Last week, the strength community experienced a huge loss with the passing of Charles Poliquin.

Charles was a highly successful strength and conditioning coach—a thought-leader who introduced many groundbreaking training and nutrition concepts. His legacy includes German Volume Training, German Body Composition methods, BioSignature and BioPrint hormonal profiling, tempo prescription, thick-grip training, the meat and nuts breakfast… and the list goes on.

A big part of Poliquin’s appeal was his no-nonsense approach. He didn’t pull any punches. Charles had a gift for harsh, brutally honest one-liners that often cut straight to the truth. Here are some of my personal favorites:

• No doughnut enters your mouth by accident.
• You have more excuses than a pregnant nun.
• If it doesn’t run, fly or swim, or it isn’t green, don’t eat it.
• You can’t fire a cannon from a canoe.
• If you’re in the gym longer than one hour, you’re making friends, not training.
• You should wake up under a teepee every morning.
• If you only have one ass, you can’t sit on two horses.
• There’s no point in being the richest person in the cemetery.
• If you’re fat, you don’t deserve carbs.
• If you want carbs, earn them.

Charles played an instrumental role in my career. My education skyrocketed after meeting him. He connected me with key people in the industry, helped launch my writing career (My First Time in Print), and his endorsements gave my work a major boost (Instagram Post). His influence is evident in my material and in the way I train clients to this day.

I owe a great deal of gratitude to Charles Poliquin. He will be missed.