Built for the Heat: John Green’s Journey from Strongman to HVAC

John Green’s muscles relaxed as dust fell from the chalk he’d just applied. Despite his 6-foot-1-inch, 340‑pound frame, the Texas State Technical College HVAC graduate never imagined he’d earn a shot at the Arnold Strongman stage.

He gripped the Viking press machine, cold metal against his palms and drove more than 300 pounds through rep after rep. One minute and 27 reps later, he feared he’d fallen short of qualifying for the international field.

Service to Strength

Every rep pulled him back to where training first became a habit. In 2012, he joined the Army as a cavalry scout on long‑range reconnaissance missions. The work taught quiet patience and heavy miles. He saw pieces of the world, but South Korea stayed with him.

On weekends there, fitness wasn’t just required; it was the point. He shouldered a 40‑pound pack and pushed five or more miles toward trails near the Korean Demilitarized Zone, racing sundown. Grass brushed his calves. Straps bit his shoulders. He didn’t know it then, but those hikes were his first strongman reps.

His favorite trek in Korea brought an unexpected taste of home from Marshall, Texas. After walking and taking trains, he and a friend reached Lotte World Mall in Seoul.

“We found an On The Border Mexican restaurant,” John said. “We’d been eating Korean food the whole time, so seeing Tex‑Mex there was really cool.”

A few years later, back stateside, a friend named Ricky invited him to train. The first time John pressed a log overhead and lifted a car deadlift frame, he was hooked. The odd implements, the creative variety, the community that cheered as hard as it competed—everything clicked.

After completing his service in August 2020, John entered his first strongman competition, Texas Strongest Veteran in the novice class. He took first place.

“That’s when I knew it was fun and I was pretty good at it,” he said.

Competing in the heavyweight division, John’s combination of size and speed from his Army training gave him an edge. His speed on moving events, honed by years of rucking, set him apart.

At nationals in Erie, Pennsylvania, he finished in the top 10 despite tearing his hamstrings on the final day. The injury didn’t slow his ambition. By 2024, he was competing at Arnold qualifiers.

Reps, Review, Redemption

Back on the platform at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth for an Arnold qualifier in July 2024, with 60 seconds on the Viking press at about 300 pounds, he trusted the same rhythm he learned on those miles: breathe, brace, move the weight. The room hummed; chalk dried his palms.

His muscles burned as the judge counted each rep. Or so he thought. He had won every other event that day, but when the scores were posted, his 27 reps left him half a point behind. The leader hit 33. Only first place earned an invite to Columbus.

In strongman, athletes earn points based on their placement in each event. The competitor with the highest total score wins. A miscount in a single event can shift the entire competition.

“I honestly didn’t think I made it,” John said. “I knew I won every event but one, but I didn’t do great in that one, so I thought it might push me down.”

Then the judges approached. They had miscounted his reps.

“You get a visible command for each rep,” John said. “They went back and watched the video and counted the commands.”

After the correction, he was three points ahead and in first.

“It gave me enough to win,” he said.

However, life and the final push toward his degree took priority. Though he earned his place among the world’s best, John ultimately did not attend the 2026 Arnold. Instead, he channeled that discipline into finishing his credentials at TSTC.

Building Blocks

TSTC had long been on John’s radar. His sister is an alumna of TSTC’s Marshall campus. It wasn’t until a friend named Greg nudged him that he committed to the trade. Greg, a business owner, reminded him that in Texas, air conditioning isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity.

“I’d been toying with the idea for a while, and then I decided, ‘That’s what I’m going to do,’” John said.

After eight years in the Army, John craved structure. He found it at the HVAC lab at TSTC’s Williamson County campus. He treats his education like training—four days a week, a target for each session, every step aimed at his associate degree.

“I like that it’s set up where every class and every semester builds onto the next,” John said. “You set the building blocks, and I can set my own schedule, which works for me.”

His military background has helped him learn how to assess situations. One example stands out to TSTC HVAC instructor Greg Wagner.

“He performed the test like the stellar student he apparently is. When I graded it, I asked him how he arrived at the answer because there was no math work shown,” Wagner said.

He went straight to the Carrier website, entered the model number, found the performance graph and plotted the points for the answer.

“Most students come back and ask, ‘Where do you get this information?’” Wagner said. “But John went right to the source and got the answer. That’s the most important tool in your toolbox today.”

Wagner wasn’t surprised by the resourcefulness he sees so often in veterans.

“Military folks are used to structure. They use SOPs for everything,” Wagner said. “They’re well rehearsed in using documentation, identifying the right information, and keeping track of it.”

In the lab, the parallels are clear. Just as he grips cold steel on the platform, John works the sequence on HVAC units: diagnose, adjust, test.

He jokes that the biggest thing to translate from his strongman background is the ability to move the equipment.

With his associate degree completed in spring 2026, John has moved his focus from the international stage to the Texas workforce. He plans to gain experience in the field and eventually start his own business.

“He’s got the right drive and the right mentality, and he seems very organized,” Wagner said. “I’d venture to say he would be successful, no doubt.”

The stage in Columbus was a hard-earned milestone, but John is now ready for the climate of a new career. As a TSTC graduate, he is applying the same steady discipline to the field that he once brought to the platform, proving that whether he’s under a barbell or a central air unit, he knows exactly how to handle the pressure.