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Fittest One Arm Man on Earth (with Logan Aldridge)

Written by David Tao
Last updated on August 10th, 2023

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Today we’re talking to Logan Aldridge, training director of Adaptive Training Academy and the fittest one arm man on earth. After a wakeboarding accident that resulted in the loss of his arm at a young age, Logan dedicated his life to making fitness and sports more accessible for people around the globe. His work with Adaptive Training Academy — initially nested under CrossFit — is one of the most impressive projects we’ve ever encountered in the fitness world. In this podcast, we discuss how Logan and his colleagues teach coaches to work with athletes of all ability levels, along with WHY their methodology proves so adaptable. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg here. 

Logan Aldridge Podcast

On this episode of The BarBend Podcast, host David Thomas Tao talks to Logan Aldridge about:

  • Adaptive Training Academy and what Logan believes he was put on Earth to do (2:09)
  • How to move their content online (5:50)
  • Why there’s such an emphasis on General Physical Preparedness in the disabled community (13:00)
  • How ATA trains coaches to navigate such a broad range of restrictions and fitness levels (16:55)
  • Training for athletes with sensory (deaf, blind) restrictions (22:30)
  • Logan’s own athletic pursuits and goals (27:00)

Relevant links and further reading:

Featured image: Photo by Jurassic

Transcription

Logan AldridgeLogan Aldridge

I’m so lucky that I lost my arm. I’m so lucky that when I go to do physical feat, when I go to exercise, not my intention at all, someone next to me, someone watching that Instagram video might have had a bad day, can be motivated to say, “Ah, if that guy’s doing it, then I sure can, too.”

David TaoDavid Tao

Welcome to the “Barbend Podcast,” where we talk to the smartest athletes, coaches and minds from around the world of strength. I’m your host, David Thomas Tao, and this podcast is presented by barbend.com.

 

Today, I’m talking to Logan Aldridge, training director of Adaptive Training Academy and the fittest one-armed man on Earth. After a wakeboarding accident that resulted in the loss of his arm at a young age, Logan dedicated his life to making fitness and sports more accessible for people around the globe.

 

His work with Adaptive Training Academy is one of the most impressive projects I’ve ever encountered in the fitness world. In this podcast, we discuss how Logan and his colleagues teach coaches to work with athletes of all ability levels, along with why their methodology proves so adaptable. That’s the tip of the iceberg here.

 

Also, I want to take a second to say we’re incredibly thankful that you listen to this podcast. If you haven’t already, be sure to leave a rating and review of the BarBend Podcast in your app of choice. Now let’s get to it.

 

Logan, thanks so much for joining us. One thing that I want to start off talking about today, it’s something we’ve been able to cover a little bit on BarBend through Kevin Ogar’s story and a little bit more of Adaptive Training Academy which is, I know, your baby and your real passion right now.

 

Tell us what Adaptive Training Academy is, and what your goals are right now with that organization?

Logan AldridgeLogan Aldridge

Absolutely. First, David, thank you so much for having me on. Pleasure to be here. Love the “BarBend Podcast,” you guys are frigging awesome.

 

You’re absolutely right to call that my baby. [laughs] Adaptive Training Academy is this precious little gem to me, and in all the ways, it is my heart. It is the representation of what I believe I’m put on this earth to do. I believe my accident, losing my arm was the best thing that ever happened to me and with that, I had an opportunity.

 

Adaptive Training Academy exists in order to…In the most simplest forms, our mission is to empower powerful education. How we do that is empowering trainers, therapists, able-bodied individuals, people who give the access and opportunity for fitness, health coaching, and improvement of individuals.

 

Giving them the knowledge and the accreditation and the approved knowledge and certification behind [inaudible 2:58] , that they are qualified as an adaptive and inclusive trainer. Our mission is to bridge this gap between access and inclusion to fitness, specifically for people with disabilities. I live this life, I lost my arm at 13, so I’ve grown up living this way.

 

Through my experience…First and foremost, my accomplishments pale in comparison to the accomplishments of others that I’ve been able to experience. The stories I’ve been able to hear from people persevering truly embodying resilience in so many incredible ways. I thought, how sad is it that this isn’t the norm.

