Levi Markwardt, Trainer

04/05/2026

03/16/2026

Be back soon 😘💯

03/15/2026

and... there goes the right 😬. FFS, cant wait to turn 48. year 47 sucked

jan 9 - left long head
mar 15 - right long head
at least they look the same again 🙄

Gonna need some time to work through this one

02/10/2026

I'll try not to be annoying with ads 😬 as I never want my Socials to be about sales (consistent training FTW!). But i do have lots of conversation about my diet/nutrition each week so its definitely relevant

As Ive stated ad nauseam, Im a huge believer in real food prepared at home. I buy beef & eggs direct from farmers & am blessed to have friends or members share venison that they've harvested.

My other go to protein sources are cottage cheese & Greek Yogurt. And its my opinion that i need to limit ADDED sugars & artificial sweeteners as much as possible. Am I perfect? Lol, hardly. But Im intentional enough that the results must be desirable at some level 🤷‍♂️

When traveling or need calories while at my gym, I'm a Protein bar guy. I like to eat vs drink. Less mess & more convenient are side bonuses. This is why Im so grateful to have partnered with 💯 Their bars have 9, 10, or 11 real food ingredients like grass-fed beef protein, colostrum & tallow and sweetened with coconut sugar, honey or dates. No seed oils, nothing artificial & they are third party tested. These bars match my overall goals for how I try to eat daily

Obviously things like texture matter. Prime bars are chewy vs crispy or crunchy & taste more like food than a candy bar. Which is another reason I like them. I want my food to fuel me vs entertain me, as Im not a child

I truly enjoy Equip Prime bars

The only powder Ive tried thus far is the cookies & cream. I add it to my Greek Yogurt with some Lily's Dark Choc chips. Again, eating vs drinking. No complaints yet & will slowly work my way thru the powders. They have many flavors & no, nothing tastes like beef 😉

The last pic about the GLP-1s? There are reports that upto 40% of wt loss is muscle 😳 Beef protein can be a great replacement for whey (if sensitive) to be sure you're getting enough protein (WHILE resistance training), especially when using GLPs.

equipfoods.com & LEVISHTKTRAINING at checkout or follow the link in my bio for same discount

01/24/2026

I've recently (intentionally) cut some BW. Not a resolution thing, a response to injury. With moving less load in training sessions Im paying a lot more attention to my amount consumed each day. I like my choices. I just really like consuming those choices! Im learning as I age strength & size is becoming less a priority. Im wanting to focus on my big picture wellness.

leanlens.ai is just a Google search. The results are based on one uploaded pic 🤔 So yeah, accuracy is as good as a guess. Not too different than all these suspect scans people are getting for their "new year new me" gym packages. Except this was free. I need laser eyes

Even though more info can be fun & help keep us engaged, I still stand behind a mirror & a scale being your best bet to track progress in 2026. Throw in a tape measure to track your waist to height ratio & you're set. BF% is often marketing.

If unfamiliar, the WHtR is a calculated by dividing your waist circumference by your height. A healthy ratio is considered to be < 0.5, meaning your waist should be less than half your height.

This measure is generally valued over BMI for predicting conditions like heart disease & type 2 diabetes as it specifically reflects visceral fat accumulation around your organs.

01/18/2026

Friday I mentioned a recent training mishap (with photos) that happened Fri Jan 9. Proximal Long Head rupture. Lots of kind words & well wishes that are appreciated ❤️ In that post I mentioned I was grateful because things could be much worse, concerning injury, because while it's not nothing, its not going to put me on the shelf. I mean that. I have a big competition in May & these damn bells don't lift themselves.

So yesterday i shared a training set honoring Steve Cotter on his B-Day & i got some surprised or confused comments on different SM platforms

I had already consulted a Dr of PT & an Ortho PA before i could be seen in person. The 1st question i asked was, "Can i exercise as tolerated?" They both answered, "yes, the tendon is already ruptured. The Long head can't get worse & short head risk isnt increased. Just be smart."

Some ppl look for reasons to skip the gym. I'll always find ways to continue to train. As i said, i feel blessed the injury is only what it is

I took 1 day off, last Sat. Sun i worked around the injury with exercises that didnt irritate. By Mon I was putting lighter bells OH again (shoutout to cotton gloves for helping me keep load in check). I'll continue this path for awhile, adjusting where needed.

