Josh Bryant was born in 1980. Raised in California, he later moved to Texas, where he has spent most of his career. He was introduced to strength training early in life. By the age of 12, he had already started lifting weights and naturally became the one teaching his friends how to train. This gave him an early foundation not only in training himself, but also in coaching others.
Here you can listen to the first episode of Built Strong Chat with Josh Bryant. Recorded on May 6, 2026.
At 16 years old, Josh worked at a hardcore gym under the guidance of his first mentor, Steve Holl. Steve was a hard-nosed powerlifter who helped shape Josh’s mindset, attitude, and work ethic toward training.
Josh entered his first competition at age 15 in 1996. It was the same meet where Richard Schoenberger benched 277 kg / 611 lbs while being cheered on by C.T. Fletcher. Witnessing a moment like that firsthand was undoubtedly inspiring for a young lifter.
Josh continued training and competing through his teenage years, but it was after football, around age 19, that he truly dedicated himself fully to powerlifting. He invested enormous amounts of time into training and sought knowledge from some of the best athletes and coaches in the sport.
For deadlifting, Josh trained with George Brink, the first man over 50 years old to deadlift 363 kg / 800 lbs. He also trained with Gary Frank, who shattered total records during the early 2000s. During his strongman period, Josh trained with Odd Haugen while Odd was still actively competing. Later in his education and coaching journey, Josh spent significant time learning under Fred Hatfield. Josh and Fred even held multiple seminars together before Fred’s passing.
As for Josh’s own accomplishments, he achieved a great deal within strength sports. His final powerlifting meet was the Mountaineer Cup VII in 2005. The lineup included legends such as Ed Coan, Gene Bell, Beau Moore, Travis Mash, Scott Cartwright, and Brian Siders. Josh totaled 1,040 kg / 2,292 lbs at a bodyweight of 142.4 kg / 314 lbs using the equipment standards of that era.
Equipment never played a major role in Josh’s lifting success. He deadlifted without a suit, and in the bench press he only gained around 5 kg / 11 lbs from wearing a bench shirt. In the squat, Josh rarely maxed out in the gym. His best competition squat was 412.5 kg / 909 lbs at the Mountaineer Cup. In training, wearing nothing but a belt, he performed a smooth 352 kg / 775 lb top single in the middle of a regular training cycle. His true max is unknown, since he rarely tested it, but it was clearly above 352 kg / 775 lbs.
At the APF Senior Nationals in 2003, Josh earned a strong second-place finish in a field where nearly everyone else competed in multi-ply gear while he lifted in single-ply.
During Josh’s era, raw competitions were rare. However, the Atlantis New England Bench Press Championship was one of the few prestigious raw bench press events. It featured what many consider one of the strongest top-three lineups ever assembled in bench press history. Josh placed third with a 281 kg / 620 lb raw bench. Brian Siders finished second with 294.8 kg / 650 lbs, while Scott Mendelson won with his 324 kg / 715 lb world record, a mark that stood for years until Eric Spoto eventually broke it.
Josh retired from competitive powerlifting in 2005 but later made a comeback with the goal of achieving a personal best in the deadlift. After an intense 13-week training cycle, he entered the annual deadlift competition at Metroflex Gym, held every first Friday of December. He opened with 329 kg / 725 lbs, which moved easily. On his second attempt at 367 kg / 810 lbs, he missed the lift after gripping one side of the bar too wide in his excitement. On his third attempt, he successfully locked out the 367 kg / 810 lb deadlift. An impressive accomplishment for someone with his build.
Josh also spent time competing in strongman. While he never reached the biggest international contests, he dedicated himself seriously to the sport for a period and learned a great deal from it. One particularly unique competition was the Atlantis Strongest Man in America Contest, a hybrid between strongman and powerlifting. Athletes earned points based on placement rather than the amount lifted, meaning a 272 kg / 600 lb bench press victory counted the same as a 318 kg / 700 lb victory. Events included the bench press, rack push press, trap-bar deadlift, weighted pull-ups, and a one-handed Thomas Inch dumbbell deadlift variation.
Josh’s best performances and competition results are listed further below.
When it comes to coaching, methods, and books, Josh is known for different things in different circles. Some know him for his own achievements as a lifter. Others recognize him for coaching some of the greatest bench pressers of all time, including Jeremy Hoornstra and Julius Maddox. Josh has also helped produce more 272 kg / 600 lb, 295 kg / 650 lb, and 318 kg / 700 lb bench pressers than almost anyone else in the world.
Another athlete Josh is widely known for coaching is Tom Haviland. Tom is not a competitive powerlifter, but rather what many would call a tactical athlete. Someone who combines high-level strength with serious conditioning. The tactical strength athletes Josh coaches are far from average. Many of them would easily rank within the top 10% of the population in both strength and conditioning, especially considering the amount of bodyweight they move.
Josh is undeniably someone who deeply understands strength training and performance. Perhaps the best way to learn from him is through his books, where you get his thoughts, methods, and philosophy explained directly in his own words. You can find all of Josh Bryant’s books on Amazon:
You can also follow Josh on his platforms:
- Instagram: @jailhousestrong
- Facebook.com/TheJoshStrengthMethod
- JoshStrenght.com
- Jailhousestrong.com/
- Youtube.com/@jailhousestrong
- Trainheroic.com/brand/joshstrength
- x.com/joshstrength
Josh Bryant – Personal Bests and Competition Results
(Competition bodyweight: approximately 140 kg / 309 lbs)
Weighted Pull-Ups: +59 kg / +130 lbs (light)
Squat (single-ply): 412.5 kg / 909 lbs
Squat (belt only in training): 352 kg / 775 lbs (light)
Box Squat to 9-inch box (training): 318 kg / 700 lbs
Bench Press (single-ply): 287.5 kg / 634 lbs
Raw Bench Press: 281 kg / 620 lbs
Raw Deadlift: 367 kg / 810 lbs
Trap Bar Deadlift: 381 kg / 840 lbs competition / 386 kg / 850 lbs training
Push Press from Rack: 202 kg / 445 lbs