Myprotein x Gavin Adin: Powerlifting, Competition, and Success

At just 25 years old, Gavin Aiden is an American World Champion powerlifter. We sat down with Gavin to talk about his passions, career, and life—and of course, his partnership with Myprotein. Read on to learn more about the athlete and how he finds meaning and success in what he does best.

Powerlifting

1. What got you into powerlifting?

I had been training my whole life, and working so hard in the gym. And I hit a moment where I felt like it was all for nothing. Why am I showing up every day working my butt off? For what?

I always knew there was something in me, that I had what it takes to be a world champion, and I was thirsting for an avenue, a vehicle I could use to get there. So, one night I just decided I was going to be a world champion powerlifter and that started my journey in 2019, and since then I’ve been able to accomplish that.

2. How did you get into the powerlifting space? What was your first meet?

I had a bit of an unconventional path. America happens to have the deepest competition pool when it comes to powerlifting. So, for most people, it takes a long time to get to the level I’ve gotten to. In just a short period of four years, I’ve been able to rise to the top. You can’t compete on a bigger stage than I’ve competed on.

My first meet was in Jersey—I placed first. Then, a series of national championships came after that. Then there was a weird period during Covid where people who really wanted to train still found a way, myself included.

So, I made a lot of gains during that period of time and came back swinging. That next national championship, when things started to open up, I competed and earned my spot in a junior world championship in Sweden and that was my first world championship. I won first place. Since then I’ve been competing internationally every single year.

My next championship after that was a nationals in the Virgin Islands, then the world championship in South Africa, and then the IPF Sheffield, which is the biggest competition any powerlifter can do. Shortly after that was the world championship in Malta, and now we’re prepping for our next Sheffield competition.

3. Did you ever think your life would turn out like this?

Never. I never thought I would meet the people I’ve met internationally, traveling to the places I have. It’s kind of bittersweet though because as great as it is to travel, it’s work. It’s still business and there’s a job that has to get done.

So, it’s not that you’re not enjoying your time there, but it doesn’t feel like fully traveling and experiencing it. I mean, this is no different than what I would be doing at home. I’m still squatting, benching, and deadlifting, and I have to compete and put on a show. But it’s amazing and I love it.

Sheffield

4. What is Sheffield to someone who doesn’t know and how did you perform there?

The Sheffield competition is a meet put on by a company called SPD. They’re a UK company and they make equipment.

They wanted to take the top powerlifters in the world and put them all up against each other, and that’s exactly what they’ve done.

It’s an incredible meet because there’s nothing like it. In powerlifting, especially at a world championship, you’re competing against people in your weight class. But in Sheffield, it’s a free-for-all. You’re up against ten of the best men or women that powerlifting has to offer. The way that you win is by breaking the world record by the highest margin.

5. What does it feel like to be a part of the Sheffield competition?

It’s surreal. There are 2,500 people in the stands. Honestly, most powerlifting meets are very boring and very bland. Most are in hotel conference rooms but this was in a stadium and it was insane. The music, the lights, it was an awesome experience.

6. Can you describe the breakdown of the competition?

You get three squat attempts, three bench attempts, and three deadlift attempts. Essentially, they take your best from each added up and that becomes your total. But, there are some criteria you have to meet for each move.

For squats, you have to have your hips go below parallel, which is your knee crease, deadlifts you have to fully lock them out.

If you fail to meet the criteria, you don’t get the lift. So I had a squat of 741, which was a massive world record, and I had gotten the lift. But the jury overturned it as a result of depth. So, I ended up finishing with around a 700/711 squat that day, I benched about 474 pounds, and I had deadlifted about 750 pounds.

7. How did you get invited to the Sheffield competition?

It was a coin flip for sure. There are certain standards that SPD has set to qualify for this meet. I had just missed these standards, but they reserve the right to invite athletes based on the number of spots they have left after qualifications and I was able to receive that opportunity.

Championship & Competition

8. What is your biggest goal?

As an athlete, it’s tough for me to say this but titles don’t really motivate me. What pushes me is being greater than I’ve ever been. I truly believe that you could do that too in whatever you want to do. But who would I be to tell you that if I didn’t try it for myself?

So, my biggest goal is to reach a height I never have.

9. What is it like being a champion powerlifter at your age?

Most people who are very competitive with me are much older, by about 4-6 years. Most people experience their prime in powerlifting at around 30. So, it’s been a grind because my last two open world championships I haven’t won. I’ve come very close both times but you start to realize that time does play a factor and growth takes time. Nevertheless, you learn from every experience and every competitor has taught me something.

10. Which competitors are you looking out for?

Because Sheffield is a free-for-all, I’ve gotten direct competitors who are in my weight class, and ones who are not. Jesus Olivares is arguably the strongest lifter in the world, no matter what you use to compare him to anybody, so he’s definitely a threat.

Jonathan Cayko is the current 93-kilo world champion, so he’s definitely a threat. Honestly, almost everybody on the roster is a threat. That’s the beauty of it.

I’ve always been a competitor that wants my competition to show up as strong as they’ve ever been because then if and when I win, it means something.

11. Does the competition consist of the same moves every time?

It’s always a squat, bench, and deadlift, that doesn’t change. Every single lifter who competes in powerlifting is going to squat three times, bench three times, and deadlift three times. You can warm up beforehand, there’s a time schedule you stick to. You get one minute per attempt. You usually have maybe 20-30 minutes to warm up for your squats and about 10 minutes between each specific lift.

For me, the biggest thing is making sure that we build the total. We have to be mindful of the game plan and the strategy, that’s how we win. That’s where some variance comes in.

Routine

12. Do you have a team to help you with your training?

I do have a team. I have a nutritionist and I have a head coach who handles most of my training program. It does become a collaborative effort, but I trust him to take care of a lot of the training variables.

Of course, I lean on my own knowledge and understanding when it comes to my recovery and anything that would fall outside the realm of actual training strategy and nutrition. Really, the biggest thing is having a really good strategy that makes sense for me.

In essence, strength is pretty simple. You’re trying to get your body to produce the most amount of horsepower possible, so you need to give it a reason to do that. It’s no different than getting better at math or reading. If you want your body to get better at something, you have to present that stimulus to it. We’ve figured out a method that works really well, so I’m really excited for this competition.

13.  Do you have supplements that you take as a part of your routine?

I have staples. I’m not really the type of person who likes to try everything under the sun. Especially as a natural athlete, I have to be very careful—I get drug tested all the time. That’s why I’m honestly really happy that I found Myprotein because the staples that I use—the creatine, pre-workout, and protein—I can trust that reliably day in and day out. I go through a lot of protein, and those would be my staples.

14. When it comes to your supps, what's the most important thing you look for?

I think the first, most important thing is flavor. I drink a lot of protein so I need to be able to maintain that. The two I alternate between the most are Myprotein's Clear Whey Isolate, specifically the Sour Cherry, Strawberry, and Watermelon Mike & Ike flavors. I legitimately have four scoops of that per day. And then I have the Gingerbread Impact Whey and the MyPRO line’s THE Whey in Chocolate Fudge.

I alternate between everything and the cool thing is I can mix up the protein with different things. After flavor, the most important thing would be quality. The reason quality isn’t number one is just because I don’t have to worry about quality with Myprotein. The last thing would be an isolate—my body responds really well to the more concentrated form of protein. That would be ideal but it’s not necessary.