18 Month Powerlifting Transformation
5'9" / 23 / M, 185lbs to 155lbs, back to 185lbs

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It felt pretty awesome to look so different at the same weight!

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Signing Up and Being a Beginner - Twice

185 was the heaviest and most unhealthy I've ever been, I yo-yo'd and didn't commit to a bunch of things but when I signed up to the gym and got myself into a one year contract I knew I had to be disciplined in my approach. The biggest help for me was using MFP to track my calories, I started to see immediate results and lifting was a lot of fun. I'd say enjoyment was and is the second most important thing for me, the first remaining to be discipline. Honestly, the first 3 weeks of dieting and forcing myself to ride a 4 mile round trip to the gym in November/December was horrid; it's because of this that my feeling of pride for finally making the change was so great. Of course, this was only the beginning. "Be proud but never satisfied"

Months went by as I stayed in this cycle, making steady progress along the way; the first time I bench pressed my body weight was awesome. Deadlifting twice my bodyweight, also an immense feeling.

The greatest change was when I landed my first real job, I had to move to another city and ended up in Leeds, UK. There, I came across a powerlifting/bodybuilding gym called Rall's, home to many British Record holders and 3 time World Record holder, Andy Bolton. Training with them was humbling, after becoming a "strong" lifter in the commercial gym setting, I was back to square one, I was a beginner, again.

What followed was PR after PR after PR... I was the strongest I had ever been in December 2017. I think it was the atmosphere that really drove my progression, I wanted to impress and I was dedicated to doing so in all areas of my life; nutrition was on point, I got plenty of rest, I lived and breathed powerlifting.

To give you an idea, this was the kind of atmosphere in Rall's. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Awesome, right?

This is actually a follow up to an old blog post, an excerpt of which reads "Goals: my goal now is to reach a 1000lbs total and stay within the 83kg weight class. My current lifts are at 245 / 225 / 330 in S/B/D and I would like to reach 350/250/400."

Well, upon leaving Rall's gym and moving home, I was at 375 / 270 / 450. And here's a clip of a huge PR for me, 115kg bench press for two (yes, I swap between lbs and kg a lot)!

http://instagram.com/p/Bd-7Vu2HCxH/

Thank you for reading

My goals now are to reach a 4/3/5 plate lift, but of course, it makes sense to round the deadlift up to 500lbs!