 

Why can’t people who suffer some permanent impairment or are born different than able-bodied standard, why is there a cultural, societal, predisposition that things are going to be a little bit harder for you? Things are going to be harder for your life, but then they are also going to be harder for your access to things.

 

From my background in the CrossFit world and the word of community embedded in us so firmly, I’ve experienced that firsthand going into CrossFit gym as a student [inaudible 4:07] and being like, “Let’s figure it out.”

 

Me being very dedicated to figuring out, problem-solving, being creative with solutions. Really understanding movement, the intention behind it, the methodology behind why we’re doing this workout and this movement. Also, how to maintain singles, regardless of your ability. I don’t care if it’s disabled.

 

If you’re deconditioned because you haven’t exercised in a few years, how important is it to hit the stimulus? Oftentimes, we get into this lazy coaching style, we’re like, “Just jump in. You’re going to do it, just reduce the weight. Push real hard, it’s going to be hard.”

 

No, but there’s a lot more thoughtful intention that can go into it as a trainer, as a coach. That’s what Adaptive Training Academy offers currently. We offer a certification course where we certify you as an adaptive and inclusive trainer. That’s been our focus over the past four or five years, alongside under the CrossFit umbrella.

 

Last year, in 2019, we were able to separate from CrossFit in a great relationship way. CrossFit saying, “Hey, you guys are serving individuals? Yes, absolutely, box owners, CrossFit coaches, and trainers, but you’re also getting a lot of therapists that are coming take your course. Physical recreational.

 

A lot of Indies, physios are like, “What are you teaching here?” We were nervous when we started to see this broader population coming to take our exam. Not at all in the sense of worried about our legitimacy. We’re very fortunate and thoughtful about how we developed our education.

 

We made sure to have an advisory board network of subject matter experts in their relative field and parent group. From able-bodied individuals and doctorate level educators, to people living with the condition themselves, to make sure what we’re teaching is relevant and is qualified.

 

Alongside that we referenced case studies and academic studies that prove all this education. That has been important for us and awesome. Through this crazy pandemic, we brought all that stuff online. That has been the world of every business, I’ve ever been. Trying to live and thrive in this pandemic.

 

It saddens us it does most humans across the world, you don’t get to go out and see everyone. Additionally, we don’t get to bring us educative live. There’s so much value, when you get to get this education live.

 

When you get to practically see the principles put into practice in front of you. Then scenarios presented to you that we observe and critique and develop you in that session throughout that workshop. I’m very proud of what we put online. I’m very dedicated to the continued excellence of delivering this education. That’s the fortunate part of our team.

 

Myself, Kevin Ogar being a fellow CrossFit red shirt and Alex Durkin Bach who’s out in San Diego. Former Naval officer, medically retired after being wounded in a piracy boarding accident. He also is a CrossFit level one seminar staff.

 

He was out there during the crazy CrossFit Games at Aromas. He was one of the judges. He got to judge Fraser and Tia. That was wild. Amy’s told me a lot of stories about that. Whether you’re for CrossFit or not, it doesn’t matter. It’s a brand.

 

What they do really well whether you’re for or against them, you’d have to agree with this is their education does a phenomenal job at credibility. The stewards who deliver that education are held to the highest standard.

 

Alec being in the military background when those sorts of ethos and those principles came into the development of ATA our education and how we deliver and operate our company. I’m very proud of the product that we offer and how we were to develop this online course.

David TaoDavid Tao

Whether or not you’re a fan of CrossFit, a diehard CrossFitter a former CrossFitter, we see all. Whether you’re anti CrossFit. We see it all. We see because we cover strength sports across the board.

 

It is difficult to deny, that CrossFit…Better than many other methodologies overcame this hurdle of, OK, how can this truly be for everyone? How can we scale? CrossFits known for in an ideal word world. How are you scaling for people’s ability so that they’re still achieving the stimulus.

 

They were able to get people in the door and say, “OK, you’re going to do the same workout as Mat Fraser and Tia-Clair, to me you’re just going to do it in a different way so your body’s getting a stimulus that’s more tuned for you.” Those principles can extend obviously to adapt the training Academy.

 

It’s something that we’ve seen maybe not be as pervasive in other strength sports yet. When I heard that you all were splitting off from across it becoming your own independent body, last year. I remember thinking this is great. This is going to make the organization more likely to be able to reach the powerlifters, weightlifters, strongman competitors.

