Muscle Talk

Jaime Filer

Jaime Filer graduated with a kinesiology degree from York University, where she was a varsity athlete. She’s also a former competitive bodybuilder who competed in drug-tested events throughout North America. If something new is trending in fitness, chances are Jaime’s already tried it!

Strongman Chris Shoeck

Strongman Chris Shoeck can bend anything and everything

Bending Steel: A Movie Review

It's a story for anyone who wonders where they fit in. For anyone who hasn't yet found 'their place' in this world. For anyone who thought they couldn't. For the underdog.

Bending Steel: The Documentary tells the tale of struggle (both emotional and physical), discipline, dedication and an incredible superhuman fortitude of will and body. Bending Steel is an intimate journey exploring the lost art of the oldetime strongman, and one man's struggle to overcome limitations of body and mind. The film follows Chris "WONDER" Schoeck as he attempts to become a professional strongman; from training in his small basement storage unit, to his very first performance on the big stage at Coney Island (which in an of itself was a huge emotional conflict). The film bears witness to a tenacious man struggling to come out of his shell through the unique activity of bending steel. Watching him battle his inner demons, and take it out physically on everything from a phone book, to a horse shoe, to a nail, made me take an introspective look at my own life, and see where I struggle, and where I choose to manifest that in my day-to-day. Everyone has a little Chris Schoeck in them, but not everyone can tear a deck of cards with their bare hands in one fell swoop. We all find a way to "bend steel", eventually. We all find a community of our own, where we feel accepted, loved, cared for and encouraged. And if you don't, this film energizes you to keep looking, because you deserve it, and you're worth it.

Chris bends a horshoe after the screening of his documentary

Seeing this man go from "zero to hero", and be so forthcoming, candid and honest with the camera crew, really inspires a sense of hope: There's ACTUALLY nothing you can't do if you set your mind to it.

The tagline for the movie is, "The limiting factor is the mind." I know this is something we've all read or seen (or hopefully lived through) before, but watching it personified on the big screen was one of the most inspirational events I have ever viewed.