A Competitive Powerlifter Open Ups About the Mental Health Effects of Cutting Weight to Win

Content material warning: This story accommodates 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 observed a stress 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 latest appreciation for energy coaching whereas satisfying her must compete.

Nevertheless it took her a couple of yr to lastly decide to a meet. Her years of working five-plus hours a day had made her physique small and lean. It was laborious to shake the nagging feeling that she wanted to be “this tremendous skinny, skinny” athlete. “I used to be type of embarrassed about what my weight had gotten as much as within the yr that I had taken off from any type of train,” she says. “I personally felt like I wanted to shed extra pounds to get into what I used to be contemplating a extra favorable weight class, so far as, like, what I needed to be generally known as.”

Chown spent someplace between six and eight months making an attempt to shed extra pounds earlier than her first meet, in the end dropping 20 kilos in that interval. For the following 4 years, Chown stated she “compelled” herself to remain inside the 75-kilogram (165-pound) weight class. However by 2018, her lifts have been plateauing. She was struggling harm after harm, 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 lots 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, ‘Positive, I will get stronger, however I am additionally heavier, so it would not matter,’” she remembers. “As if it would not rely in the identical means, which is silly, however in my mind, that is what made sense.”

Chown’s not the one powerlifter who’s change into fixated on the dimensions, both because of both inside or exterior voices. As much as 70 p.c 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, based on 2012 analysis¹ in Sports activities Well being. In a latest 2024 survey² of 16 aggressive American Olympic weightlifters, contributors considered competing with out reducing weight beforehand as “unimaginable.” And the athletes’ personal weight-class selections have been pushed by the game’s condemnation of physique fats, based on the research authors.

For some athletes, competing at a decrease weight class might give them a aggressive edge—as long as they’re partaking in healthful, sustainable practices with the help of a staff of execs (together with a registered dietitian, sports activities psychologist, coach, and healthcare supplier), based on 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 might be releasing.

Why physique weight issues in powerlifting

Powerlifting is promoted as a “you versus you” sport—you’re striving to be the very best, strongest model of your self. That distinctive kind of competitors makes for a typically optimistic surroundings, 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 like—its form and measurement—shouldn’t be a priority. In reality, athletes interviewed for a 2023 research³ within the Ladies in Sport and Bodily Exercise Journal all described the powerlifting neighborhood as body-positive, due to the emphasis on coaching to stage up bodily energy—not aesthetics. The game provides athletes a deeper appreciation for his or her our bodies and their capabilities, enhances mind-body connection, and improves self-compassion, based on the findings.

Nonetheless, for critical lifters seeking 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). Peak, physique composition (i.e., quantity of lean physique mass and physique fats), genetics, age, and different components 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 depart lifters feeling pressured to lose physique weight or preserve a decrease weight.

Powerlifting is promoted as a “you versus you” sport—you’re striving to be the very best, strongest model of your self.

Awards like “Greatest Lifter” of your complete intercourse class are decided by an athlete’s DOTS rating, which is actually your ratio of energy to physique weight, Ribble says. In principle, 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. (Throughout the weight class, nonetheless, DOTS typically would not matter for placement. Awards are given based mostly on who has the best whole weight lifted inside the class, based on Ribble.)

“We’re all fairly ingrained early on that with the intention to win the meet, you need to raise probably 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 stress to weigh in as mild as you possibly can, as a result of if you wish to win total, that is going to be one approach to do it. Clearly lifting extra helps, but when you may also 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 might be carried out in sustainable, non-restrictive methods. In a 2023 survey⁵ revealed within the European Journal of Vitamin, lots of the powerlifters who reported long-term weight-reduction plan adopted an “If It Suits 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 inserting in addition to she needed within the increased class. As a powerlifting coach, she needed first-hand expertise with the weight-loss course of. For a complete yr, she progressively misplaced 24 kilos. She dropped to a decrease class for her subsequent two meets and acquired even stronger. Her totals went up, as did her DOTs. She clinched second and third place.

The harms of shrinking for aggressive edge

That stated, some athletes resort to excessive, short-term weight-loss methods which are confirmed to be dangerous, Ribble says. In a small 2022 research⁶ within the Journal of Energy and Conditioning Analysis, 83 p.c of the surveyed athletes reported “reducing weight,” doing so by limiting fluid consumption, fasting or skipping meals, growing exercise, taking laxatives or diuretics, and utilizing the sauna. Weight-category athletes have been discovered² to reduce power consumption.

Nearly all of lifters within the above 2022 research reported destructive adjustments to their psychological state, experiencing fatigue, anger, emotions of isolation, and nervousness. And these weight-making strategies have been proven to extend the danger of in-competition accidents, compromise bone well being, and hurt basal metabolic well being, per a 2024 evaluate² 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 may place in the event that they did shed extra pounds whereas sustaining their energy. Then, they attempt to lower down a weight class for his or her second, third, and fourth meets.

