About Us
Learn about the people and ideas behind Aptum Strength
Our Story
How did we
get here?
The journey to Aptum Strength has traversed many programs and approaches – from the bodybuilding “splits” that were popular in the 90s and early 2000s, to Runner’s World’s marathon training, to randomized Crossfit workouts, to training and selection programs at the most elite levels of the military.
Each of those programs can produce results to some degree, and there are pro’s and con’s with each of them. Many people are drawn to one of those systems at the time based on their personal training needs and the available information. We’ve learned something from each system and taken it with us as we moved on to something else.
The bodybuilding splits can produce some aesthetic results but never get you into great shape. For military and first responders with more functional training needs, CrossFit and other functional programs can offer a more attractive alternative – a more well-rounded program focused on capacity and performance.
We found that over time the randomness of the programming makes it difficult to make sustained progress, and there is often an accumulation of aches, pains, and occasional injuries that prevent consistent training. Eventually, we were fortunate enough to train with professional coaches under a program developed by SOCOM. The program and the coaches were top notch and serve as an example of first-rate programming and training. But, it is still generalized to a relatively large population. As we experimented with it further, we saw what was possible when it was customized to the individual’s specific needs.
Who are we
Meet our team
NICK
Aptum Strength Founder
I’m Nick, an Army Veteran, former Green Beret, and tech entrepreneur. I spent over a decade in the military where I worked with some amazing people and deployed around the world. Several years ago I left the Army to pursue a career in tech, and I spent several years split between two data-focused technology start-ups.
I’ve also been training intensely for the last 20 years, focused on making my body as resilient and capable as possible. In pursuit of that goal, I’ve tried nearly everything under the sun – from bodybuilding splits to triathlon ultra-endurance to Crossfit.
All of those programs worked, to a degree, but inevitably resulted in a combination of burnout, fatigue, and overuse injuries. Overtime, I observed a pattern: novelty around the new training modality increased my motivation to train; there was typically a ~3-month ramp up to build the skill and other physiological adaptations needed for the training; there was a 3-6 month period of progress and plateau; and there was a period of exhaustion, nagging aches and pains, and often some kind of overuse injury.
Frustrated, I began to do my own “programming”, leveraging much of the tacit knowledge I had gained over the years about different training programs and how my body responded. I knew the key was in striking a balance between consistency and variety; between intensity and recovery; between efficiency and volume. But, when I did the programming myself, I still found myself gravitating towards certain workout patterns, programming more to my strengths, and getting stuck in a rut that resulted in the same issues I had with other programs.
I sought a way to codify the lessons I had learned and create programming that balanced consistency and variety. Aptum Strength is my effort to leverage my tech and data science background, along with my 20 years of training lessons, to produce adaptable, optimized training programs.
I hope you enjoy it and I’d love to hear your feedback.