Chilly Plunges and Pushups Grew to become A part of Trey Lewis’ 100‑Pound Platinum Nation Comeback

Life retains shifting at a swift, stable tempo for singer Trey Lewis. The excellent news is he’s lastly constructed up sufficient stamina to maintain up with all of the success that retains piling on.  

When Lewis runs the stage this weekend in Bristol, TN, followers would possibly even catch him banging out a couple of pushups or dropping into an impromptu legday routine between guitar riffs. 

Whereas not a everlasting a part of his setlist—but—old-school train has turn out to be a brand new wrinkle in Lewis’ newfound dedication to health, a formidable bodily and psychological transformation for the as soon as self‑described highschool “fats child” who may solely handle to stroll across the monitor whereas classmates lapped him throughout gymnasium‑class miles.  

“I used to be on the market one time squatting onstage and leaping throughout,” he remembers. “Now I can hit all my notes and nonetheless leap round. It’s fairly superb.”  

Now, not solely is Lewis operating a number of miles a day as a part of his exercises, he’s additionally operating his personal present—and by no means intends to look again. In June, the Alabama‑raised artist celebrated his nineteenth 12 months of sobriety, and in the identical stretch he lastly gained management of a good longer‑operating meals dependancy that pressured him to lose greater than 100 kilos on two separate events.  

These life‑altering wins allowed the remainder of Lewis’ life—and his now‑blossoming music profession—to fall into place. Rising up in Alabama on a frequently looping playlist of Hank Williams Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lewis didn’t even decide up a guitar till he put down booze for good. For a brand new artist whose music expertise was performing karaoke together with his mother and singing together with his uncles on household outings, songwriting turned a constructive dependancy and outlet Lewis wanted badly.  

“I didn’t write songs once I was on the market ingesting and doing all that stuff,” he says. “I didn’t get a guitar till I obtained sober. So music, in a manner, turned my new dependancy and form of my drug of selection.”  

Since then, Lewis has quietly stacked a gradual stream of small victories into creating massive waves in nation music. Years of grinding in Nashville led to his raunchy 2020 breakup tune “Di**ed Down in Dallas,” which went viral and put him on the street full‑time. He went on to signal a Sony Music Publishing deal, landed cuts with prime artists Tracy Lawrence and Cole Swindell, and launched a second, extra introspective challenge underneath the title Thomason. He’s additionally obtained new music, together with his most up-to-date single, 2 Inches” and tour dates on the way in which.  

Throughout his efficiency at June’s CMA Fest, Lewis was offered with a plaque for “DDID” turning double platinum. The music turned so common, Lewis added two extra model, together with a cleaner remix. 

It’s a milestone that arrived alongside a brand new outlook on his well being. Whereas profession accolades will all the time be particular, the power to nail each word of each music with out having to cease and catch his breath could also be his favourite achievement. With the assistance of a Nashville‑based mostly efficiency coach, Lewis has turned a literal chilly‑plunge obsession right into a full‑throttle energy and conditioning routine that has lastly saved the kilos off whereas including actual energy and conditioning to his day‑to‑day life.  

“I’m 38 so it’s about feeling good,” he says. “You already know, it’s not about, like, how a lot weight can I raise, or, you understand, what number of miles can I run? It’s about feeling good and simply waking up and every single day and getting some motion in.” 

How Trey Lewis Misplaced 100 Kilos The First Time—And Why It Didn’t Final 

Now 19 years sober, Lewis has constructed a catalog of songs over this time interval impressed by the struggles that adopted him throughout dependancy. Tracks like 2020’s “Entire Lotta Nothin’,” 2021’s “Little Drained,” and final 12 months’s “Ain’t Sober” spotlight totally different chapters of that combat. An older music, “AA,” got here from his preliminary reluctance to hunt assist—one thing he now sees as a blessing in disguise.

“It seems, it ain’t such a foul factor I ended up in AA,” he says. “I all the time say that once I obtained there, I assumed that place was for losers and those who lived underneath a bridge. And it seems that that wasn’t the case in any respect. And it modified my life ceaselessly.”

