Content material warning: This story comprises references to disordered consuming and excessive weight-loss methods, which can be upsetting or triggering for some readers.
At her very first powerlifting meet, Brittainy Chown had already seen a strain to “weigh in” as mild as potential with the intention to nab the highest spot. A former collegiate monitor athlete, Chown turned to powerlifting—a sport that includes lifting as a lot weight as potential for one single rep—to faucet into her current appreciation for energy coaching whereas satisfying her must compete.
But it surely took her a few 12 months to lastly decide to a meet. Her years of working five-plus hours a day had made her physique small and lean. It was exhausting to shake the nagging feeling that she wanted to be “this tremendous skinny, skinny” athlete. “I used to be sort of embarrassed about what my weight had gotten as much as within the 12 months that I had taken off from any sort of train,” she says. “I personally felt like I wanted to drop some pounds to get into what I used to be contemplating a extra favorable weight class, so far as, like, what I needed to be often called.”
Chown spent someplace between six and eight months attempting to drop some pounds earlier than her first meet, in the end dropping 20 kilos in that interval. For the subsequent 4 years, Chown mentioned she “pressured” herself to remain inside the 75-kilogram (165-pound) weight class. However by 2018, her lifts have been plateauing. She was struggling damage after damage, she recalled. In her ninth meet, the then-27-year-old had lifted a complete of 881.8 kilos throughout her bench press, squat, and deadlift—greater than 100 kilos lower than what she had lifted in a contest simply eight months prior.
Though most of the powerlifters in her circle inspired her to embrace weight acquire—and, in flip, muscle and energy—and bump up a category, “in my mind, I used to be like, ‘Certain, I am going to get stronger, however I am additionally heavier, so it would not matter,’” she remembers. “As if it would not depend in the identical manner, which is silly, however in my mind, that is what made sense.”
Chown’s not the one powerlifter who’s turn into fixated on the size, both attributable to both inner or exterior voices. As much as 70 % of elite athletes competing in weight-class sports activities weight-reduction plan and have some kind of disordered consuming sample with the intention to scale back their weight earlier than a contest, in line with 2012 analysis1 in Sports activities Well being. In a current 2024 survey2 of 16 aggressive American Olympic weightlifters, members seen competing with out chopping weight beforehand as “unimaginable.” And the athletes’ personal weight-class decisions have been pushed by the game’s condemnation of physique fats, in line with the examine authors.
For some athletes, competing at a decrease weight class may give them a aggressive edge—as long as they’re participating in healthful, sustainable practices with the assist of a workforce of pros (together with a registered dietitian, sports activities psychologist, coach, and healthcare supplier), in line with the consultants interviewed for this story.
However for a lot of lifters, policing physique weight for the sake of a win can have critical psychological and bodily well being results. And, as Chown later found, escaping the confines of a weight class may be releasing.
Why physique weight issues in powerlifting
Powerlifting is promoted as a “you versus you” sport—you’re striving to be the most effective, strongest model of your self. That distinctive kind of competitors makes for a typically constructive atmosphere, with a supportive neighborhood that may cheer one another on no matter what number of plates are on the bar. And that’s what hooks many athletes, says Natalie Ribble, MS, CSCS, CFSC, an athlete, powerlifting coach, and the chief of employees at Seattle Energy & Efficiency.
What your physique appears to be like like—its form and dimension—shouldn’t be a priority. The truth is, athletes interviewed for a 2023 examine3 within the Ladies in Sport and Bodily Exercise Journal all described the powerlifting neighborhood as body-positive, because of the emphasis on coaching to stage up bodily energy—not aesthetics. The game offers athletes a deeper appreciation for his or her our bodies and their capabilities, enhances mind-body connection, and improves self-compassion, in line with the findings.
Nonetheless, for critical lifters trying to win, physique weight does matter. The first powerlifting organizations divide opponents up right into a dozen or so weight courses. USA Powerlifting (USAPL), for instance, splits feminine athletes into 11 weight courses, spanning from 44 kilograms (97 kilos) to 100-plus kilograms (roughly 220 kilos and above). Top, physique composition (i.e., quantity of lean physique mass and physique fats), genetics, age, and different elements can all affect your physique weight and, in flip, have an effect on which weight class you’ll “naturally” sit in. The scoring system, nonetheless, can go away lifters feeling pressured to lose physique weight or keep a decrease weight.
Powerlifting is promoted as a “you versus you” sport—you’re striving to be the most effective, strongest model of your self.
Awards like “Finest Lifter” of the complete intercourse class are decided by an athlete’s DOTS rating, which is basically your ratio of energy to physique weight, Ribble says. In concept, having the identical energy in a decrease weight class will make you extra aggressive, she says. For instance, somebody who lifts 200 kilos in a decrease weight class would have a larger—and extra aggressive—DOTS rating than somebody who lifts the very same weight however is in the next weight class. (Inside the weight class, nonetheless, DOTS typically would not matter for placement. Awards are given primarily based on who has the best complete weight lifted inside the class, in line with Ribble.)