However this course of tends to change into irritating; possibly they’re not as robust as they’d wish to be or they’re struggling to keep up that decrease physique weight within the low season. “When you attempt to lower 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 have to compete once more, then you need to undergo one other small lower to get again all the way down to your weight class and one other after which again up once more. Every time you type of fluctuate up and down like that, it will get tougher to chop again to that weight class.” To not point out, in the event 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 advocate reducing 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 concerning the shopper’s “why,” their relationship with meals and their physique, and what a sensible, mentally and bodily supportive plan may seem like. Most of the time, although, she reminds people who their smallest physique isn’t their strongest or healthiest physique. “I believe 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 all the things she was consuming, and battling an incessant cycle of limiting and binging. “I believe mentally, that was actually tough,” she says. “I’ve at all times been an athlete. I’ve at all times eaten rather a lot 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 cannot solely result in under-fueling⁵ and bodily exhaustion, particularly given the depth of a sport like powerlifting. However they will additionally have an effect on your social and emotional connections, says Melissa Streno, PsyD, CMPC, a licensed medical psychologist in Denver who makes a speciality of physique picture, consuming issues, and disordered consuming, notably amongst athletes.

Meals isn’t simply gas on your physique; it’s additionally a supply of pleasure and a approach to join with others. And having to remain at a specific weight, keep away from sure kinds 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 believe over time, that may get actually draining and actually disconnecting.”

In the meantime, one other damaging connection is fashioned: The quantity on the dimensions can change into a lot greater than a easy truth. In her early days, Chown’s weight class was a tenant pole of her identification. Chown, like many different athletes, put that quantity in her Instagram deal with, @brittchown75. It was immediately identified within the powerlifting neighborhood that she was within the 75-kilogram weight class—and that’s what individuals would anticipate of her, she says. She remembers pondering, “If I have been to achieve weight and transfer up a category, what would everybody suppose? When you’re connected to it and also you suppose that is your weight class, you may do no matter you possibly can to carry on to it.”

This inside and exterior stress to suit into one weight “field” can occur in any weight-category sport, whether or not it’s powerlifting, bodybuilding, or wrestling, based on Streno. “You’re feeling like you slot in. You’re feeling like you have got a spot. You’re feeling such as you belong,” she says. “If there’s selection in with the ability to transfer away from that [weight] to one thing which may really be useful in the long run—on your well being, on your efficiency, all of these issues—however it seems like this unknown territory…there’s hesitation to that.” Creating that distinction, nonetheless, can take away a number of the energy these numbers carry, she provides.

The liberty of devaluing physique weight

Following 4 years of restriction, poor efficiency, and harm, Chown hit a breaking level. Lastly, she started to let herself develop. It’s a mindset shift many elite powerlifters expertise, Ribble says.

“When you have been to speak to anyone who’s been on this sport for a extremely very long time—tremendous mature lifters who’ve been competing for 10 years or extra—they’d say the identical factor: Your smallest weight class isn’t at all times your best weight class,” Ribble says. “Perhaps typically it’s, however it will not at all times be that. And with the intention to proceed to develop into the game, you’ve acquired to placed on muscle, which implies you’ve acquired to placed on weight sooner or later.”

Streno places it this fashion: Simply because a pair of denims suit you in school doesn’t imply they have suit you for the remainder of your life. In powerlifting, you shouldn’t anticipate your self to take a seat 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 yr engaged on consuming extra gas for her coaching, feeling snug seeing her physique weight go up, and breaking the behavior of—deliberately and subconsciously—limiting herself when she did see these will increase. Whereas she apprehensive that after she noticed, say, 175 kilos on the dimensions, she would out of the blue 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 stored 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 great feeling to not be so pressured 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 “acquired actually unhealthy” and is harmful.

Now in her tenth yr of powerlifting, Chown sometimes competes within the 198-pound class. It’s a weight that her physique naturally sits at (usually known as a “set level”), no obsessive restrictions or weight-reduction plan micromanaging required. “It’s a weight that enables me to dwell my life,” she says.

It’s additionally a weight that enables her to achieve new private information and take dwelling 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 great feeling to not be so pressured over a weight class, and I can simply concentrate on the coaching. Who cares what the quantity is that I weigh in at, you recognize? It is a part of the game, however I haven’t got to have any type of emotional ties to that quantity.”

Some individuals might even see a efficiency increase from dropping down a weight class, as long as there’s a help system guaranteeing it is carried out in a wholesome method, Ribble says. However for many athletes, powerlifting isn’t a critical profession. It’s merely a interest sport that helps individuals discover their energy and, in lots of circumstances, heal physique picture points, she provides. The fixed stress, identification disaster, and danger of dangerous bodily and psychological well being results? That’s simply not well worth the trophy.

When you or somebody you recognize is combating an consuming dysfunction, name the Nationwide Alliance for Consuming Issues Helpline at 1-866-662-1235 for speedy help or go to allianceforeatingdisorders.com or anad.org/get-help for extra sources.