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But it took her about a year to finally commit to a meet.
Her years of running five-plus hours a day had made her body small and lean.
It was hard to shake the nagging feeling that she needed to be this super thin, skinny athlete.
competitive powerlifter and certified personal trainer
But by 2018, her lifts were plateauing.
She was suffering injury after injury, she recalled.
And, as Chown later discovered, escaping the confines of a weight class can be freeing.
What your body looks likeits shape and sizeshouldnt be a concern.
Still, for serious lifters looking to win, body weight does matter.
Powerlifting is promoted as a you versus you sportyoure striving to be the best, strongest version of yourself.
(Within the weight class, however, DOTS generally doesnt matter for placement.
Thats going to be whats going to give you the highest score.
In powerlifting and other weight-category sports, that narrative oftenencourages weight loss4.
competitive powerlifter and certified personal trainer
As a powerlifting coach, she wanted first-hand experience with the weight-loss process.
For an entire year, she gradually lost 24 pounds.
Shedropped to a lower classfor her next two meets and got even stronger.
Her totals went up, as did her DOTs.
She clinched second and third place.
Weight-category athletes havebeen foundto minimize energy intake.
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After competing, they start to wonder how they might place if theydidlose weight while maintaining their strength.
Its why Ribble doesnt specifically recommend cutting to any of the athletes she works with.
Brittainy Chown, powerlifter
For Chown, maintaining her 75-kilogram weight class wasnt easyor healthy.
I think mentally, that was really rough, she says.
Ive always been an athlete.
I think over time, that can get really draining and really disconnecting.
In her early days, Chowns weight class was a tenant pole of her identity.
Chown, like many other athletes, put that number in her Instagram handle, @brittchown75.
You feel like you fit in.
You feel like you have a place.
You feel like you belong, she says.
Creating that distinction, however, can take away some of the power those numbers carry, she adds.
Maybe sometimes it is, but it wont always be that.
Instead, Chown says her strength increased a ton when she hit the 181-pound weight class.
I was so mad at myself.
Brittainy Chown, powerlifter
In 2023, Chown has moved up yet another weight class.
Now in her 10th year of powerlifting, Chown typically competes in the 198-pound class.
Its a weight that allows me to live my life, she says.
Its also a weight that allows her to reach new personal records and take home first place titles.
I feel the strongest I ever have, says Chown.
But for most athletes, powerlifting isnt a serious career.
The constant pressure, identity crisis, and risk of harmful physical and mental health effects?
Thats just not worth the trophy.
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ACSM Expert Consensus Statement on Weight Loss in Weight-Category Sports.
Current Sports Medicine Reports 20(4):p 199-217, April 2021.
The general nutrition practices of competitive powerlifters vary by competitive calibre and sex, weight, and age class.
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