Alright, so I’m doing my usual browsing of videos on youtube and here’s a 20 year old squatting a house, benching a buick, and drinkin diesel fuel. That beast of a human being is none other than Team AX Athlete Tee Cummins! Check out this interview we did to dive into this young freak’s lifestyle.
What got you started exercising?
I began lifting seriously right before my senior year in high school. I weighed around 150lbs and needed to add some size before the upcoming basketball season. I got beat up a lot in the paint when attacking the basket or going up for rebounds so I knew it would help my game tremendously. I gained about 25lbs from March 2009 to October 2009 beginning the season around 175lbs. The gain in muscle and strength paid off significantly and I ended up having my best individual season of my 4 year career, leading the team as well as the division in scoring. After the season I began training even harder and focused on becoming as big and strong as possible. It wasn’t until a couple years after high school that I decided to pick up a new sport; powerlifting.
When did you realize you were freakishly strong?
In all honesty, I don’t consider myself “freakishly” strong. I do realize that I am fairly strong for the amount of time that I have been in the sport (little over a year) but there are so many other great lifters in the sport (Jesse Norris, Dan Green, Pete Rubish, Nate Davis, Brandon Lilly, Eric Lilliebridge Jr and many others) that put up huge raw numbers I cant really put myself in that category…yet.
What does a typical lifting routine look like for you?
I don’t really follow a certain training routine because I train everyday. 7 days a week. Usually I rotate between the 3 main lifts with a bodybuilding type routine afterwards (Squat/Legs, Bench/Chest, Deadlifts/Back) and repeat, adding in direct shoulder and arm work when necessary because I feel those two muscle groups grow very easily for me…plus I love squatting, benching, and deadlifting as much as possible! I like working up to a max effort set each week, usually sticking with heavy triples, doubles, and singles.
You lift big, do you eat big?
Honestly, I eat as “clean” as possible but also remain flexible with my diet with an approach made popular lately known as IIFYM. (If it fits your macros) With that being said, I do however increase my calories when I’m further out from a meet with the goal of building more muscle. Also, with some lifts, (bench and squat) a heavier bw usually produces greater leverages which will increase strength. The typical foods I eat throughout the day include: eggs, oats, milk, bread, Greek yogurt, chicken, tuna, steak, pasta, rice, vegetables, and peanut butter. I use protein powder, which I actually consider a food source rather than a supplement.
You have done competitions, are you nationally ranked?
In just a year of competing, I have already entered 9 full powerlifting meets, all in the 220 raw division. In that time period, I have increased my 3 lift total from 1360 to 1635 and currently have a #12 ranked squat of 650 (220 Raw) based off of Powerliftingwatch.com rankings.
What are your future plans in this sport?
My future plans for the sport of powerlifting include many short term goals. One goal Id like to accomplish before 2013 is over is to break into the Top 10 overall rankings on powerliftingwatch.com. I would need around a 1750+ total to do so, which I definitely think is possible with the way I’ve been able to improve with essentially no true programming or training partners/coaches. I recently began training at NBS Fitness of Cordova, TN and I think this will make a huge difference in my upcoming meets. Other than that, I only have one long term goal and that is to reach the #1 ranking in the 220 Raw Division. Once I accomplish that, I will go from there.
What are your future goals for yourself?
I have many personal goals that I would love to accomplish and honestly, I probably have too many. There isn’t a specific bodypart or muscle group that I want to improve most because I would love to improve everything. I believe I am nowhere close to reaching my full potential, so I’m working my hardest to improve everything as much as I can. In fact, Id love to compete in bodybuilding someday so building as much muscle mass as possible (while in proportion) is the ultimate goal.
