At 6 feet 7 inches tall and around 300 pounds in his prime, Aaron W Reed is quite literally one of the biggest men ever to step on a bodybuilding stage. 💪
Billed for years as the world’s tallest competitive bodybuilder, he won NPC titles, signed with WWE, wrote a nutrition book — and then reinvented himself in Hollywood.
Most fans today know his body before his name: he was the giant “Dude” in Free Guy and the Juggernaut in Deadpool & Wolverine. This is his full story, fact-checked and updated for 2026. ✅
📋 Aaron W Reed Quick Facts
| Full Name | Aaron W. Reed |
| Born | September 12, 1981 — San Diego, California, USA |
| Age | 45 (in 2026) |
| Height | 6 ft 7 in (200 cm) |
| Weight | Around 295–310 lb (134–141 kg) in contest shape |
| Nationality | American |
| Known As | The World’s Tallest Competitive Bodybuilder |
| Bodybuilding | NPC champion (amateur level) — never an IFBB pro |
| Wrestling | WWE developmental (FCW), ring name Lift Sawyer, 2009–2010 |
| Biggest Roles | Dude in Free Guy (2021); Juggernaut in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) |
| Book | The SuperNatural Lifestyle (2011) |
| Partner | Ashley Puida (IFBB Bikini Pro) |
| Status in 2026 | Retired from competition; acting and running his SuperNatural Lifestyle brand |
🌱 Early Life: The Sick Kid Who Fell in Love with Superheroes
Aaron Reed was born in San Diego, California, in 1981. When he was nine, his family moved to the small Oklahoma town of Minco, and that is where he grew up.
His childhood was shaped by illness. By his own account in interviews, he was diagnosed with leukemia at four years old and went through chemotherapy, with a relapse at twelve.
Stuck in and out of hospitals, he became obsessed with comic-book superheroes — and with Arnold Schwarzenegger. At twelve, healthy enough to train, he started lifting weights and playing football. 🏈
The tall, skinny teenager grew fast. Photos from those years show the transformation that would define his life: a frame that just kept getting bigger.
🏆 Bodybuilding Career: Titles at Amateur Level
Reed started winning young. He took the 2001 NPC Mr. Teen Colorado title, then kept collecting super-heavyweight wins through the decade.
His best-known victories came in Florida: the 2010 NPC Florida State super-heavyweight title and, in 2011, the NPC Orlando Metropolitan Men’s Physique overall crown.
That 2011 win made history of a kind — at 6’7″, Reed became the tallest man ever to win a Men’s Physique competition. Fitness Volt and Generation Iron both covered the record at the time. 📏
He was still competing years later. In 2018 Fitness Volt documented his transformation from 250 lb at age 29 to a shredded 305 lb at 35, and still billed him as the world’s tallest competitive bodybuilder.
For height context: at 6’5″, Jamie Christian-Johal later became famous as the tallest man to hold an IFBB pro card. Reed, two inches taller, built his name outside the pro league.
⚠️ An Honest Note on His “Pro” Status
Many websites call Reed a “professional bodybuilder,” and older versions of this page did too. The record needs correcting.
Every title Reed won was an NPC amateur title. He never earned an IFBB pro card, never competed in an IFBB pro show, and never stood on the Mr. Olympia stage.
That takes nothing away from him — winning national-level amateur shows at his size is a real achievement — but fans deserve the true record, not an inflated one. The modern pro game belongs to men like Nick Walker, the 2026 Mr. Olympia winner. Reed’s fame rests on something different: being the biggest man in every room he entered. 💪
🤼 The WWE Chapter: Lift Sawyer
In August 2009, Reed signed a developmental contract with WWE and reported to Florida Championship Wrestling, the company’s training territory at the time.
He wrestled there as Lift Jackson and Lift Sawyer — names built entirely around his size and strength. The run was short: he was released in January 2010 and never reached WWE’s main roster.
The wrestling period also brought bad news. After an injury, Reed learned he had hepatitis — a frightening diagnosis for a man who had already beaten leukemia as a child.
By his own account, he rebuilt his health around food rather than returning to chemotherapy. That experience turned him into a self-taught nutritionist and changed the direction of his life.
📚 The SuperNatural Lifestyle and Eat Like Aaron
In 2011 Reed published The SuperNatural Lifestyle, a book built around whole foods, smart carbohydrate timing and performance nutrition — the system he credits for his own transformation.
He later launched Eat Like Aaron, a meal-prep service based in Tampa, Florida, putting that same system to work for clients.