 

The other strength and the bodybuilders, the other strength athletes. Where are some other strength, sports, or what are some other types of strength athletes outside of the CrossFit community, or should say even strength coaches outside of the CrossFit community that have come to you. Where are you seeing that flow from the broader strength world?

Logan AldridgeLogan Aldridge

Great question. Every different background and methodology and specific training, whether it is strength, sport, or endurance sport, Paralympic swimming, track and field.

 

Those developmental coaches on behalf of the Paralympics have taken our course. They’re doing the same thing. I was brought out to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to speak on this specifically.

 

To help work with the Paralympic team, the team USA to develop, all right, here are five best sports in the Paralympics, and swimming, cycling, track and field, and a few others, but they were like, “How do we recruit athletes for these sports?” Look what you all have done within this competitive functional fitness space. They’re just well-rounded athletes.

 

They’re pretty well-conditioned. They’re pretty well performance-based but, yet, how do we then tailor them to be a rower and excel at that in elite level? Our audience, the people who have taken the course, have been experts in collegiate-level strength and conditioning.

 

One of which is on our faculty. His name is Will Wright. He’s the director of sports performance and development at Alabama University, which is important to us. I know most listeners might not recognize the importance of that specific university. Let me explain why.

 

They have a full-on adaptive training facility. I believe it’s about five- to eight-million-dollar funded facility. They have the best wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis program in the nation. It’s collegiate-level D1 program. Those athletes are just the same level of the Alabama football players, D1 athletes.

 

They are given the professional platform, the resources, and the expert coaches to excel in their sport. That’s one university that put the money where their mouth was with being like, “We want to do this. This should be for everyone. The adaptive athletics program should thrive in the same way our athletic program does.”

 

They did it. They put the money behind it. We’re so thankful to have this individual, Will Wright, take our course and say, “Holy crap, how do I get involved? How do I help on a much bigger level?”

 

Everything you guys say and do and your vision for the world in the future, even long after we’re gone, he was like, “I aligned. That’s the plan. That’s what [inaudible 12:14] body. That’s what I embodied right here. Let me come on and help you do this.”

 

The strength and conditioning world has been extremely receptive to our education. They love its application. Just as you mentioned, we separated from CrossFit in all the most positive ways. CrossFit still loves what we do. I am a CrossFitter at heart. That is what I do, I love.

 

Maybe because I have ADD, I couldn’t just do strength training every day. I would get too bored. I couldn’t just do endurance training every day. I’d get too bored. I just like challenging it, make it different all the time.

 

Our core of why we exist and why we came out of this CrossFit baby and this CrossFit education is because even in the day, we wholeheartedly believe in GPP. When we’re talking about people with disabilities and improving their health long-term, we’ve got to work towards general physical preparedness.

 

America is quite overweight, but we’re talking about subset community of that that is disabled, lack of access, barrier to entry, and then the sedentary lifestyle that Symbaloo almost always goes along with that. It’s huge if we just focus on GPP.

 

Now in that focus, we found that there’s a lot of solid ground to stand on. No pun intended because wheelchair principles are on this as well. I love these disabled puns that come along with all of the…

 

Hey, it’s OK to laugh. Please laugh. All you able-bodied listening out there, you have to laugh. It’s weird if you don’t. I digress. Where was I going?

 

Well, what I’m trying to say here is we believe in functional fitness. We wholeheartedly, because that is transference to real-world test accomplishment and to quality of life, longevity, and independence. We all know that.

 

Why is burpee good? If we fall over, we got to get back up always, rest of our life, no matter what. For a seated athlete, why is the transfer important?

 

Well, oftentimes, rehabilitation in the medical world, it’s not prioritized. When you talk about independence, that’s going to be one of the most critical beneficial things for them to have the confidence and physical ability to do, transfer in and out of their chair.

 

The ability to if they need to get out of a cannon, if they need to get into their vehicle that can, if the chair happens to roll away, they have the ability to crawl and get to that chair. You’re looking at fitness in a very different lens, but it’s application to improving their life is even more relevant.

