Our Story

Look, I'm not gonna feed you some polished origin story. Back in 2018, I was pretty much done with the whole fitness scene. Burned out from competitive Olympic lifting, dealing with injuries that wouldn't quit, and honestly questioning why I'd spent half my life chasing numbers on a barbell.

Took about six months off. Didn't touch a weight. Just walked around Vancouver, drank too much coffee, and tried figuring out what the hell I was doing with my life. Then one day at this run-down gym on Granville, I saw this older guy – must've been pushing 60 – grinding through deadlifts with form that'd make most coaches cry. But the determination on his face? That's what got me.

We got talking. Turned out he'd just beaten cancer and was rebuilding himself from scratch. Said something that stuck: "Strength isn't about the weight you move – it's about showing up when everything in you says quit." Man, that hit different.

Started working with him, then a few of his friends. No fancy programming, just real people wanting to feel strong again. That's when it clicked – I didn't wanna train elite athletes anymore. I wanted to help regular folks tap into that warrior mindset, that refusal to back down when life throws punches.

Opened Arcen Valor Forge in late 2019 with pretty much my life savings and a beat-up squat rack. The name? "Arcen" was my grandmother's maiden name – she survived way worse than a tough workout. And "Valor Forge"... well, if you know your history, you know that's where Washington's army got forged through hell into something unbreakable. Felt right.