About Us

Doughnuts & Deadlifts is a lifestyle and apparel brand designed to appeal to lifters and eaters of all sorts. Doughnuts & Deadlifts has a very unique, and increasingly expanding audience. Our brand appeals to a broad spectrum of athletes: powerlifters, Olympic weightlifters, CrossFitters, bodybuilders, and even people who are brand new to training.

How did it all start? Once just a hashtag in 2013, DNDL was born out of a Sunday gym-ritual in Southern California where we would grab a couple dozen doughnuts from The Donuttery in Huntington Beach, and spend an entire day pulling heavy weights from the floor.

Doughnuts & Deadlifts was officially established in March 2014 in New York City. What started as a hashtag turned into a full-blown movement by the end of that year. Decisions were made and t-shirts were printed. To our surprise, we couldn’t keep them in stock.

At that point we knew that we were on to something, and the plans for Doughnuts & Deadlifts were kicked into high gear. The first year was spent designing new shirts, traveling the country to hoist barbells, and seeking out the best doughnut shops around the world. Then we buckled down, and got to work.

Doughnuts & Deadlifts is more than a clothing company; it’s a lifestyle, and a movement. We exist for those who understand performance nutrition. Smart athletes don’t look at food as “good” or “bad”. Our devotees are always chasing their next PR and understand that the proper way to fuel (and celebrate) a PR is with tasty treats

The Doughnuts & Deadlifts motto is EAT. LIFT. LIVE. It is a statement of purpose, or more specifically, repurposing. The health and fitness industry is stuck, and it profits from repackaging the same tired gimmicks to people who don’t know any better. So here we are . . . doing our best to create a brand that supports an alternative to the status quo, a much-needed shift from the absurdity of the ambiguous notion of “clean eating”. We are the alternative that says, “Hey, you CAN have your cake doughnut and eat it too”. Moderated indulgence isn’t incompatible with health, fitness, and strength. We don’t sugarcoat the truth; we just prefer it glazed or cream filled.

Doughnuts & Deadlifts now lives in Denver, Co and has come full circle since the days by the beach.  Our brand is owned and operated for lifters, by lifters. Our new Colorado team is dedicated to continuing the mission of our founders: creating a space for people who love fitness but perhaps don't "fit in" to the norms of the industry and don't take themselves too seriously! People who believe that life is a little better when you add sprinkles.  

-Team DNDL