If a fitness feature is going to share a story of a man that lost 100 pounds, it would usually be about celebration and triumph. Dan Kalbfleisch, better known to the sumo wrestling community as “Sumo Dan,” has done just that, but there isn’t as much celebrating going on as you might expect when he discusses it.
“Everybody tells me that I must feel so much better now, and I don’t,” he said. “I may still have body dysmorphia because I actually felt better at 385 (pounds).”
Sumo Dan was one of the most successful American athletes in his sport, having won 12 United States Sumo championships during his career, which lasted from 2005 to 2021. After retiring from his sport, he saw no need to be pushing the scales at that weight anymore. Thus, he dropped down to his current walking weight of around 285 pounds. There is still a big part of him that is getting used to being lighter.
“I felt like a silverback gorilla. I felt powerful when I had my sumo championship body. The weight never felt like it drained me because I used it.”
Being a sumo wrestler isn’t just about eating everything in sight because they are athletes as well. They train and prepare for their matches like any other world-class competitor in other sports. Sumo Dan followed a diet to maintain that size while he was active in his sport, and it would make some competitive eaters think twice before taking the challenge on. He also trained multiple times a day, once with weights and another session for mobility and sport-specific training. Don’t let the big belly fool you, it is there for a reason, and these athletes work hard so they can not only control how they use their bodies but work against the force of their opponents.
“The belly lowers your center of gravity, which you need to be a better wrestler,” he explained.
His New Focus – Olympia Sumo Championships
Sumo Dan is now working on the promotion side of the sport, and his big annual event is the Olympia Sumo Championships. The 2023 edition was held in Orlando, FL, and he reported that it was a great success. It got so much attention that other retired competitors are now wanting to step back into the sport in another way.
“Since the success of last year’s Olympia Sumo Championship tournament, I have been contacted by many retired sumo athletes who see the Olympia Sumo Championship as an opportunity to come back and be involved with international sumo, and as a way to help grow the sport for current athletes.”
The 2024 edition of the competition will take place at the Las Vegas Convention Center as a part of the 2024 Olympia World Fitness Expo on Oct. 11th and 12th, and the event will feature some of the world’s top sumo wrestlers, including 2023 Olympia Middleweight Champion Edobor Konyeha, current US Champion Jay Scriven, and Women’s Olympia Middleweight winner Mike Grimmer, among others.
“I think this is going to be a great Olympia. I remember going to it when it used to be in Las Vegas before,” he recalled. “I was a fan of the Olympia and bodybuilding before I even knew I could be a sumo wrestler.”
You can learn more about the 2024 Olympia Sumo championships by following @sumodan on Instagram. Get your 2024 Olympia World Fitness Expo tickets early by logging on to www.mrolympia.com .
Sumo Dan Diet and Training Schedule
Aside from what he eats, he also drank around 3 gallons of water throughout the day, and often added about 1 gallon of sparkling water, which he consumed with meals and snacks. He also emphasized sleep so the body can put those 15,000 total calories to use for recovery from the workouts.
Meal #1
- 12 eggs, prepared as two 6-egg omelets with ¼ stick of butter each, ½ cup of shredded cheese each, and usually chopped mushrooms, topped with salsa or sriracha.)
- 4 cups potatoes (hash browns or O’Brien potatoes.)
Snack #1
- 4 apples or fresh fruit (the apples are the easiest to eat in the car on the way to the gym.)
Workout #1
- Weight training (Usually, ½ hour of stretching followed by 1–1 ½ hours of weight/strength training.)
Meal #2
- 2 lbs. Chicken (Usually, pan seared chicken thighs, covered with Japanese BBQ sauce, teriyaki, or sriracha, topped with chopped green onions.
- 4 cups white rice
- 6 – 12-ounce beers “Beer is an essential part of the sumo diet.”
Workout #2
-Nap “Yes, napping is also essential to the sumo lifestyle.”
Snack #2
- 16 oz Greek yogurt, usually, topped with a generous amount of honey; sometimes blueberries or mixed berries.
Workout #3
- Sumo training (1 hour of sumo stretching exercises. 1 hour of sumo skills drills. 1 hour of hard-hitting live sumo matches.)
Meal #3
- 2 pounds fish (Usually, seared tuna or salmon.
- 4 cups white rice
- 12-16 ounces salad greens, lightly dressed.
Sum Dan pointed out, “Meal #3 is the most easily substituted meal on this diet. Often, after sumo training, I would stop at a restaurant for two large poke bowls, or a large quantity of sushi, or sometimes a fast-food cheat meal.”
Meal #4
- 2 pounds steak, usually two 16-ounce ribeyes.
- 2 cups white rice
- 4 cups vegetables, usually broccoli, asparagus, or brussels sprouts.
- 6 more beers
Snack # 3
Snack #4
- 16 ounces cottage cheese
- 2 Bananas
- 1 cup mixed nuts
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