ADRIAN SANTIAGO: STRONGMAN

My name is Adrian Santiago. I’m 33 and originally from Minneapolis,MN but I now reside in Rochester. I am the warehouse manager at Northern Sun Productions.

My journey probably started way back as a child. My older brother and I would always watch the World’s Strongest Man competition on tv whenever it was on. I always thought that I could do that one day but never knew where to go.

I started football and weight training for that..which is where a lot of my competitiveness began to grow. I loved playing and competing against others that were bigger and stronger than I.

Once I was done with football at 18, I didn’t do much of anything g else for the next 10 or so years. Gained a lot of weight and just struggled with it. However, I always knew I would and wanted to compete again but I just didn’t know how or where to start.

The summer before I turned 30, my wife and I moved to Rochester to have our son Aj. A few months later, she joined a boot camp at Credence and fell in love with it. I enjoyed watching and thought, “maybe I should do it too”. So, we joined the gym. I initially asked if they had an Olympic lifting/Strongman program and I would just do that. I like watching CrossFit but I felt it wasn’t for me.

I saw that Dave was adding a Strongman class in 2019 and was first in! When I first started the class, I was just going to do it for fun. Then I remember how much I enjoyed lifting and lifting heavy that I thought I could compete again. So I asked the coaches if they thought I could do it.

When they agreed, I instantly asked for a more serious training program..this was in the end of March/beginning of April. And when I sent in my registration for my first event, it really hit me. That I was really about to do this.

So I’ve worked hard for 2 or so months, getting myself ready for my first comp. I’m nervous as all get out, I’ve never competed as an individual, always as a team. So that is something scary and new for me.

I’m thankful for my Credence family and all the support they give. I will represent the gym with honor.

#weare #credencestrong

So excited to see Adrian Santiago do great things at the 2019 Minnesota Strongman Championship this weekend in Sauk Rapids!! You can catch some livestream action from 11:00AM-3:30PM on his FB event page HERE

We’re all behind you Adrian. Go out there and rock it bro!!