 

It’s even more obvious. That’s where when people take our course…Whether you are a strength enthusiast and expert and trainer or whether you are an ultra-marathon runner, you take our course, and at the end of the day, you understand what it means to be a more thoughtful, intentional trainer, athlete, coach, therapist.

 

Then additionally, if you work in the industry that is just immediate post-injury rehabilitation, you can guide them along that path and work with insurance, do all the appropriate things. Now you have the knowledge and resources to say, “Hey, there’s more for you now.”

 

When you go out to the world, you can go join this gym, or I can train you because I am an adaptive and inclusive certified trainer. I can develop a program for you. You can keep working out at home.

 

That’s from my colleague, Alex Durkin Bach, and his personal story and perspective after being wounded, going to the VA, getting great care, and then the VA being like, “All right, go live life. Be you.” He was still in a wheelchair at that time. He’s having some issues with his leg and lower back.

 

He didn’t know what to do, the battles of PTSS, and depression, and all that. He just happened to go into a CrossFit gym, a really crappy one, but one that was critical in changing his mindset to realizing that there are people that care. There’s a fitness that I can go be a part of. People are going to clap for me. We find that to be very important when you talk about the disabled population.

 

It’s already hard to find someone else that you relate to, identify with in your community. If you can go to a facility that creates inclusion and community, that’s huge. It’s just as well as the physical development for your mental development.

David TaoDavid Tao

Say I’m a trainer, and I’m coming to an adaptive training academy course. Maybe not coming to. Maybe I’m taking one online these days. We work with what we’ve got, right?

 

How are you bucketing different adaptations based on disability or potentially restrictions that people might have? This is something that in our environments work with World Para Powerlifting, it’s a pretty simple sport. It’s just the bench press.

 

Most of the athletes have very strong upper bodies. They might be wheelchair-bound, or they might have developmental issues or some other issues with their lower bodies. In training those athletes, there is a specific focus. There’s a specific subset of ability and disability that coaches tend to work with.

 

You are coaching athletes and working on giving people the knowledge to work with athletes of so many different ability levels with so many different restrictions, or potential disabilities, or injuries.

 

How are you bucketing that approach? It’s just such a broad swath of what people might come into your gym being able to do or not being able to do.

Logan AldridgeLogan Aldridge

You’re exactly right. What a great question. That’s a massive undertaking. Look what we could have done. We could have developed a textbook, a playbook and said, “If they have this, do this. If it’s a squat, they’re in a wheelchair, give them this movement instead.”

 

We could have done that, but that doesn’t solve any of the problems. That just gives you this thing as a trainer, return to this, find a solution. Until that is delivered, it doesn’t do anything. We’re effecting change.

 

What we realized was, yes, every human being is different. In the world of disabled individuals, the range of ability in that [inaudible 18:06] is drastic. You have to, first of all, create some definitions, and then within that, we need nomenclature classifications.

 

The first definition, I like to tell the listeners of our podcast, to make more sense of what ATA is, and who we’re talking about here. First of all, we don’t call people with disabilities, we refer to them all as adaptive athletes.

 

It’s an empowering term. I believe anybody who’s doing fitness is an athlete, that’s heavily debated, but that’s my personal belief, that’s what we call them. It’s empowering and positive. What we define adaptive athlete first name in our courses define this new give you context and clarity as to who this population is.

 

An adaptive athlete is a person with a permanent physical or physiological or cognitive impairment. First word the most part, we’re being impairment, which causes limitations or limited a limitation, which affects work capacity.

 

We have an impairment cause’s limitation affects work capacity. That’s the really important part, understanding those limitations are observable and measurable in movement. That’s the important part.

 

Oftentimes, like my colleague, Alex Durkin Bach, you saw you’d say that it’s a body, it’s got his arms, got his legs, he’s wearing shorts and sees missing like, huge chunk out of his calf, and you’d say, “Right, something’s wrong with his leg.” But you wouldn’t realize that he has a fused ankle, and he hands use lower back distance or back.

 

Unless you asked him to hinge and then you asked him to perform an air squat, you see that feel that and deserve his limitation being presented. Work capacity is just your ability to accomplish a task. Your ability to do that movement goes through that range of motion.

 

What we’re trying to do as trainers, when we train you teach you to do throughout the course is how to reduce the limitations and increase that work capacity. That’s the goal. We’re not trying to change or affect their impairment that is a condition that is what it is.