“We’re all fairly ingrained early on that with the intention to win the meet, it’s a must to raise essentially the most weight on the lightest physique weight,” Chown says. “That is going to be what is going on to provide the highest rating. So there’s this strain to weigh in as mild as you may, as a result of if you wish to win total, that is going to be one strategy to do it. Clearly lifting extra helps, but when you too can raise extra at a lighter physique weight, then that ratio goes to go up.”
In powerlifting and different weight-category sports activities, that narrative usually encourages weight reduction4. Ribble factors out that shedding pounds with the intention to compete in a specific weight class may be achieved in sustainable, non-restrictive methods. In a 2023 survey5 revealed within the European Journal of Diet, most of the powerlifters who reported long-term weight-reduction plan adopted an “If It Matches Your Macros” or “versatile” plan, each of which are supposed to be much less restrictive.
Think about Ribble herself. In 2022, she sat on the sting of the 90- and 100-kilogram courses and wasn’t putting in addition to she needed within the greater class. As a powerlifting coach, she needed first-hand expertise with the weight-loss course of. For a whole 12 months, she step by step misplaced 24 kilos. She dropped to a decrease class for her subsequent two meets and obtained even stronger. Her totals went up, as did her DOTs. She clinched second and third place.
The harms of shrinking for aggressive edge
That mentioned, some athletes resort to excessive, short-term weight-loss methods which might be confirmed to be dangerous, Ribble says. In a small 2022 examine6 within the Journal of Energy and Conditioning Analysis, 83 % of the surveyed athletes reported “chopping weight,” doing so by proscribing fluid consumption, fasting or skipping meals, growing exercise, taking laxatives or diuretics, and utilizing the sauna. Weight-category athletes have been discovered2 to attenuate power consumption.
The vast majority of lifters within the above 2022 examine reported adverse adjustments to their psychological state, experiencing fatigue, anger, emotions of isolation, and anxiousness. And these weight-making strategies have been proven to extend the chance of in-competition accidents, compromise bone well being, and hurt basal metabolic well being, per a 2024 overview2 revealed in Efficiency Enhancement & Well being.
As a coach, Ribble usually sees this sequence of occasions: First-timers stroll into their meet at their baseline, “as-is” physique weight. After competing, they begin to marvel how they could place in the event that they did drop some pounds whereas sustaining their energy. Then, they attempt to reduce down a weight class for his or her second, third, and fourth meets.
However this course of tends to turn into irritating; possibly they’re not as robust as they’d wish to be or they’re struggling to take care of that decrease physique weight within the low season. “In the event you attempt to reduce weight quick for a meet, then what is going on to occur is after that meet is over, in your low season, your weight goes to pop again up,” Ribble says. “Relying on when you want to compete once more, then it’s a must to undergo one other small reduce to get again all the way down to your weight class and one other after which again up once more. Every time you sort of fluctuate up and down like that, it will get more durable to chop again to that weight class.” To not point out, when you’re placing on muscle (which theoretically comes with9 potential will increase in energy), you’ll sometimes weigh extra over time, she says.
It’s why Ribble doesn’t particularly suggest chopping to any of the athletes she works with. In the event that they ask for steering on weight reduction, they’ve an in-depth dialog in regards to the shopper’s “why,” their relationship with meals and their physique, and what a sensible, mentally and bodily supportive plan may seem like. As a rule, although, she reminds people who their smallest physique isn’t their strongest or healthiest physique. “I feel for me and for most individuals, except there is a nationals qualifier on the road or one thing like that, it’s not typically price it.”
“For the primary time in my life, I used to be consuming to handle my weight and never consuming to gas my coaching.” —Brittainy Chown, powerlifter
For Chown, sustaining her 75-kilogram weight class wasn’t simple—or wholesome. She remembers obsessively counting energy, overanalyzing every thing she was consuming, and battling an incessant cycle of proscribing and binging. “I feel mentally, that was actually tough,” she says. “I’ve all the time been an athlete. I’ve all the time eaten quite a bit and eaten to carry out, after which for the primary time in my life, I used to be consuming to handle my weight and never consuming to gas my coaching.”
Most of these restrictive practices can’t solely result in under-fueling5 and bodily exhaustion, particularly given the depth of a sport like powerlifting. However they’ll additionally have an effect on your social and emotional connections, says Melissa Streno, PsyD, CMPC, a licensed scientific psychologist in Denver who makes a speciality of physique picture, consuming problems, and disordered consuming, significantly amongst athletes.
