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Carlos Reyes

@creyes242

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Firefighter
Former 105KG Pro Strongman and Powerlifter
Top 25 All Time Total - 2101 @ 242 Raw / 569 DOTS
2026🥉World’s Strongest Firefighter U105 KG

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It’s hard to believe that this weekend will be the one year anniversary of my last powerlifting meet. While reflecting on this, I realized I never shared any videos of my final lifts here.

Totaling 2100 was my white whale in competitive powerlifting, and I would have never been able to walk away from the platform satisfied had I never crossed this achievement off my list. It eluded me for over 8 years of my 13 year career in the sport, and I failed to achieve it in 7 attempts at it in a meet. I’d love to tell you that I was fully confident in my ability to finally nail that total, but I honestly doubted myself every step of the way and almost stepped away from competing before reaching it more times than I care to admit.

I am truly blessed and fortunate to have been able to finally achieve my dream and walk away from powerlifting with a full heart, still passionate about all things strength, and no “what if’s” on my mind. What was even sweeter was being able to have my peak performance in my home state at my best friend’s gym. I spent my whole career getting on planes seeking out the biggest platforms possible, and it was the experience of a lifetime. And as cool as “big” meets are, powerlifting at its core is really about local meets, and it was a breath of fresh air to end my journey getting back to my roots.

Strong friends - enjoy every step of the journey, even the lowest moments. Your time in the sun goes by so much faster than you think it will and you’ll look back on those times fondly forever. I encourage you to be the author of your own story and know when either enough is enough or the sport is no longer serving you. Most lifters will either do their last meet without knowing it was the last time, or be forced out not on their own terms due to health, life, or other things. Setting limits, boundaries, and reasonable expectations will enable you to be fully in the driver’s seat for your final act, and from experience, there’s no better way to have a sweeter ending.

Thank you to @jp_los for capturing these final moments of joy and @resilienttraininglab for helping me achieve my dreams! taken in Resilient Training Lab by @creyes242

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3 months ago

Today, I stepped on the powerlifting platform for the final time.

I began competitive strength sports at 16 years old, with no definitive goal other than having fun and seeing if I could be really good at something for the first time in my life.

It evolved into a lot more than curiosity and has been the cornerstone of my identity for the last 17 years. I have been lucky enough to travel the country compete at the highest level possible, making the idols I had coming up in the sport my peers and close friends.

Upon transitioning from strongman to powerlifting, I initially set a goal of totaling 2,000 lbs. I hit it quicker than I thought I would, and thought the next milestone of 2,100 lbs was right around the corner. Little did I know it would take 7 years more than I thought it would, coming up just short seemingly countless times.

Over the last few years, I have doubted myself every step of the way, thinking the total would continue to elude me for longer than my health or willingness to keep chasing it would allow me to. But something in me would not allow me to close this chapter without seeing this final goal through.

I was able to total 953 kgs and essentially hit 2,100 lbs right on the nose with an 8/9 performance, narrowly missing my last deadlift. Getting to do it locally in front of my friends and family made a perfect day even sweeter.

Powerlifting has taught me everything I know in life about hard work, commitment, and seeing things through. I have learned everything there is to learn, and done everything I have ever set out to achieve, and there is nothing further to be gained from assuming the risks of high level strength goals. I look forward to life and training after powerlifting.

There are too many people to thank individually, and my proper sendoff will require a series of posts than just this one. But I leave this meet today with a full heart, completely satisfied, with a love for the sport stronger than ever, and without regret. But most importantly, with my health intact.

Onto the next great adventure! by @creyes242

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a year ago

This will be the last time I live in the past and reflect on @theghostclash before starting off-season training. This 804.6 lb squat was a milestone that I’ve been chasing for 6+ years, and hitting it in competition was the single most rewarding moment of my career. When I first got into powerlifting, sleeved squatting or walking it out wasn’t really a thing in the untested division. Wraps and the monolift dominated the game. My second meet was Raw Unity VII, where athletes on the first day took on the additional challenges of not having wraps and walking it out. Watching them do things the old school way was so inspiring and I knew I wanted to challenge my squat the same way. It took me 3 more years to gain the courage to ditch the wraps and add a few steps to my squat. In 2016 I hit 750 lbs in sleeves 5 months after hitting 805 lbs with wraps, and set a personal goal of walking out and hitting 800 plus in sleeves. It took another 6 years, 6 meets, of adding just 2.5-5kgs per year to finally hit this goal, in addition to multiple setbacks, injuries and technique changes. When I first set the goal, I thought the goal was right around the corner and a training cycle or two away. But the fact that this goal tested my patience to such a great degree, and the lift itself being the toughest squat I’ve ever had on the platform, made it so much sweeter than if I were to hit it in a faster timeline. Training, preps, and meets rarely go according to plan, and the timelines we set for ourselves as athletes are often so unrealistic. We all know lifters who achieve a 100 lb round milestone, and think the next 100 lbs is just a meet or two away. But unless you’re part of the genetic 0.01%, you’re likely going to be tested, broken, and have to pick up the pieces more than once. Your moments of doubt are going to our number your moments of confidence. Don’t let unrealistic social media motivation porn or the trajectory of genetic elites deter you from being realistic, pragmatic and staying the course for longer than you intended to. IT IS WORTH IT. Thanks to @cigarrett.fear @b_dimez @a1.digital @alexuslar for making this moment so special! by @creyes242

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4 years ago

@asfworldsstrongestfirefighter 2027 prep is rapidly approaching and Operation Move Like @hjdwalker is reaching its final conclusion. Feeling more athletic, mobile, lighter, more efficient, and healthier than I have in many, many years. Can’t wait to see where this year’s prep goes after working on the fundamentals of general fitness and athleticism for longer than I ever have before.

