I only got into basic lifting because pinball machines are heavy!
can only deadlift 280 but working towards 300 before I hit 40. But I'm not serious or anything, just train once a week.

These days with raw/non raw benching, the numbers can seem biased. A benching shirt makes a huge difference.

I had a goal of benching 300# and was working towards it, about 10 years ago, got to 275# raw and could bench 185# 17 or 18 times with regularity raw. I was happy with those numbers until a guy walked up, probably weighed 220#, put 315# on the bar benched it 10 times, immediately took a plate off each end and benched that (225#) 10 times, re-racked the weights and walked away like it was nothing. No spotter, no fuss, no benching shirt just raw. I never talked about my bench numbers again after that.

I do 12oz. curls all the time.

I do the 16oz curls.

I was s bodybuilder in my mid 20s and was super strong and pretty dam big. I fell off for 10 years and didnt take care of myself. