Weight Classes and Your Health: What You Need for a Long Life in and Outside Strength Sports

By:  Brian Carroll

Want to go down a weight class? Want to slim down and be a little healthier overall?

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Wanting to drop a weight class in a weight restricted sport? OR do you need to? This just might what you need for a long life in and outside strength sports.

Big is good. Strong is great. Healthy, big and strong is even better. What’s more appealing, it’s something that can be maintained better and over time. In this piece I will give a little bit of advice on what has worked for me and a couple of others in the last couple of years.

Please note: Let’s not be ignorant, nothing about strength sports/athletics (in this case powerlifting/BB/Strongman) is heathy. It just is not. Now that we are past that, I know this is seemingly a running theme with PRS (and it is) but you can MITIGATE the damage with more than a few things I have learned – some being the hard way. Actually most. I fully admit that I have not done as much as I COULD or SHOULD have most of my lifting career. I fully admit this and it’s about time that I controlled my diet a bit better.

Contrary to popular belief – You can powerlift/strongman/CrossFit – (insert activity here) and not retire/quit a crippled stroke victim, unfit for daily activities, pain med dependent cardiac patient. Contrary to the way many think, the difference in a great powerlifter and a legend is not just dosage. Don’t be naïve –  MOST (not all) top lifters will take around the same amount of sauce, train similarly in intensity as the rest of the pack of top dogs – but the separation is the time plugging away and being consistent, (10 plus years at a high level) mix in a little bit of luck and the x-factor — GENETICS.

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Genetics doesn’t play HUGE part? Try telling that to the kid who’s only 20 with multiple heart attacks under his belt, or the child with brain cancer or crippled.  Compare to the kid who can dunk a basketball at 12 and has every college on his jock by 7th grade. Genes play a HUGE part – a massive part BUT not the only part. Think of them as a gassed up vehicle with GPS coordinates to a bright future. You HAVE to keep gas in the Lambo for it to work and maintain it otherwise, it will fail you just like a stock Toyota Camry will.

We all have to deal with what God has given us. Some more gifted than others.

Back to my point–

Some people can get away with doing everything wrong, eat a shit diet, have great blood work, terrible training methods and form along with a seemingly totally healthy body for a long time. But eventually, father time catches up. This is fact – father time is undefeated and whether you see it or not, it happens to those ‘freaks’ that you didn’t think it could regardless of what you think.

Chances are, you are NOT the genetic freak above and if you are, use your talents wisely.

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Getting healthier – things you can control.

Cases: Chad Walker, Jonathan Byrd, Jason K and myself.   I used to compete at 275 and was a mess in a few ways. I was too heavy for my frame (290) which was already compromised due to a few back injuries. I finally decided to come down and back to reality and get into the 260’s vs the 290’s. I was getting out of breath walking across the parking lot and was starting to lose a lot of athleticism overall. I had grown from a true 219lb – 220er to a 290+ – 275er and I was not healthy.

My wakeup call has come in many waves and not just my back injury. In 2013 I was in the hospital in January due to kidney stones. My back was a mess, and I was not taking care of myself the way I should have. I was taking loads of meds to keep my back feeling ‘good’(more like OK), having injections in my spine, lots of stimulants and NOT ENOUGH WATER.. Oh, and at the same time I was prepping for a meet. This was not fun. If that wasn’t enough, right after seeing McGill and getting my back addressed, I pushed the envelope too far with traveling, stress etc. and ended up doing too much and in the hospital AGAIN with Strep Pneumonia in which I was septic. Not good – they kept me for three days and it was some of the worst days of my life. This woke up me a little bit, but not enough to truly change my ways. Like I’ve said before, with me – I adjust in increments usually and this was no different.  I did OK for the next little while, but let my bodyweight get into the 290’s and I was not feeling well and neither was my back at this weight, I just wasn’t sure quite yet how much it would help my back.

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In May 2014, right after my good friend suddenly passed away, it scared me straight. He was only 43, and I realized I was heading down a bad road, so I dropped weight back down to 260-265 range, where I have stayed for the last few years. This was a good choice by me in a few ways – not only for my blood work but for my back as my lifting has been better than ever.  But, here in the last year, even though my bodyweight has remained the same, I don’t always eat great at night. In the last two months, I have made the decision to eliminate junk food out of my diet completely. I look and feel so much better already – just my skin and color. I have rededicated myself to eating & being healthy.  A huge thanks to Danny Vega and Tony Cowden for their help and advice on diet and supplementation. More on the diet changes and my food addiction in another article (which I have beaten).

Other people that have made similar changes.

1020pic5I also can speak first hand on and for both Jonathan Byrd and Chad Walker, and even more recently Jason Kawolewski – because I helped them all with at least some of the process. Maybe, I was even an influencing factor.  Chad was a HUGE guy – a 335lb SHW with a massive total. Chad has a kid and a wife along with a very, very demanding job as a K-9 officer at a new agency.  Chad came to the realization that he needed to get healthier and got to work – he got his diet and cardio in order – he started to make better food choices. Chad is now down under 300lb mark and feels and looks so much better. Not just lifting, but in his day to day – where he spends most of his time – duh. There is more to lifting those 12 hour per week and yes, I know you have to make sacrifices, but you don’t have to look like Barney, right Adam?

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Same goes for Jonathan Byrd. JB tipped the scale at 322 at one time (this is a running joke as I called him out in 2013 for being 325 – I was close) and is now down to the 280 range with all his lifts UP – especially his deadlift and bench.  That’s two weight classes he went down! He got tired of being too heavy, was having some BP issues and HE made the decision to come down in weight and get right. He wasn’t forced to do anything, thankfully Byrd took a job that had him on his feet more dealing with at risk youth and special needs children that require one to be athletic and on your feet often.

Jason grew very, very fast over the last three years – probably too fast. He didn’t grow up training with weights but was rather a gear-head in the garage. Once he started to eat more, train heavy and get the hell out of Bailey’s gym and got with team Samson, he exploded. Going from a smallish 235 to over 280 at one time. With this, came some BP issues that scared him and we all decided it was a good idea to slim back down and be a Powerbuilding tester (10/20/life for Powerbuilding – coming late 2016/early 2017) with Tucker Loken taking the wheel with his programming and diet.  Jason is now down to 250 (down 30+) he feels and looks so much better and his BP is way down.  This was all done with very little effort overall, once his mind was made up to make the changes needed.

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It may be a little hard at first, but all four of us would say that the hardest part was just making up our mind that we needed to change, and not letting ourselves talk our way out of it. Laziness.

Here’s a few things I’ve learned about people making true changes i.e. lifestyle changes/dropping classes/getting healthier:

  1. People will change only when ready and only then. Sometimes they are forced.
  2. They have to see the need in their own life – not what people are saying. They must ‘get it’.
  3. They have to believe in the process 100%.
  4. It will get hard (at times) and they will want to quit and revert back.
  5. They will doubt the process.
  6. They will relapse.
  7. There must be SOME TYPE of incentive on the performance side (light at the end of the tunnel).
  8. They will get weaker at first.
  9. They will have some body dysmorphia issues.
  10. They need someone to keep them accountable and be real with them.

Here are more of the positives that I have observed:

  1. They start to enjoy life around them more (not so fat) i.e. sex, going out, being active etc.
  2. They feel SO MUCH BETTER.
  3. They don’t need meds or the doctor as much.
  4. If they are the right type of competitor – they like the challenges presented above i.e. getting weaker at first but that doesn’t last long.
  5. Their lifting starts to become even better than before over time with the better nutrition and overall self-care.
  6. Lift more weight in a lower class.
  7. They recover and sleep better between training sessions.
  8. They have way more energy in the gym and overall.
  9. They start to like the way they look. And so does their significant other.
  10. Not one has ever said – “I miss being 500lb!”

NOTE: I’ll never pretend to be a head doctor, but I do know certain peoples patterns in how they operate and their predictable behavior. Especially quirky athletes.  I also go off when I’ve experienced and went through over the years.  I’ve been in this boat a few times myself and have worked with enough nutcases that I understand what goes on in their head.  I’ve even had to trick a few clients into making changes. It’s the truth.

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What you can do immediately

To keep things simple, here are a few things that we all did that helped us drop weight, get healthier, maintain as much strength as possible and look and feel so much better. NOTE: looks are in last place for the strength athlete, but it’s a GREAT side effect. Think of it this way. These changes are always best implemented in you offseason or downtime. Keep this in mind – It’s a process.

  1. Walk daily – start with a half mile first thing in the am.
  2. Have a diet plan – always have a plan – if you’re in the offseason Keto is a great idea.
  3. Eliminate the obvious SHIT out of your diet. Cokes, sweet tea, bread, snacks and dessert.
  4. Don’t skip your assistance work, add in a 4th day fluff and buff workout.
  5. If you still eat some junk, eat it AFTER a training session, not prior or on a day off.
  6. Replace bad habits with new habits i.e. instead of eating Oreos, switch to oats, peanut butter and honey.
  7. Switch soda to diet soda – super easy.
  8. Up your caffeine – i.e. coffee with some MCT oil, heavy cream and Splenda.
  9. Drink more water – use water mix-ins or drops that make it taste better if needed.
  10. Drag or push the sled after you’re done with your weights.

At the end of the day, you can’t control everything but you can 100% control what you eat and if you get a little bit of walking in every day. You can control being just 1% better to your body each day – little bits add up over time.   A little preparation and time set aside for you can go a long way. There are some that will read this article and say, wow this is easy – and make changes. Many others will think that this is a silly and obvious article and not take any of the advice. That is, until they get a few wake-up calls themselves and realize that simple changes could have prevented sometimes disastrous outcomes.

1381706_661197220587811_1203727929_nYou always have plenty of time to make changes until you don’t.  I’m very aware and it’s already scary enough to think about – We risk our health so much in doing what we do inside and outside of the gym, doing what we love but why not avoid SOME of the damage along the way?  Remember, there is a whole lot of life to live after your stint of fame, don’t back yourself too far into a corner that you can’t live your next 40 years happily… or even at all.

Get the 10/20/Life e-book HERE.

 

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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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