As we speak, he says the temptation not exists, which makes performing in alcohol‑serving venues a non‑issue. “I don’t ever take into consideration ingesting and utilizing medication anymore,” he says proudly. “I play in bars on a regular basis, and it by no means even crosses my thoughts as a good suggestion.”

Nevertheless, a second battle to longer to beat. For some time, although, Lewis swapped booze for burgers, pizza, and no matter meals may derail a well-intentioned wellness plan—selections that turned particularly constant as soon as he started performing recurrently. He ultimately ballooned greater than 100 kilos above the place he needed to be. “I’ve all the time form of struggled with meals, simply having an unhealthy relationship with it,” he says. “I feel my first dependancy was meals as a child.”

Since a 12‑step program labored for his alcohol struggles, he gave Overeaters Nameless a shot. And for some time, the accountability routine labored—till it didn’t. Lewis misplaced over 100 kilos, however with no actual lengthy‑time period plan past not consuming, the stress of sustaining his life whereas dwelling in a everlasting calorie deficit turned unattainable.

“I ate the identical factor every single day for 3 years,” he says. “After which I simply went by way of some life stuff. And I used to be like, I’m both gonna get drunk or eat a cheeseburger.” 

When “Di**ed Down in Dallas” broke by way of in 2020, it shortly despatched him on a U.S. tour in help of his music. It additionally offered one other downside: Lewis must handle his strict vitamin routine whereas his life and profession turned a bit extra chaotic. Quickly, the outdated habits crept again—he tipped the scales at over 320 kilos.“I used to be on the street simply consuming pizza and hen fingers, performing like I used to be 20 years outdated, so it was very easy to place the load again on.”

From Ice Baths to 100-Pound Comeback

Aside from some video games of yard soccer, sports activities by no means performed a serious function in Lewis’ youth—which might be a part of the rationale it took him longer to completely purchase right into a health routine.  

It additionally helps clarify why the catalyst for his second weight-loss run was, of all issues, a chilly plunge. Obese once more, off form, and coming off a breakup, Lewis—whereas internet hosting a facet‑gig podcast chronicling different folks’s battles with substance abuse—discovered refuge in a pal’s chilly tub. Sooner or later, he realized the irony.  

“We have been speaking about restoration subjects and psychological well being,” he remembers, “however the entire time I’m sitting there pondering that whereas I’m speaking about psychological well being, sobriety, and spirituality, take a look at me. I’m not taking good care of myself bodily.”  

Throughout his podcast run, he related with Justin Todd, a Nashville-based efficiency specialist who’s labored with professional athletes and musicians, together with singer Kameron Marlowe. The 2 shared greater than gymnasium time—Todd can be deep into his personal sobriety journey. In a back-and-forth about what they’d each overcome, Lewis tossed out a half‑joking provide: “If you happen to get a chilly plunge, I’ll begin figuring out in right here.”  

Todd heard a gap.  

Lewis, at this level round 292 kilos, agreed to come back three days every week for a month. If he hated it, he emphasised, he was finished. Todd says his job turned apparent: “I had to ensure he didn’t hate it.”  

Since Lewis’ health expertise was restricted, Todd’s first precedence was to construct a powerful basis whereas conserving the singer engaged. He began with a full‑physique motion evaluation, checking mobility and smaller muscular tissues from ankles to shoulders—important for a touring artist who spends hours hunched over a guitar on a bus. Early classes emphasised environment friendly motion patterns, joint well being, and correcting bodily weak hyperlinks. He initially used bands and lightweight weights as prep for the heavier work to come back. “We weren’t involved with throwing a bunch of weight on the bar. We weren’t going to seek out our success in that with Trey.”  

To maintain it enjoyable, Todd used the gymnasium’s pickleball and basketball courts. Missed free throws meant additional reps; a made three‑pointer may knock off a set or two. Fridays have been reserved for considered one of Lewis’ favourite actions, disc golf. The 2 would jog a 3‑gap loop—a sneak preview of the operating to come back. None of this was designed to alter Lewis’ physique in a single day, however it did assist him preserve displaying up.  

“One factor Justin would all the time say that caught with me was, it doesn’t matter what, he was going to the gymnasium,” Lewis says. “That’s the perspective that I adopted from him.”  

