Member Spotlight: Brandon MacCartney

Sep 01,2018

Powering Through the Day

Brandon MacCartney, TriVita Member since 2017, has always been interested in health and nutrition. “I have studied nutrition since I was a senior in high school. I love learning about nutrition and how amazing God created the body! The more I learn, the more I know God created the body with amazing resilience and ability to heal itself.”

Brandon graduated from Houghton College with a B.S. in Exercise Physiology and a minor in Educational Ministry. He played basketball for four years at Houghton and went on to play for various semi-pro teams in the Philippines, Central Asia and Russia with Athletes in Action (AIA). While Brandon is no longer a basketball player, he is still very active and for the last few years has been dedicating himself to an intense strength sport — powerlifting.

Last year Brandon was introduced to [TVBLOGCOPY]MyoHealth[/TVBLOGCOPY][MWSBLOGCOPY]MyoHealth[/MWSBLOGCOPY], and has noticed a difference in his athletic performance and recovery. “In my travels with Family Research Council, I meet many people. I have some good friends in Maine, Carroll and Terri Conneley. I was there last year to visit with this precious couple, and Terri told me she was taking MyoHealth. She gave me a trial container to see how it worked for me.” He went on to say, “I am all-natural and want to stay that way. I supplement when I must because of my intense training, mostly because of my age. Powerlifting takes a lot out of the body and stresses the central nervous system.”

Brandon describes his regular body structure as thin and lean, however in five years since he began powerlifting, and specifically in last three years since competing more seriously, his weight has fluctuated. Brandon is currently competing at 242 pounds but previously won local competitions at a weight of 235 pounds.

“The older I get, the harder it is to recover and also work around injuries. During a 12-week power block gearing up for competition, by the third week out I should hit 80 percent of my max rep (MR) and it can take days for me to recover from a heavy deadlift session. I feel like I could sleep all day long!”

When Brandon refers to a heavy deadlift session, he means it! He has won competitions with a 615-pound deadlift, 395-pound bench press and by squatting 565 pounds. This type of training and performance can take a serious toll on the body. Brandon explains that how he feels now is entirely different than when he was in his 20s, 30s and even early 40s. He prefers to eat his nutrition rather than supplement, but he does keep his eyes peeled for products that are natural and can support his recovery, such as MyoHealth.

“After I went through the first couple of containers I noticed a difference in how I felt with regards to strength and also my recovery. But I am always skeptical about supplementation and also know there may be other factors involved, like rest, nutrition, etc. So I purchased MyoHealth again. Then my mother-in-law bought me a dozen of them for Christmas! I have been on MyoHealth since about the end of November 2017.”

In early January 2018, Brandon experienced a level 2 groin injury. He had to adjust his training, but he was consistently squatting over 400 pounds. “I was in full swing of taking MyoHealth, taking three and sometimes four scoops per day. A couple of things I noticed since I’ve been on it consistently are first that I recover faster. Secondly, with regards to my groin injury, I have almost completely recovered when this type of injury can take up to a year to heal.”

In February, Brandon competed with the injury and took three state records. He explains that he would have taken a fourth record, but was flagged for foot placement. “I didn’t hit my best numbers, but enough to get the win and be ranked #2 in Pennsylvania. If I had been 100 percent, I believe that I could have crushed the state record and even set the world record for my age and weight. But that is on the agenda!”

“My goal this year is to set the state records again with even better numbers and the world record for the 242-pound amateur class, gain weight to compete at the 275 class and hopefully win there too! Then I’ll drop weight and compete in the 220 class.”

After competing this year, Brandon says he’ll find something else to do, but his wife isn’t so convinced. “My wife says ‘yeah, right,’ but who knows as the Lord leads!”