Losing for gain

What is good health?

Is it a state of being, a mindset or something brought on by a certain lifestyle?

Consider Manny Burrel, a powerlifter for more than 30 years, who despite breaking world records many times over, training hard and competing, was still struggling with Type-2 diabetes.

"I would give up every single world record I have broken and championships I have accomplished if I could take back the diabetes I had for 15 years," says the longtime Artois resident, as he reflected on the health challenges that he has faced in his past.

Burrel is friendly and muscled; looking much younger than his 57 years, undoubtedly due to his love of weightlifting since the late 1970s when he first felt the "high" of competition. He's been chasing that high ever since.

It was all rekindled at a burrito truck, on an August afternoon of this year in Chico. Burrel had just ordered one of his favorite foods when he glanced across the street and noticed a fitness facility nestled among other businesses.

On the front of the building were the words: nutrition, exercise, motivation, health.

Despite training often and performing well, Burrel was still plagued by the diabetes and worried about the toll it was taking on his body. Was he destined to always have it? Whatever kismet caused him to cross the street that day was meant to be, and has changed his life in the biggest of ways.

When he ventured inside, Burrel met Whole Body Fitness owner Angelo Poli, an Orland resident and seasoned fitness coach, who specializes in nutrition and exercise therapy.

Together they addressed what needed to be done in order for Burrel to get to the place he so longed to be, namely the same person he was, minus the risk factors.

For Poli, who works with clients ranging from professional athletes, college football players local and nation-wide, to the average small town person looking to lose some weight, the nutrition standpoint is always the same.

"The illustration is that of the man who says, 'I don't need a car that can do 150 mph.' That may be true but you don't want it to take forever to get to 70, either. Likewise, just because we may not have major performance goals, that doesn't mean we want to use inferior science reaching the goals we do have. Nutrition, when implemented properly can make all the difference in achieving meaningful results," said Poli.

The results wanted were all that more meaningful for Burrel, whose mother died of complications from diabetes, and who has other members of his family who have also suffered from the disease. There plights left a lasting impression on him.

"I cannot alter the past, but I can change the future," he said.

So the two set forward to change the nutrition that had been ingrained in Burrel since he started lifting back in the seventies, when bodybuilders trained hard, and ate whatever they wanted. "You would see many guys at competitions that devoted so much time to training, and looked healthy, but as soon as they were weighed for their class, could be seen walking around stuffing down hamburgers and whatever else they could find. The concept of 'health' back then was totally different."

Little did Burrel know, he would be his own testament to the importance of diet in an athlete's life years later. While he has maintained a smart, yet hard-training schedule over time, he had been unable to shake the diabetes. That is, until proper changes were made to his diet, something from which many athletes could benefit.

"Most athletes experience 'on' days where they just feel their best. This is less random then we realize, and can usually be traced back to the right nutritional circumstances. Gone are the days when athletes could assume they'd be able to eat junk food; then perform at their absolute potential," Poli said.

Burrel's long-term goals were simple: Reduce his weight while still maintaining the strength that has provided him over 39 world records and an induction into the California Powerlifting Hall of fame, and he wants to break more world records in the weight classes he passes through as he loses the pounds.

Poli, however, saw even more goals able to be reached.

"I believed that Manny still had some untapped potential to be found at a lighter weight and greater level of functional fitness. He's proved this to be the case twice since we began working together, both times beating his own previous (lifting) records," he said.

The spark the changes made ignited when Burrel discovered that only five days after he began the nutrition plan, that he no longer needed to rely on his diabetes medication, a fact that stunned and elated him.

"World records will not improve my lifestyle, nor change my health. Getting off of medication has changed everything. It's truly better than anything else in the world," Burrel said.

Burrel started off at 275 pounds, and within the course of a few months was already down 40 pounds.

In November, he broke two world records in the 259-275 pound weight class, with one coming from a stunning 551-pound deadlift. The previous record was 501.

He competes next in March of 2012 at the California State Championships in Chico, and at 230 pounds, he finds himself in a new weight class. He hopes to the beat the 600 pound-plus deadlift record.

From there he will continue his weight-loss journey, with the end coming around or close to the goal of 220 pounds. But that's only the beginning.

Burrel is happy with the path he's on, and sees no end in sight.

"I fell in love with this sport so long ago, and I'm not retiring any time soon. I'm still chasing that first high. I look forward to competing in the sport I still enjoy so much for many, many more years, and now with my diabetes in check, I know I can."

CONTACT Emily Saint-Evens @ 824-7990 or esaintevens@tcnpress.com