In 2022, I was asked by Rogue Fitness to assist in building a wooden deadlift tower to be used at their annual Rogue Invitational Strongman and CrossFit competition. Rogue's in-house engineering team handled the bulk of the frame design and all of the metal fabrication , and I handled the wood fabrication. The biggest challenge for this build came in the fact that the entire structure had to be transported from Columbus, OH to Austin, TX, assembled in a few hours, hold up to 10 athletes deadlifting 900lbs for reps, disassembled in a few hours, and shipped back to Columbus. I utilized mortise and tenon joints where appropriate, but the majority of the structure used extremely large, custom steel brackets. What became known as the "Tower of Power" was used at the 2022 and 2023 Rogue Invitation in Austin, TX.

View the whole event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdaV1cVocPA

Professional photo courtesy of Rogue Fitness