Next Level Generation Vol 4: Chris Coronel (@weeabrah)

I am sure most of us want to travel to Barbellbrigade at some point of our lives to train with Bart and the rest of the Barbell Brigade. Today I have someone who have been there and set some sickening PRs at that place. Introducing Chris aka Weeabrah, and we hope to follow up this interview series with the rest of his crew and also to get him to step onto the platform. Chris, when you read this, step onto the platform, your body is ready.

Hello Chris, let us start by telling everyone where you are from and how old are you now, your current body weight as well as the gym you train at.

I'm Chris Coronel and I'm from Southern California. Lived here all my life and it's really hard thinking about leaving home. I'm actually older than people think. I'm 24. My current bodyweight is hovering around 205. I eat a bunch of different food day to day so my water weight fluctuates a lot! (same here bro, although Jen has been asking me to stop munching on my cheese fries. feels)


Can you tell me what are your numbers for the most recent meet/best meet as well as your best gym lifts (all time as well as coming into the meet)?

I've actually never competed in a meet as of yet. As I type this out, I'm starting to wonder why included in these inteviews along with all of these other established lifters! I'm still relatively new to the world of powerlifting. My best gym lifts are currently a 455 Squat, 350 Bench, and a 615 Deadlift. My most recent PR involved a 585x5 deadlift set.

At what age did you started powerlifting and how long have you been powerlifting for? What got you into powerlifting?

I've only started powerlifting type training a year ago, so when I was 23. Though I've been generally lifting casually since I was 19. I always focused more on muscle contraction and trying to like "aesthetic". One of the main reasons why I started powerlifting was because of the people I've met at my school gym. We built a small community of like-minded individuals at our college's gym, and have made an atmosphere that only pushes us forward when we are all together. I love every second I'm with them.


What is your current training program/training philosophy? What were you doing before to get you to your current level and moving forward from here, what are your plans (this can be goals/numbers you want to hit on the platform etc.)

I've never been one to follow programs. I'm the kind of lifter that strictly goes by how I feel on a given day. I will set out a goal the day prior of a session. So if I were to try and hit a few heavy sets of squats for a 3x3, and if I'm not feeling it during my warmup or early working sets than I'll gladly lower the weight and work on either form, volume work, or speed work. I adapt conjugate style training within my workouts, and auto-regulate as needed. Before powerlifting, I would stick to bodybuilding high rep ranges. My current goals as far as lifts go are a 500 Squat, 365 Pause Bench, and 650 Deadlift. Once I feel like I'm able to hit close to these numbers, I'll start thinking about entering my first powerlifting meet!


What is your favorite lift and how do you train for it?

My favorite lift has got to be the deadlift. I'm not saying that just because it is my best lift, but the thought of lifting a weight from a dead stop seems badass. Compared to the squat, where it is as if you are trying to escape death by pushing up the weight from your back, with the deadlift, it's as if you are inviting death as you pull the weight off from the floor. It shows pluck and takes a special person to want something so bad that they are willing to break themselves for it.


What are some of the toughest obstacles you faced as a lifter or in life (if you don't mind sharing) and how you overcome them? (These can be injury related or a lift that is stalling)

The toughest obstacle for me was definitely my weight. I was fat/obese for a large portion of my life from when I was 13-20. I weighed 295 pounds at my heaviest when I was 19. I always told myself I would eventually get fit and lose all the weight, and so I just buckled down when I turned 20 and decided to finally get myself together.


What are some advice you would give to your younger self should you be able to go back in time or to other young powerlifters?

Rather than tell myself advice, I'd much rather beat myself up. I feel like that would send a message to my younger self much more than words. (I can relate to this)



Hobbies/life outside of gym? (other commitments because we all know that we are not in the gym 24/7 or are we? LOL).

Outside of the lifting weights, besides playing basketball I am a very sedentary person. I'm a huge nerd, and constantly watch anime, read manga, and used to play video games all the time (primarily MMOs). I've stopped playing games since I've prioritized my training over it, but to this day I still read manga and watch anime profusely. I remember one summer catching up to the show "One Piece". For the misinformed, that is over 500 episodes being watched within 2 months. How I miss those days of being a lazy slob....

We hope that when Chris read this message he has decided to train and step on the platform (must be like the 100th time I repeat this). Follow Chris on Instagram @weeabrah and his crew at CSUNPOWERLIFTING