Meals isn’t simply gas in your physique; it’s additionally a supply of pleasure and a strategy to join with others. And having to remain at a specific weight, keep away from sure varieties of meals, or feeling like “I can’t take pleasure in XYZ meals” usually adjustments your day-to-day routine and negatively impacts your social life, she explains. “I feel over time, that may get actually draining and actually disconnecting.”
In the meantime, one other damaging connection is shaped: The quantity on the size can turn into a lot greater than a easy truth. In her early days, Chown’s weight class was a tenant pole of her id. Chown, like many different athletes, put that quantity in her Instagram deal with, @brittchown75. It was immediately recognized within the powerlifting neighborhood that she was within the 75-kilogram weight class—and that’s what folks would count on of her, she says. She remembers considering, “If I have been to achieve weight and transfer up a category, what would everybody suppose? When you’re hooked up to it and also you suppose that is your weight class, you may do no matter you may to carry on to it.”
This inner and exterior strain to suit into one weight “field” can occur in any weight-category sport, whether or not it’s powerlifting, bodybuilding, or wrestling, in line with Streno. “You’re feeling like you slot in. You’re feeling like you will have a spot. You’re feeling such as you belong,” she says. “If there’s selection in having the ability to transfer away from that [weight] to one thing that may truly be helpful in the long run—in your well being, in your efficiency, all of these issues—but it surely seems like this unknown territory…there’s hesitation to that.” Creating that distinction, nonetheless, can take away a few of the energy these numbers carry, she provides.
The liberty of devaluing physique weight
Following 4 years of restriction, poor efficiency, and damage, Chown hit a breaking level. Lastly, she started to let herself develop. It’s a mindset shift many elite powerlifters expertise, Ribble says.
“In the event you have been to speak to anyone who’s been on this sport for a very very long time—tremendous mature lifters who’ve been competing for 10 years or extra—they might say the identical factor: Your smallest weight class isn’t all the time your best weight class,” Ribble says. “Possibly generally it’s, but it surely will not all the time be that. And with the intention to proceed to develop into the game, you’ve obtained to placed on muscle, which suggests you’ve obtained to placed on weight sooner or later.”
Streno places it this fashion: Simply because a pair of denims suit you in faculty doesn’t imply they have suit you for the remainder of your life. In powerlifting, you shouldn’t count on your self to sit down in a single weight class for each competitors, particularly if it’s doing extra hurt than good from a efficiency or well being standpoint.
For Chown, transitioning out of that decrease weight class wasn’t as simple as flipping a “reset” change at the back of her mind. She spent a 12 months engaged on consuming extra gas for her coaching, feeling comfy seeing her physique weight go up, and breaking the behavior of—deliberately and subconsciously—proscribing herself when she did see these will increase. Whereas she anxious that when she noticed, say, 175 kilos on the size, she would all of the sudden hate her look, “that by no means occurred,” she says.
As an alternative, Chown says her energy elevated a ton when she hit the 181-pound weight class. “I noticed a lot progress going from these two courses, and I simply saved kicking myself, like, ‘Why did I wait 4 years to do that?’ It was horrible. I used to be so mad at myself.”
“It is such a very good feeling to not be so harassed over a weight class, and I can simply concentrate on the coaching.” —Brittainy Chown, powerlifter
In 2023, Chown has moved up one more weight class. Whereas within the 181-pound class, she discovered herself doing water cuts (dehydrating herself to the purpose she would drop 10 kilos of water weight alone) with the intention to make weight on meet days, a observe she now admits “obtained actually unhealthy” and is harmful.
Now in her tenth 12 months of powerlifting, Chown sometimes competes within the 198-pound class. It’s a weight that her physique naturally sits at (usually referred to as a “set level”), no obsessive restrictions or weight-reduction plan micromanaging required. “It’s a weight that permits me to dwell my life,” she says.
It’s additionally a weight that permits her to succeed in new private information and take residence first place titles. In June, Chown nabbed the highest spot in her weight class at the US Powerlifting Affiliation’s Examined Nationwide Championships in Nevada.
“I really feel the strongest I ever have,” says Chown. “It is such a very good feeling to not be so harassed over a weight class, and I can simply concentrate on the coaching. Who cares what the quantity is that I weigh in at, you realize? It is a part of the game, however I haven’t got to have any sort of emotional ties to that quantity.”
Some folks may even see a efficiency increase from dropping down a weight class, as long as there’s a assist system making certain it is achieved in a wholesome method, Ribble says. However for many athletes, powerlifting isn’t a critical profession. It’s merely a passion sport that helps folks discover their energy and, in lots of circumstances, heal physique picture points, she provides. The fixed strain, id disaster, and threat of dangerous bodily and psychological well being results? That’s simply not definitely worth the trophy.
In the event you or somebody you realize is fighting an consuming dysfunction, name the Nationwide Alliance for Consuming Problems Helpline at 1-866-662-1235 for rapid assist or go to allianceforeatingdisorders.com or anad.org/get-help for extra assets.
