Getting started in powerlifting for the first time in my mid 40s

jtbull

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Hello as the title says I was thiking about this,

Thing is I hear about what guys in the 270-300lbs lift and my lifts are not even close to many. I wonder if its practical. I mean my best ever lifts are 400lbs on the bench, 550 deadlift and 475 squat. i never ran a power lifting program but did do the MM2k bench program that really helped. I was curious of what kind of increases could be typical. I am on TRT and do two blasts per year but fairly mild and have only been test only. Also all those lifts are raw and not with the commands like the pause at the top and bottom of hte bench or squat. I also wonder if the shirts, suits and stuff make it way too expensive but i was told that there are raw divisions.

I know bodybuilding at the competitive level is not going to be for me so i thought of strongman and power lifting. Now I do like to look good but the eating clean is fine bt the fluid manipulation and the like just likely would not be for me. I will never say never thought.
 
Hyde

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Powerlifting is extremely accessible to anyone. Not only can you compete raw, it’s the way 90% of competitors compete these days looking at all federations across the world. All you need to buy is a singlet that fits, a cotton short-sleeve tshirt, a pair of legless brief underwear, a pair of socks, shoes, and long socks to cover the shins for deadlift. And you should probably buy a powerlifting style 10mm or 13mm belt if you don’t have one and like to max out with a belt like most, but it’s optional.

Different federations have different rules for things like wrist wraps, knee sleeves, knee wraps, and for that last 10% who lift in gear rules for squat suits, bench shirts, deadlift suits, but those are all just options.

And you always get to pick the weights you attempt. As long as you can lift the barbell with clamps on it, you can call for any weight they have the plates to load. Many competitions use kilo plates instead of lbs, but they can still get your options to within a few lbs of any number you choose.

Also, nobody really cares about what you lift. It’s about the experience of testing yourself under real judging in a different environment that’s not your home turf, with a bunch of other people who came for the same reason. It’s exciting and gets your adrenaline going.

If you want to do a meet, pick one a few months away, sign up, and start training! It’s a good time. People tend to be helpful and supportive at meets.
 
BennyMagoo79

BennyMagoo79

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Powerlifting is extremely accessible to anyone. Not only can you compete raw, it’s the way 90% of competitors compete these days looking at all federations across the world. All you need to buy is a singlet that fits, a cotton short-sleeve tshirt, a pair of legless brief underwear, a pair of socks, shoes, and long socks to cover the shins for deadlift. And you should probably buy a powerlifting style 10mm or 13mm belt if you don’t have one and like to max out with a belt like most, but it’s optional.

Different federations have different rules for things like wrist wraps, knee sleeves, knee wraps, and for that last 10% who lift in gear rules for squat suits, bench shirts, deadlift suits, but those are all just options.

And you always get to pick the weights you attempt. As long as you can lift the barbell with clamps on it, you can call for any weight they have the plates to load. Many competitions use kilo plates instead of lbs, but they can still get your options to within a few lbs of any number you choose.

Also, nobody really cares about what you lift. It’s about the experience of testing yourself under real judging in a different environment that’s not your home turf, with a bunch of other people who came for the same reason. It’s exciting and gets your adrenaline going.

If you want to do a meet, pick one a few months away, sign up, and start training! It’s a good time. People tend to be helpful and supportive at meets.
This.

And please log your prep! Love reading prep logs! Plus, it's a great to get free feedback from other guys (like Hyde) who have heaps of knowledge and experience.
 

jtbull

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Is there anyone who stared in their 40s can give me a realistic idea of say 1, 3, and 5 years the kind of weight improvements in pounds lifted i could expect say

400 bench
500 deadlift
475 squat in a ballpark i have rarely maxed as of late.
 
Hyde

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Is there anyone who stared in their 40s can give me a realistic idea of say 1, 3, and 5 years the kind of weight improvements in pounds lifted i could expect say

400 bench
500 deadlift
475 squat in a ballpark i have rarely maxed as of late.
I’m 30, so I’d love to hear older experiences too, but from what I have seen it tends to be more about how long you’ve already been doing it. I have gone entire years without a PR in all of the lifts before at this point. You can only refine technique at a bodyweight so much. At some point you have to usually gain more muscle or sheer bodyweight that moves you into more advantageous leverages for your frame, where you can improve new technique from. Or undertake a more rigorous training plan, or improve recovery greatly (sometimes by training much less), both of which will often result in increased muscle or size. Or take more drugs, which also goes back into the previous means of improvement.