 

If they’re working with you that shouldn’t be stable. You’re progressing with reducing limitations, increasing work capacity. Now when it comes to understanding and trying to wrap your head around as a trainer, if an athlete with cerebral palsy comes in, and they’re affected, they’re fully affected.

 

There may be upper extremities affected, lower extremities affected. Now you’re observing these tons of meditation recurring and the different movement patterns and lots to consider.

 

Then we have to classify what we’re focusing on. What is a movement that it requires, what is the foundation of the functional movement that we’re addressing in the moment, whether it’s a deadlift, the hip hinge.

 

Then we look at athlete, can they hip hinge first of all? We’ve seeded athletes. We need to determine what functionality they have, and that’s without going down the two-hour have a whole of giving you examples of every category classification.

 

Just know that it’s been a lot of work for us to include impairment groups that aren’t just physical, in terms of the ones that often pop up in people’s heads first when they think of adaptive athlete, just because it’s not like the profound video you see on Instagram.

 

Whether you think adaptive athlete, OK, someone in a wheelchair, someone missing a leg or both legs, someone missing an arm or both arms. Nothing [inaudible 21:12] just with the physical. Very obvious amputations, limb difference and spinal cord injuries or issues that resulted you doing most of your tasks in a wheelchair. Spina bifida, spinal cord injuries also it’s different categories.

 

It is important that within those you don’t just lump an athlete into a category. You see that athlete coming in your gym in a wheelchair, you don’t assume that’s spinal cord injury. They may be able to stand, they maybe have some hip function but these are just questions that we teach you how to go through that onboarding process, asking the perfect questions.

 

They not only determine where they are psychologically but then also where they are with their ability. For us it’s categorizing impairment groups into different classifications. If you’re upper extremity, that can be from the waist up, and typically hand, fingers, all the way to the shoulders. Really focused. Lower extremity, arms to your legs.

 

We have seated athletes. Within seated athletes we sub categorized three different categories where there might be some hip function, no hip function, gross hip function. That’s really important because again if we just lump all seated athletes into one category, there is such range of paralysis and ability level.

 

If they have the hip function we don’t want to disable them further. We want to incorporate and use what they have, since they can. Then within that we go into century. Within century we talk about how to coach and work with a program for visual athletes, so a blind athlete but also deaf athletes and taking those considerations.

 

What happens when there’s a combination of both? There is a lot of factors when you talk about different impairment groups, if you will. We have intellectual,, what we like to call neurodiverse rather than intellectual disability.

 

We have short stature, and we have neurological conditions that’s ranging from MS to CP, and multiple others that exist within that space. It was important that we cover all of these groups and gave you, first and foremost, the biggest safety concerns within this.

 

It’s always about safe and effective training. Never justify safety for anything else, or inclusion or effectiveness. Safety is number one. It must be around. Then, within that, we’re able to give you our principles. This is the IP that the value, the special sauce of what ATA teaches you, is what I like to call the black box, like the filter.

 

Doesn’t matter. Any athlete, any condition don’t even classify it as adaptive. Temporary — just had an ACL surgery. Just had back surgery. Just had a neck issue. Whatever. We’re all crazy humans running around doing stuff, working with an impingement we have or something that hurts and aches, and that’s life.

 

What our course does is then gives you, as a trainer, coach, or even therapists, the way to filter these impairments, these limitations that are being presented, how does it manifest through movement, activity, whatever that is.

 

Strength, endurance, CrossFit, F45, fricking whatever, walking, doesn’t matter. Walking, the ability to ambulate. A lot of times, that’s where I start with mine. Then, within that, how has it affected network capacity, an increase in network capacity?

 

That is the foundation of what we do, but the special sauces is in that box in which you after you take our course, have the confidence, knowledge, and ability to practically apply this program or workout, or create a program or workout for [inaudible 24:15] ability.

 

I think that’s the most valuable thing. I’m obviously biased here, right? But I have tons of reviews, all of the people who take our course come out of it, fired up ready to go, and most often we see the very next day they go start working with the athlete.

 

That was the most important part for us. When you take the course, and you’ve finished, that you finished is proof for us on course. It’s approved for 16 CDUs. It’s considered technically like a two-day in-person course or online course.