The long head proximal (shoulder) rupture does not require a reattachment surgery, distal (elbow) does. You can choose that route if you'd like. Young athletes often do. But I'm neither young or an athlete. I'm ok having a deformed bicep. My wife told me she'd still love me

How does it feel? Bicep is point tender, where its balled up. But my shldr is far more uncomfortable, especially receiving bells from OH. The impact is noticeable. And oddly enough, left pec is also sore

01/17/2026

Steve Cotter's family made an announcement asking the KB community to remember Steve on his Bday (today the 17th) with 17 min of dedicated exercise. a small ask for a literal legend

17' of half sn**ch, 17/min pace
14' OTM switch. 1'30" switch last 3'
gloved & 24kg

Rest easy ❤️

01/16/2026

Starting off 2026 strong 🤦‍♂️

Last Fri (Jan 9) I decided preparing for .k.m.f worlds in May wasnt enough by itself

Proximal Long Head detachment enters the chat. I mean, relatively speaking, things could be much worse. I picked a good tendon to blow up

You're up next - no pressure 😉



?🙄

01/10/2026

I’ve found myself in multiple online health conversations the 1st wk of 2026. I supposed it's the newly motivated Resolutioners timed with the updated RDA guidelines. For some reason, I took the bait & engaged 🤦‍♂️. That should be my resolution… stop taking the bait in 2026!

One gentleman aged 40 claimed, “I’m slim, but have a belly. I’m fit & use a 20lb KB”. Another at the age of 41 said, “I’m grossly overweight at 345, but also lean & strong for the weight.” And same guy, “I look like I weigh 270”

Wait, what?? Looks like we’re starting 2026 at delusion.

A male in his 40s with a belly isn’t slim. He’s skinny fat. And if you’re using a 20lb KB as a grownass man, you’re not fit, you’re weak. You’re a skinny fat weak man. Start there. Which is fine. You have to start where you are. Wanting to change is a great new goal and I’m here for it!

At no point in this life does 345lb & “lean” belong in the same sentence. And what does “I look like I weigh 270” even mean? I competed at heavyweight at that weight, no part of me was lean or athletic & I was 20 yrs old (swipe). This guy is comparing himself to other Americans at 345lb to convince himself “at least I’m not THAT fat.” Guess what your heart thinks?

You need to cut the BS & cope if you want change. Results won't follow when you start your “new year new me” from a place of dishonesty. I also used to dress up my weight & health problems with cope & it wasn’t until I could be honest with myself that I could really understand how unhealthy & overfat I was. My original weight loss goal was 240 because I had “such a large frame & so much muscle that any lighter & I’d look small.” Hard LOL Levi 🙄. When I stepped on the scale at 242 I thought, “Hmm, I have a lot of work left to do. I’m way fatter than I thought”

I’m just glad I stopped believing my own BS at 28 & didn’t carry it into my 40s. It’s a lot of intentional training & eating to stay below 210 at 47. But this life is far better than the one I was living nearly 20 years ago. It’s a journey worth taking.

12/25/2025

12/16/2025

Post Workout Reaction

I like it. Improved support was immediately noticeable even walking and it felt solid during the burpees - and you know I love my burpees. Also, the compression on my calf was a nice surprise.

The pain issue is there but it needs repaired so its not fair to expect pain to disappear. I'll add some loading to both single bell and double bell this week and see how the knee feels stability wise. Part of my issue has been the feeling of instability, especially with two heavier bells Overhead (as today was just Danish Interval samples with mod loads 32kg & 34kg)

Im encouraged thus far 💯

https://anacondafightwear.co/?snowball=LEVI43008 - also linked in my linktree in bio

12/13/2025

I woke up today from an email from my mom that said "you look different" & the photo on the left attached.

I believe i was going into my Sr season at (Sept '99?) weighing in around 260-265lb. I ballooned upto about 290lb at my heaviest, as I've shared.

Your size/weight/aesthetic doesn't determine your value or self worth, but it does tell the world how much (or little) you respect yourself.

A little discipline goes a long ways