Background/Bio
I’m 47 years old. I have been training for just about 20 years. Lifting started as a dare from my wife (married 22 years, 3 children). We were watching an LL Cool J video, and I said that if I got to 200 pounds at 10% bodyfat, then I could look like him. She said I couldn’t do it, but she would love to see it. Challenge accepted! The fact that I was a slim 157 pounds at a height of 5’8” (more like 5’7.something”) was a minor obstacle, or so I thought. From the beginning, my training was comprised almost entirely of compound barbell and dumbbell lifts.
Two years or so after I started lifting, I began the mailman chapter of my life. That’s the root of my username here, on YouTube and elsewhere. By that time, I had gotten myself up to 190 pretty lean pounds. By then, I had learned just how lean 10% really is - I was NOT that lean, but was in good shape. I got on the streets for my daily regiment of what I call “urban hiking” right around Memorial Day of 2006. By Labor Day, I was down to 165 lbs before I figured out how to stop wasting away.
It was like I had to start over, plus I had the new variable of hiking several miles per day to pay the bills. It took me another year and a half to get back to the size I was when I started, which was roughly 10 pounds away from my initial goal of 200 pounds. I realized that I would need something else to train for.
Enter Powerlifting
I competed in my first meet in August 2008, and did so regularly every year through fall 2021. My first two competitions were in single ply equipment, as I thought it was required (there was no “raw” category yet). Since then, every competition I’ve been in except for one has been raw (belt, knee sleeves, wrist wraps). All of my competitions have been in USAPL, except for the last one to date which was in USPA (drug tested division). I have weighed anywhere between 189 pounds and 223 pounds on meet days over the course of those 13 years.
Best Competition Stats (raw)
Squat: 240 kg (529 lbs)
Bench: 147.5 kg (325 lbs)
Deadlift: 262.5 kg (579 lbs)
Total: 645 kg (1,422 lbs)
I intended to compete in a USAPL or Powerlifting America meet at the end of this month, or the beginning of next month. Unfortunately, I sprained my left MCL in September, and that derailed my timetable for getting back on the powerlifting platform. As I rehabbed, both orthopedic surgeons that I had seen recommended that I stop powerlifting, and lift lighter. One also said that with the arthritis that I have, my knees would probably benefit if I walk around at a lower bodyweight (I was 209 lbs when I hurt my knee). Those recommendations made me decide to stop procrastinating and finally pull the trigger on a bucket list item: compete in a bodybuilding show.
Bodybuilding and Beyond
At the time of this post, I’m 16 1/2 weeks out from the show. I didn’t start “contest dieting” for real until 3 1/2 weeks ago. But I already lost 9-10 lbs in the 4-6 weeks before that, just from cleaning up and sorting out my diet. By cleaning up, I mean taking out as many processed and carry out foods as possible. By sorting out, I mean identifying foods that I can eat without getting tired of for another 4 months, while also having room to modify them in order to reduce their caloric density. I’ll probably get into more detail about the diet plan in a future post. The short version is that right now I’m about 195 lbs, and I estimate that I’ll need to lose another 15-20 lbs of fat in order to be on stage without embarrassing myself. If I have to lose more than 25, then I’m probably not going to be happy about it. But I need to see this through. If I don’t, then I’ll go to my grave wondering if I could have gotten into contest shape at least once.
I still consider myself a powerlifter, and I do want to return to the platform. I’ve had a long standing goal that if I’m blessed to reach age 50 with all my parts working, then I still want to be able to squat 500 lbs. Even though I’m a huge bodybuilding fan (my wife and I have been to the Arnold about a dozen times), I have no idea if I’m going to enjoy participating in bodybuilding as a sport. So far, this contest prep has been fun, but we’ll see how I feel about that in 4 months. Beyond the show, the only goal I have set is to regain weight, but to be leaner at 200 lbs than I was when I started this process.
I suppose that’s enough to start. I’ll post workout info in the next entry to keep this from getting too long. If you have made it this far, then I hope I haven’t bored you, and I thank you for reading.
A few months ago, I found and binged some Platz content on YouTube. I concluded after watching him lift and train others that I had never worked hard in my entire life.