“I Am Not That Injury, That Is Not My Identity”: Years After Horrifying Nerve Injury, World Record Powerlifter Makes a Brave Confession

Injuries are one thing that is inevitable when it comes to strength sports, including powerlifting and bodybuilding. Some of those bruises have redone the careers of various prominent sporting entities, like Flex Wheeler. Flex Lewis, the champ of 7x 212 Olympia victories, and an Arnold Classic 212 lbs summons Joe Sullivan, the powerlifting dynamo, who made a dent in the weight class arena as an all-time World Record Holder. 

Thus, Flex Lewis calls Joe Sullivan to one of his podcast episodes dubbed, ‘Straight Outta The Liar.’ The duo sat together to chat about how Sullivan pulled him out of his deepest, darkest moments after he got injured. 

Joe Sullivan’s record-breaking journey in the world of powerlifting

Flex Lewis with 190k subscribers on his YouTube podcast channel and 2.2 million Instagram followers talks with Joe Sullivan. Sullivan is a powerlifter who broke an all-time world record raw squat in the 100-kilogram category in the 2023 World Raw Powerlifting Federation (WRPF) Metroflex Battle of the Yard 8 meet in Murrieta, GA by lifting 850.98 pounds. Lewis appreciates the powerlifter who pulled off the heaviest lifts even after grappling with his injury back in 2018. 

Moreover, Lewis orates about the episode by quoting, “I get the privilege to speak with ALL time world powerlifter record holder. He shares his darkest times and the thought process that takes place preceding the heaviest lifts possible.” In the episode, Sullivan was talking about an injury while lifting 675 lbs when he was doing back squats, which led to damage to his dorsal scapular nerve, and thoracodorsal nerves. These two nerves essentially are the primary component of the brachial plexus. Thus, it’s that nerve bundle in the body that instructs the upper body’s movements. Due to the injury, he wasn’t able to train his upper body, and before that, he didn’t even clinch a single record. Nevertheless, proceeding ahead in his life and setting-up world records, he quotes, “I am not that injury, that is not my identity.” 

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Thus, proceeding with the podcast, Flex Lewis quotes, “He shares the joys of victory, the learns from defeat, and the devastation from injury. For the first time, he reveals his next venture and how it will change everything he does with his training.” Joe Sullivan talks about the ‘Euphoria’ he experienced when he was back squatting with 851 pounds of weight. While he was coming down doing squats, that’s when he has undergone the ‘Lifters high.”

Joe Sullivan talks to Flex Lewis about his suffering after getting injured and his addiction to powerlifting 

The powerlifting dynamo mentions the ‘Runners high,’ which he runs into while he is squatting because he has tunnel vision. One of the best moments of his life was having so much weight on his back that his spine got compressed. He shares this by quoting, “It’s this weird amalgamation of anger, and happiness, and euphoria. That’s the one time I got to experience that euphoria is the purest form of emotion.” 

As penned earlier, Joe calls himself a pressure junkie, and after going through five years of suffering, wherein he wasn’t even able to feel his pecs, delt, and triceps. Nevertheless, he continued and plans to break more world records. Being already an inspiration to bodybuilders, gym freaks, and fellow powerlifters, he has no plans to stop. What do you think about the journey of Joe Sullivan? Do let us know in the comments below.

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