…I should probably start training some strongman soon though 😏

Snapshots of training highlights from the last few months!
@resilienttraininglab 🚀 by @creyes242

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a month ago

To the light of my life, my eternal inspiration, and the rock of our household: it is the greatest honor of my life to not only call you my wife, but my best friend too for another one of your birthdays after so many together. Every year that passes, my love for you gets deeper and I’m so proud of the life we have built together thanks to your hard work, dedication and love for our family. Cheers to forever, dear. Happy birthday! by @creyes242

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2 months ago

Recovery is not optional #fitness #recovery by @creyes242

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2 months ago

July.

These are the “good old days” that people reminisce on later in life, for certain ✌🏽 by @creyes242

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3 months ago

Week in review.

Had to pull the plug on this block and head into an early pivot due to hand and wrist pain from too much front rackin’ that just can’t be pushed through any longer 😒 but aside from that, this was a great block of training. Snatch work has really taken off, hitting a 57 lb PR @ 295 for a double with room to spare, and showing some good mechanics from the floor after only my third week of snatching from lower than a high hang. I still have a long way to go until I’m proficient to hit my goal weight on the snatch and I’m sure there will be setbacks, but I’m starting to see the foundation is building for it. Thoroughly enjoying and feeling more competent with my plyos, sprinting and endurance training as well.

Have some good strategies in place for the upcoming block already with limiting exposures to the front rack position while my wrists and hands continue to adjust to the flexibility and impact demands. Two clean variation exposures seem to be a bit much, so I’ll have one clean variation and one clean pull variation coming up next block, which will be welcome as my second pull mechanics still need a ton of work. Will also be going back to using the front squat bar or Zombie grip to save the demands on my wrist and hands for heavy clean and jerk exposures. Looking forward to shedding some fatigue and getting back on track in a week! by @creyes242

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3 months ago

Sometimes it be like that.

Got way too big for my britches with attempting a triple @ 507 on front squats today. Triples in the high 4’s have been feeling really routine, but this was much too aggressive of a jump based on how I felt coming into this session. Cleans from power position went phenomenal however, and that was the lift of focus today so I’ll take it. My turnover and ability to pull under the bar is rapidly improving. Once I sort out my first pull mechanics, big things are to come off the floor. Power jerks from the blocks got a bit disjointed technique wise, but previous ascending sets were crisp and at least we slung big weight overhead 🤷🏽‍♂️

All in all, a good day with good lessons learned as to where I’m at as we wrap up this block next week with @resilienttraininglab by @creyes242

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3 months ago

286 2x3 dip clean (last set of the ascending 6x3 shown)
485x3 front squat
330x3 push jerk from blocks

Cooking with gas today ⛽️

One in person technique coaching session with @rebelsweightliftingclub already has my turnover and second pull mechanics in the clean looking and feeling completely different already. Other than the one off 145 kg / 308 lb double from the floor I did a few weeks back, this is the heaviest I’ve gone on cleans for this many reps and more than one set since beginning this side quest, and I’ve routinely missed weights MUCH lighter than this due to technical errors. So to feel this strong and consistent from the dip position, let alone off the floor, is a tremendous positive sign. Looking forward to seeing what we can continue to do together long term.

Front squats continue to be poised to be the strongest they’ve ever been, and I may be poised to attempt an all time PR triple by the end of this block. Having this lift be as strong with my training priorities spread so broad is wild to me. I came into this session with pretty beat legs after an hour and a half of conditioning work yesterday with extensive plyos, sprints, and 3+ miles of interval running, but positioning and power just felt super dialed in today.

Really love how things are progressing across so many trainable qualities with @resilienttraininglab. Sessions like this make me happy that I didn’t resign myself to a life of pump work @ RPE 7 on machines and incline treadmill walking in retiring from powerlifting. As frustrating as the learning process has been, it’s so cool to be able to still prioritize strength development in new realms as the cornerstone of my programming. by @creyes242

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3 months ago

June and early July training in review. I’m thoroughly enjoying my post-competitive career training identity crisis and haven’t enjoyed training as much as I am now in a very long time. Ironically enough, my frequency is higher than it’s ever been (6-7 days per week) yet training is somehow easier to fit in than it’s ever been and easier to balance with the rest of my life too. My body composition, aerobic capacity, and general athleticism and fitness are at all time highs as well, all while feeling like a novice and enjoying it every time I step in the gym.

Here’s a friendly reminder that it’s okay to do whatever you want to do and that you don’t have to be great, or even good, at any of it. Don’t let the algorithm that only shoves world class feats of athleticism down your throat convince you that your recreational goals aren’t worthy.

Pick a thing. Pick a bunch of things. Hell, pick all of the things. And just go do them because you feel like doing them, labels be damned. You don’t have to be a / an anything - it’s okay to be any type of athlete that you want to be. by @creyes242

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3 months ago

Happy 14th Birthday to @rileythepowerpug!

You are our sunshine, our angel, our son. We cherish every day that we get with you and feel so blessed we are celebrating your birthday together for another year 🩵 by @creyes242

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4 months ago