The brand is still active in 2026: in 2024, TruLife Distribution announced it would represent The SuperNatural Lifestyle and push the brand into more retail stores across the United States. 🛒
🎬 Hollywood: From Dude to the Juggernaut
Reed actually appeared on national TV long before the movies — in 2001 he played a mobster’s muscle on the Discovery Channel’s Wild Life Wars. But acting only became the mission at 35, when he moved to Los Angeles.
The breakthrough came in 2021. In Free Guy, director Shawn Levy cast Reed as Dude — a hilariously oversized, unfinished version of Ryan Reynolds’ hero, built by putting Reynolds’ face on Reed’s enormous body.
Then came the role he seemed born for. In Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), Reed played the Juggernaut, taking over the helmet from Vinnie Jones and brawling with X-23 in the Void — a childhood comic-book dream come true for the kid who survived leukemia reading superheroes. 🦸
His screen work also includes television appearances such as NCIS: Los Angeles, and wrestling outlets like Fightful and 411Mania covered his Juggernaut casting as a homecoming for a former FCW talent.
📜 Aaron W Reed Contest Record
| Year | Contest | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | NPC Mr. Teen Colorado | 1st 🏆 |
| 2002 | NPC Rocky Mountain (Super Heavyweight) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2005 | NPC Steele City (Super Heavyweight) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2010 | NPC Florida State Championships (Super Heavyweight) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2010 | NPC Greater Gainesville (Overall) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2011 | NPC Orlando Metropolitan (Men’s Physique Overall) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2011 | NPC Europa Show of Champions (Men’s Physique) | 4th |
| 2011 | NPC USA Championships (Men’s Physique) | 10th |
All contests above are NPC amateur events, as listed in his profiles and coverage by Fitness Volt and Generation Iron. Claims in older articles that he finished runner-up at MuscleMania Universe in 2012 and 2013 could not be verified in any independent source, so they have been removed.
❤️ Personal Life
Reed has long been in a relationship with Ashley Puida, an IFBB Bikini Pro and fitness model. The two have appeared together publicly for years — they were photographed together in their home town of Hermosa Beach, California, back in 2020, and Reed’s own channel has featured her in training videos.
Older versions of this biography called her his wife. No reliable source confirms a marriage, so this page describes her accurately as his partner.
📍 Aaron W Reed in 2026
Reed turned 45 in September 2026, and his competitive bodybuilding days are behind him — no contests have been recorded since the late 2010s.
What replaced the stage is bigger than the stage ever was. The Juggernaut role put him inside the Marvel universe, his agency lists a social audience of around 435,000 followers, and his SuperNatural Lifestyle brand is working with TruLife Distribution on wider retail placement. 📲
He still trains, still posts nutrition and motivation content, and still looks every inch the world’s tallest bodybuilder — he has simply swapped posing trunks for film sets.
❓ Aaron W Reed FAQ
How tall is Aaron W Reed?
He stands 6 ft 7 in (200 cm), which is why he is billed as the world’s tallest competitive bodybuilder — and recognised as the tallest man to win a Men’s Physique competition.
Was Aaron W Reed an IFBB pro? Did he compete at Mr. Olympia?
No to both. Reed won multiple NPC titles, but they were all at amateur level. He never earned an IFBB pro card, so his pro win count and Olympia appearance count are both zero — his fame comes from his size, wrestling and acting.
Was Aaron Reed really in WWE?
Yes, at developmental level. He signed with WWE in August 2009 and wrestled in Florida Championship Wrestling as Lift Jackson and Lift Sawyer before his release in January 2010. He never appeared on WWE’s main roster.
Who did Aaron W Reed play in Deadpool & Wolverine and Free Guy?
He played the Juggernaut in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024). Before that, he was Dude in Free Guy (2021) — the giant, super-muscled version of Ryan Reynolds’ character.
What illness did Aaron Reed survive?
By his own account in interviews, he was diagnosed with leukemia at age four, went through chemotherapy and suffered a relapse at twelve. During his wrestling career he was also diagnosed with hepatitis, which pushed him toward the nutrition-first approach behind his book, The SuperNatural Lifestyle.
Is Ashley Puida Aaron Reed’s wife?
She is his long-time partner, an IFBB Bikini Pro. Despite older articles calling her his wife, no reliable source confirms that they are married.
🏁 Final Word
Leukemia survivor, tallest man on the bodybuilding stage, WWE developmental wrestler, author, meal-prep founder and Marvel villain — Aaron W Reed has lived several lives in one very large frame.
His bodybuilding record is more modest than the internet once claimed, but the real story needs no exaggeration. The kid who read superhero comics in a hospital bed grew up to play one on the biggest screen in the world. 🔥