 

Takes most learners two or three weeks to get through. We have self-paced options in a cohort option where we guide you through it in a series of four weeks to make sure you graduate and pass the exam, but the feedback is phenomenal.

 

They’re like, “this is way more than I thought, this is more robust than I thought, and more importantly, you showed me how to apply the knowledge. You didn’t just lecture me, teach me and then say you got it? Move on.” No. With interactions

 

We were very fortunate that we have on-staff a doctorate in education, leadership, and universal design. Her name is Kristin Arnold. She’s a former CrossFit Games athlete, and she’s the mother of a son with dual diagnosis — autism and down syndrome.

 

She lives this life. She is our expert on inclusion when it comes to education and on universal design. It’s how education is presented. We’re so fortunate with our close relationship with CrossFit. We use their similar offering system to deliver the online education.

 

It’s not just you’re hoping in some Google Classroom. I mean, it flows, it interacts, there’s clickables, you watch videos, and then you do flashcards, and then there’s text that comes up, and then there’s a little quizzes that come up.

 

It’s very important to us that this knowledge is as practical as possible, when you graduate, you are ready to go.

David TaoDavid Tao

Logan, I have to say, you are fantastic at speaking about this. It’s almost your job or something like that. Crazy.

 

I do have to say that you are someone — and we were talking about this a little bit before the recording — with a lot of different interests. We were actually shooting the breeze a little bit before I hit record.

 

We realized that we knew more people in common than we had actually anticipated and all this. I got to say one of the most interesting things about you, of the many things you do, is that you are an athlete with a lot of different passions, for competition, for accomplishment.

 

You’re a very high-level wakeboarder. You’re an accomplished golfer. You’re obviously a cross fitter. You don’t strike me as the kind of person who wants to do three sets of five back squats and eat Pop-Tarts in between, a lot of difference…

 

Yeah. There’s time for everything. A lot of different athletic pursuits and passions. What are some of your athletic goals right now as an athlete, and what are some things down the line that you might want to explore as an athlete?

Logan AldridgeLogan Aldridge

Great question, and so hard for me to answer.

David TaoDavid Tao

[laughs] This is the worst question because you might just say, “Yeah, I want to try it all. I don’t know if I’ll get to try it all.”

Logan AldridgeLogan Aldridge

It’s honestly the truth of it. I don’t say no. I don’t say no to challenges. I don’t say no to opportunities. I don’t say no to people in need, who need a helping hand, need some guidance. Again, how I started getting, I just believe that this is where I’m put on this earth to do.

 

I hope one day that it is rewarding for me. It’s able to establish my career and make sure that I’m compensated that way. I believe doing the right thing for the right reasons is always most important.

 

That’s why I’m such an advocate for this ATA and to pursuit of my own fitness. I’m just trying to be an example. If there’s anything I want people to realize is I’m a freaking 29-year-old dude from Raleigh, North Carolina, who is just obsessed with discovering human potential.

 

I’m just so lucky that I lost my arm. I’m so lucky that when I go to do physical feats, when I go to exercise, with not my intention at all, someone next to me, someone watching that Instagram video might have had a bad day can be motivated to say, “Ah, well, that guy’s doing it, and I should sure can too.”

 

That’s cool and a privilege that I have an opportunity that I have to use my physical body in a way that may be able to encourage someone to take a step towards health and wellness that they might have been told culturally, societly, or just within their own head and mindset, that they’re just not ready for it, or they can’t do it.

 

I like to say that because I don’t do what I do to inspire people. I don’t do it because inspiration is overused word. My best example of the way to explain how I feel about it is that inspiration, you can be sitting on a couch, eating chips and be like, “That was inspiring.” [laughs] Live, that’s it. Do nothing. Go back to the chips. Haven’t done that later.

 

What I am looking to do is encourage and motivate people. I hope when you see what I’m doing, and maybe the tools that I’ve invented in order for me to do it, I hope it gets your wheels turning and it motivates you to say, “Oh, well, if he’s doing it, I can too.”

 

To take action. That’s what I hope happens. I’m constantly trying to get individuals to take action. That’s why I’m sponsored by Nike. I work closely with Nike. I love my relationship I have with them as a brand. The simplest form of their motto being, “Just do it.”

