movements, keeps the exercises simple and uncomplicated, and uses strength training as his base.
“It increases bone density, which most of us lose later in life,” Morden said. “He makes that his cornerstone. It makes sense.”
After graduating from San Benito High and living in Sacramento, where he was a full-time investment banker and part-time strength trainer, conducting workout sessions out of a two-car garage, Cuneo recently returned to his hometown of Hollister to, as he said, “take the full leap.”
“It’s always been my passion,” said Cuneo, who has been a competitive powerlifter and strongman trainer for the past 17 years. “I see it as something really important, because this is a time when people need to invest a little more in their health.”
As a freshman at San Benito High, Cuneo described himself as “tiny,” and he set out to bulk up during the summer months as a result. He instead fell in love with the process of training, and the confidence and boost to his mental strength that it provided.
Part of the point of lifting those odd objects, in fact, is to strengthen mental concentration. As Morden pointed out, lifting an Atlas Stone, with proper technique, takes intense concentration not only to lift it, but to also make sure you don’t drop it.
“When the weight is on a cable at a commercial gym, half the work is done for you,” Morden added. “It’s monotony.”
There were no weights or pulleys helping Hogeman during his second farmer’s walk, and subsequent sprint up the steep incline behind Strength Beyond Strength. The increased mental edge was evident at that point.
Hogeman had one last run in him, despite the weight, the heat, or what is affectionately known as, “The Hill.”
“It mixes it up, so you’re not bored with it,” he said. “You’re not doing the same thing over and over again.”
Strength Beyond Strength is a private business. Appointments are required. For more information about Strength Beyond Strength, call (831) 801-2901, or e-mail Hunter Cuneo at: hu********@gm***.com