If you do 2 meets a year and can put 10lbs on each lift per meet, that’s 60lbs a year. In 5 years that’s 300lbs on your total and 100lbs per lift. Most people will not last for half a decade and will never accomplish that much anyway. It slows down a lot.

Getting with a powerlifting crew will improve you faster than anything.
 
jinxie

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I’m 30, so I’d love to hear older experiences too, but from what I have seen it tends to be more about how long you’ve already been doing it. I have gone entire years without a PR in all of the lifts before at this point. You can only refine technique at a bodyweight so much. At some point you have to usually gain more muscle or sheer bodyweight that moves you into more advantageous leverages for your frame, where you can improve new technique from. Or undertake a more rigorous training plan, or improve recovery greatly (sometimes by training much less), both of which will often result in increased muscle or size. Or take more drugs, which also goes back into the previous means of improvement.

If you do 2 meets a year and can put 10lbs on each lift per meet, that’s 60lbs a year. In 5 years that’s 300lbs on your total and 100lbs per lift. Most people will not last for half a decade and will never accomplish that much anyway. It slows down a lot.

Getting with a powerlifting crew will improve you faster than anything.
A 400 lbs bench is ambitious, unless you already can lift 275+ lbs — or you’re on some serious gear.
 
cheftepesh1

cheftepesh1

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I’m 30, so I’d love to hear older experiences too, but from what I have seen it tends to be more about how long you’ve already been doing it. I have gone entire years without a PR in all of the lifts before at this point. You can only refine technique at a bodyweight so much. At some point you have to usually gain more muscle or sheer bodyweight that moves you into more advantageous leverages for your frame, where you can improve new technique from. Or undertake a more rigorous training plan, or improve recovery greatly (sometimes by training much less), both of which will often result in increased muscle or size. Or take more drugs, which also goes back into the previous means of improvement.

If you do 2 meets a year and can put 10lbs on each lift per meet, that’s 60lbs a year. In 5 years that’s 300lbs on your total and 100lbs per lift. Most people will not last for half a decade and will never accomplish that much anyway. It slows down a lot.

Getting with a powerlifting crew will improve you faster than anything.
This is good advice
 
Hyde

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A 400 lbs bench is ambitious, unless you already can lift 275+ lbs — or you’re on some serious gear.
Absolutely. The only people I have ever personally known to bench 400 were people on AAS, big natural guys, or the outlier who was essentially a bench prodigy from the start (these guys also tend to become big guys or eventually use AAS as well if they get serious about competing in bench).

Been re-reading Dinosaur Training by Brooks Kubik (awesome read, even if you juice). As a lifetime natural he benched 407 in competition weighing around 225lbs at 5’9”, winning a drug-tested feds nationals like 5 times in the benchpress. So we can see it’s possible, but certainly an outlier/ambitious regarding the amount of genetics and work ethic it will take.

This is good advice
Thank you. Just sharing what I’ve seen. I wish I knew years ago what I know now!
 

jtbull

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Is there anyone who stared in their 40s can give me a realistic idea of say 1, 3, and 5 years the kind of weight improvements in pounds lifted i could expect say

400 bench
500 deadlift
475 squat in a ballpark i have rarely maxed as of late.
I should have clairified thse were all time bests the bench i lost alot of from covid lay off. The deadlift i think my estimated max is higher (425x9) and squat likely went down.
 
f4iguy

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My bench is currently around 500 and weight is 194. My last usapl meet was 442 at 195 bodyweight and I set the VA state record. Let me know if you have any questions. Best deadlift out of comp was 650 and squat in mid 500's.
 

jtbull

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My bench is currently around 500 and weight is 194. My last usapl meet was 442 at 195 bodyweight and I set the VA state record. Let me know if you have any questions. Best deadlift out of comp was 650 and squat in mid 500's.
Thanks bro. Might take you up on that. Are you natural or "untested" i am on trt so of course that is a factor in training.
 

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