Chocolate milk as the drink of champions?
It might sound odd, but a Fort Jackson "tactical" athlete says chocolate milk helped him earn the title "best in the world."
Maj. Donald "Donny" Bigham of the Army Physical Fitness School claimed the title after taking the gold medal in the Master's 1 93-kilogram weight class at the 2015 Classic World Men's Powerlifting Competition earlier this month in Salo, Finland.
The father of two young men -- Dillon, 24, and Derek, 21, -- didn't win just one gold medal at the games. He won three, including top squat and deadlift in his weight class. Overall, the native of Clinton, South Carolina, lifted a combined 1,657.31 pounds -- roughly the weight of 222 M4 Carbines. His next-closest competitor lifted 165 pounds less.
In one event, Bigham squatted 596 pounds, or roughly three times his body weight. In an interesting dichotomy, Bigham also was the "lightest" guy in his weight class but lifted the most.
Getting to the world championships is no easy task. To earn a spot in the competition, a power lifter first must win at the national level.
Bigham, speaking with a gravelly voice smoothed by a soft Southern twang, said he was a firm believer in the benefits of low-fat chocolate milk because it has "8 grams of protein and 20 grams of carbs," plus the calcium to keep bones strong. Of course, chocolate milk isn't a magic bean that helped him win the gold -- it was just part of a rigorous training program coupled with proper eating habits and expert knowledge of the human body.
Bigham, an infantry officer who holds bachelor's and master's degrees in kinesiology -- the study of how the body moves -- said the key for him was listening to what his body was saying. He would allow his body time to recover while he worked on proper techniques.
As the only active-duty Service member on the U.S. National Powerlifting Team, Bigham must balance the needs of the Army with his need to train. At times as a "tactical" athlete, he would get more cardiovascular exercise -- such as running -- than he could squeeze in gym time. "Tactical athlete" is a term used to describe those who have the mental and physical abilities to withstand the rigors of combat.
Winning the title also has affected his day-to-day dealings with Soldiers.
"He has a lot of credibility with Soldiers," said Staff Sgt. John Wood, an infantryman and master fitness instructor. The students see Bigham as "someone who has book knowledge but who has experience as well."
Bigham is almost robotic in the way he trains, Wood said.
"He doesn't have a haphazard approach," said Wood, a former drill sergeant. "He has experience and a science background -- a scientific or robotical way he trains."
Bigham's training regimen includes different phases in which he works his body up to lifting heavier and heavier weights through controlled sets. He used this regimented approach in his pre-competition lift preparations.
He said he also would go through "the technical aspects, through my focus points, and let my heartbeat relatively slow" before attempting a lift. On any given day, he said, a lifter could experience a 1 percent to 3 percent difference in his overall lift.
Of the three events, Bigham most enjoys having the heavy bar across his back during a squat.
"It shocks your central nervous system," he said. "It allows you to feel the total of that weight -- unlike the bench press, where you don't feel it until you are done with the (repetition).
"I like the feeling of walking out (with the bar across his shoulders) and taking it to the full range of motion and push it through my glutes and quads as I take it all the way to the bottom. It's very powerful."
Bigham has translated his athletic success and knowledge into strength-based training programs being used by initial military training companies at Fort Benning, Georgia.
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