The beneficial properties adopted the constant work Lewis was placing in. With Todd, his weight dropped from 292 into the 240s comparatively shortly. Then they labored to chip it slowly however steadily towards the low 230s and past. His “newbie beneficial properties” got here quick—he added noticeable energy, going from studying find out how to press simply the bar to benching 135 for prime reps, which feeds his backstage ritual of banging out pushups in entrance of the band.  

“I feel my bench is like, 165, I’m not likely certain,” Lewis says, proud however matter‑of‑truth. “I simply go in there and put the weights on that he tells me. However I do know that I’ve gotten the large wheels on the facet as a result of everybody on the gymnasium offers me a tough time about that.” 

A New Routine Value Sustaining

As we speak, Lewis’ showtime weight is holding regular round 225 kilos. He’d nonetheless wish to peel off one other 10 or so, however he insists the quantity on the size is not the aim. “Now it’s not likely about what my weight is,” he says. “It’s about, how am I feeling and the way am I performing.”  

Lots of different issues have modified, too. He’s taken chilly tubs—the chilling catalyst to his health journey—out of the schedule and changed them with 20 minutes of warmth. “I’m a sauna man now,” he says. “I like the sauna every single day, 20 minutes, 200 levels.”  =

His day-to-day schedule has been overhauled as effectively. As soon as a power night time owl, the two a.m. bedtimes are gone. Now, when he’s not performing, it’s lights out round 9 p.m., typically even earlier. “I rise up at 6 a.m., and I’m going to the gymnasium, work out, then I’m going house,” he says. “I’ll get within the sauna for 20 minutes, then bathe, do my prayer, meditation, eat breakfast, then I’m going write a music.”  

In keeping with Todd, one massive cause this weight‑loss sequel has caught is Lewis’ stronger mindset, particularly as soon as the early beneficial properties slowed. The primary part got here shortly—he dropped greater than 50 kilos in a couple of months by coaching and reducing processed meals—however the again half of the load loss is what actually exams an individual’s resolve. “That’s when folks throw within the towel,” Todd says. “Lots of weight reduction is about correct aim setting and taking the main focus off the quantity on the size and inserting it on how effectively we really feel, how our garments match, what’s our physique fats proportion. These outcomes are far more tangible and lifelike than the size.”  

The upside was that his efficiency within the weight room saved climbing, which carried over to higher performances onstage. “After I began, I couldn’t even do a pushup,” Lewis says. “Now I can pump off like 20, no downside.”  

If his former classmates may see him on the monitor now. What began as Todd having him do 20–half-hour of 30‑second jogging bursts with relaxation intervals ultimately grew into stable one-mile jogs. Now, Lewis breezes by way of a number of simple runs every week, including one other layer to his stamina. “And now, now I can exit and rip three, 4 miles prefer it’s nothing, you understand, and it’s simply superior, man.”  

The stamina doesn’t cease on the monitor. Even fishing journeys are simpler due to a stronger cardio and conditioning base. “We simply went and canoed down a river and fished for seven hours,” he says. “My pal was so much youthful than me, and he was dying. I awakened the subsequent day and I used to be barely even sore.”  

In Todd’s evaluation, Lewis’ bodily transformation adopted a psychological one. The consistency of his exercises, mixed with the camaraderie he constructed on the gymnasium, made it arduous for him to slide again into outdated habits. “Trey by no means missed a exercise, I don’t assume ever, until he was very sick,” Todd says. “Oftentimes he would nonetheless come when he was very sick—and I’ve obtained three children underneath 3—and I’m telling him, ‘No, please don’t come.’”  

Lewis’ all‑in strategy to his well being has translated right into a extra centered artist as effectively. With new music coming quickly, he says he hopes a stronger, more healthy Trey Lewis ultimately results in one other platinum plaque in Nashville. Hopefully he’s not too quick to outrun the inevitable subsequent wave of accolades approaching.

“It’s the identical factor with songwriting or any of this different stuff,” he says. “You simply have to indicate up. That’s greater than half the battle. Then you definately do the work.”