Former strongman Brian Shaw is a name that is synonymous with strength sports. Shaw recently appeared on Cutler Cast, where he, Jay Cutler, and Manager Matt talked on multiple topics, but the central themes remained how Shaw fought leg cellulitis and why people should lift weights.
The 4-time Olympia mentioned in the podcast the crazy home gym that Shaw has, and then the conversation turned towards lifting weights. The American strongman described the pieces of equipment he has in his gym while also inviting The Quad Stomp there. One of the strongest athletes of all time mentioned that the weight room has always been his “training field.“
“It has always been my training field, right? Like that’s that’s number one; it’s always been number one. I love that, I love the feeling of it. I love embracing it… And you just feel better.”
Cutler, during this conversation, brings up Arnold Schwarzenegger and mentions that even at 76, he trains every day. To this, Shaw agrees and expresses that regardless of whether one is competing on a professional level or not, one should lift weights, as it has multiple benefits.
“I think everybody should lift weights… Whether you’re going to compete or not compete. It’s such a good thing to do for your life, you know, in general. And you learn so many things about yourself within training.”
Shaw feels sad that most people never experience the joy of lifting, as it carries numerous benefits in different aspects of life as well. He says, “It’s just like a good outlet that that everybody should embrace.“
The American Strongman gives an example of a person who came up to him and told him that he had lost over 100 pounds. And that achievement lit his face up with pride. Shaw mentions that it’s about welcoming a challenge and overcoming it.
“It literally is a life-changing thing to do… And, and all it was is embracing that challenge and and overcoming obstacles and and making it happen.”
Later, the conversation shifted to how Brian Shaw fought an illness that almost cost him his life.
Brian Shaw talks about leg cellulitis that almost got his leg amputated
In the interview, Manager Matt asked about a massive health issue that Shaw had in January that could have killed him. Shaw made a video saying that the upcoming Strongman competition would be his last one. But a week or two later, a day came when Shaw was not able to come out of his bed, which was very unusual for him. Later in the afternoon, he has extreme pain in the stomach area, and he decides to give the hospital a visit.
View this post on Instagram
He started getting antibiotics, but suddenly, his leg started hurting. The next day, he took another doctor’s appointment, who increased the anti-biotics, but things got worse. The pain further increased, and his leg also swelled. As things got terrible, Shaw, on her wife’s insistence, got admitted to the hospital. Later, the American strongman got to know that he had cellulitis, and if things went south, he might end up losing his leg.
“It was a staff and strep infection. So, cellulitis very, very aggressive… They were giving me, like, anti, you know, IV antibiotics… It was rough, man. But but once they started, like, actually legitimately coming in the room and talking about cutting my leg off. I was like, well, this is big time.”
Though he did not completely recover, things got better with time. Knowing that he had this challenge where he had announced that he was going to compete gave him the strength to go back to his gym and train for the competition, face the obstacle, and overcome it.