 

That’s my brain in a nutshell. My brain in a nutshell is just like, “I’d really love to run a marathon.” We do think about it. “Just go do it. Just do it.” That’s been my approach to fitness and challenges. I have had success in doing some crazy things in fitness and I like to push myself in that way.

 

I like to be afraid of what the outcome might be, and then surprise myself, or not. Like, “That’s OK, if I don’t either. I can fail all the time.” I tried new things. I’m like, “That was a horrible idea. No way I could have gotten that done.” That’s a little bit on my mindset and how I hope people see what I do, how is it relevant and applicable to them.

 

My goal training? You’re right, man. It’s really hard to answer because this will make sense to listeners. I want to lift heavy. I want to be as strong as I can. Also, at the same time, I want to be able to be competitive and things like an Iron Man, things like running a marathon.

 

I want my body because I am this individual living with one arm. I want my body to be prepared to go do anything, whether it’s go play golf, whether it’s go wakeboard, snowboard, go for a week long hike back country, or lift some heavy weights in a powerlifting.

 

I want to do all those things. For me that’s why I like this CrossFit style. Every day is a little bit different. It’s just a fun experiment on my own body to figure out the right dosing of strength with endurance with skill work with gymnastics practice and where does that put me.

 

So far, I’m having a blast doing it. That’s what’s most important. I have this title of fittest one arm man on earth. Again, I don’t I don’t say that title to impress people. Instead, I say that title so the next one arm guy listening to it is like, “What the hell is going on? I want that title.”

 

I want them to come after it, and I’m going to not finish. There are other one arm guys out there way fitter than me. They just haven’t had this opportunity. They haven’t gotten on the platform. They haven’t gotten into the CrossFit competitions that we’re in and that’s growing.

 

That’s why I’m such an advocate for what we do, what we award in the competitions, and we want games. That’s what leads to more inclusion more people coming in. Through our online course, we’re helping create that bridge, close that gap. We’re creating the education.

 

Now the trainers know it. Guy in a wheelchair comes in, say, “Hey, I want to compete in the worldwide games.” They say, “All right, let’s go. I’ve got the knowledge. Let’s start training. Let’s see where you’re at.”

 

Now, we’re legitimizing what I hope to be a professional platform, and a sport for adaptive athletes to compete in.

David TaoDavid Tao

 It is weird to have one of those titles that you hope to lose.

 

You hope someone comes and takes it from you. It’s a season…

Logan AldridgeLogan Aldridge

I know, they will. They definitely will. Trust me, no one let that I come across is cocky or arrogant. I am my worst enemy in my head. Every day I know someone’s training harder than me. That’s a huge motivator for me.

 

I don’t have to know a name. I don’t have to know someone. I know every day when I wake up, I’m like, “Someone’s already up. Someone’s already up and ready after.” You’re behind. You better go.

David TaoDavid Tao

That’s the athlete’s mentality. You know what? It doesn’t matter what sport you’re at if you’ve trained at that level before, and you have pushed yourself that at that level before. That’s the difference between working out and truly training. Everyone feels that at some point 100 percent.

 

Logan, where’s the best place for people to keep up to date with the work you’re doing? Also for them to keep up to date with Adaptive Training Academy?

Logan AldridgeLogan Aldridge

Thank you. For me, it’s Logan Aldridge. On Instagram, that’s where I’m most active, sharing my training tips and tricks and just what I’m doing in my life. That’s my last name, first name @aldridgelogan.

 

Adaptive Training Academy, check out our website ata.fit if you want to learn more about our certification and our different training that we offer there. Additionally, we’re very active on Instagram as well. That’s just @adaptivetraining.

 

Those are the biggest platforms for us and where we engage with the community and see a lot of cool stuff. Please check it out.

David TaoDavid Tao

Awesome. Thanks so much for joining us today. I appreciate you taking the time. I know you have some travel coming up. Safe travels heading into the winter.

Logan AldridgeLogan Aldridge

Yeah, thank you so much, David. This is awesome, man. I appreciate the time.

About David Tao

BarBend's Co-Founder and CEO, David is a veteran of the health & fitness industry, with nearly a decade of experience building and running editorial teams in the space. He also serves as a color commentator for both National and International weightlifting competitions, many through USA Weightlifting.

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