powerlifting-why-i-walked-away

Powerlifting – the end for me

Powerlifting – the end for me

Powerlifting – is the end for me. Some of you understand I have walked away from powerlifting in 2020 and am no longer competing. I no longer want to push the limits nor wrestle with the minutia. In my case, the writing was on the wall, and with my last squat of 1306 being the first squat over 1300 pounds, regardless of body weight, or class, there wasn’t a better time to walk away. So for me, it was just time.

Powerlifting – the start

When I first started lifting serious and pushing past the gym-rat/bodybuilder approach in 1999, I had goals to become as large and powerful as possible but never set out for a particular number. Instead, I was big into strength training and felt the shift in my senior year playing baseball. Baseball had ended for me, and it was time to fill the void. So, I set many short-term goals, accomplished them, then it was on to the next thing—without even thinking of walking away. I thought I would compete forever; this was my new baseball-like focus.

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This article gives three reasons why it was time for me to walk away. First, nobody had to tell me this; nobody forced me out. It was clear to me that it was time for the next thing.

Read the entire article here at Elitefts.com.

For those in the middle of your lifting career, or maybe just starting, here are two books that will help you immensely with a long-term perspective. In addition, they will help you avoid many of the mistakes I made. 10/20/Life and Gift of Injury.

If you want help designing your program or have a back injury that has you sidelined, please reach out and schedule a virtual or in-person consult with someone who has been there, recovered from it, and returned to the highest level of performance pain-free.

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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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