21 Oct 10/20/Life From The Perspective Of A Bodybuilder-Turned-Powerlifter

By: 10/20/Journalist

While prepping for his last bodybuilding show a couple of years ago, Tucker Loken finally realized that it was time to step away from just looking strong and start actually being strong. That’s when his search for a powerlifting mentor began. He found bits and pieces of advice, but didn’t truly find direction until he moved from Eugene, OR to Madison, WI where he promptly joined Madtown Fitness. “My mind was blown,” Loken said. “I was seeking strength, and this is the place where I would find it.”

Tucker wanted to remove himself from the bodybuilding world for a while and take some time to focus on being an athlete and hitting numbers, rather than simply sculpting his body. “I was tired of looking at myself in the mirror,” Loken said. “I was tired of seeing 275 on the bench as hoping that I could hit it that day. This is bullshit. Why is 275 heavy?”

Before starting with Brian Carroll and then after the first 10 weeks of offseason

He wanted to transition from building a big body to building a big and strong body. The guys at Madtown joked with him, “When are you going to come lift some heavy shit?” Tucker deemed 2015 his “power year” and decided to dedicate January 1^st through December 31^st solely to powerlifting.

After his first several weeks under Dan Pasholk’s direction at a training facility that he described as a “diamond in the rough”, Tucker had already put on noticeable amounts of muscle and strength. He was constantly asking “Why?” and wanted to learn the in’s and out’s of powerlifting. He described his quick progress as “newbie gains all over again”, and thanks bodybuilding for laying that initial groundwork for his powerlifting journey. “It was once I started powerlifting that I realized how valuable having a coach is,” Tucker said. “What the hell am I doing? Somebody help me!”

Loken’s strength blew up after 5-6 weeks of training with Dan. Not long after, he met Brian Carroll at a joint Lift-Run-Bang & 10/20/Life seminar hosted at Madtown. The principles of the program – namely staying healthy and listening to your body – stuck out to Tucker, and he began training under Brian’s guidance shortly after. After recently finishing up a long offseason with Brian handling his programming, Tucker began preparing for his first powerlifting meet in November. He is competing full power raw with wraps in Dubuque, IA and hopes to total elite at 220.

He describes his 10/20/Life experience as a good one. For the first time in his many years of training, he didn’t go to failure and had scheduled deloads. “What I like about working with Brian is that he helps me progress by attacking my weak points,” Loken said. “He has me doing things like floor presses and pause squats. Every time I walk into the gym, I know that I’m training in the most efficient way possible. The entire program revolves around staying injury-free and avoiding overtraining, which is huge for me not only as a powerlifter, but as a bodybuilder as well.”

Tucker believes that his year of powerlifting will carry over to bodybuilding. He finally learned the importance of deloading and that training more isn’t necessarily better. “I was so excited when I saw that I would be training three days each week. That means four days of recovery!”

Tucker described bodybuilding as an art and powerlifting as a sport. Although training for his first meet didn’t completely convert him to the dark side, Loken intends on continuing to powerlift after his “year of power” is up. However, the time he took away from bodybuilding was enough to show him how much it meant to him and how much he enjoys it. “I really want to do both. I want to keep them separate to a degree, but be able to find a balance that works,” he said.

Loken was sold on Brian’s emphasis on health and recovery and is excited to see where his training will take him. He plans on switching back to bodybuilding for a while next year and is excited to apply what he’s learned from the 10/20/Life principles. After that, he would like to switch back and forth between the two. What’s the first thing he will do when transitioning from powerlifting to bodybuilding? “Find a reputable coach!”

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Brian Carroll

Owner and Founder at PowerRackStrength.com

Brian is a retired world-class powerlifter with over two decades of world-class powerlifting. From 1999 to 2020, Brian Carroll was a competitive powerlifter, one of the most accomplished lifters in the sport's history. Brian started off competing in bench press competitions 'raw,' then, shortly into the journey, he gravitated toward equipped lifting as there were no "raw" categories then. You only had to choose from single-ply (USPF) and Multi-ply (APF/WPC). Brian went on to total 2730 at 275 and 2651 at 242 with more than ten times his body weight in three different classes (220, 242, 275), and both bench pressed and deadlifted over 800 pounds in two other weight classes. He's totaled 2600 over 20 times in 2 different weight classes in his career. With 60 squats of 1000lbs or more officially, this is the most in powerlifting history, regardless of weight class or federation, by anyone not named David Hoff. Brian realized many ups and downs during his 20+ years competing. After ten years of high-level powerlifting competition and an all-time World Record squat at 220 with 1030, in 2009, Brian was competing for a Police academy scholarship. On a hot and humid July morning, Brian, hurdling over a barricade at 275lbs, landed on, fell, and hurt his back. After years of back pain and failed therapy, Brian met with world-renowned back specialist Prof McGill in 2013, which changed his trajectory more than he could have imagined. In 2017, Brian Carroll and Prof McGill authored the best-selling book about Brian's triumphant comeback to powerlifting in Gift of Injury. Most recently (10.3.20) -Brian set the highest squat of all time (regardless of weight class) with 1306 lbs – being the first man to break the 1300lb squat barrier at a bodyweight of 303 lbs.

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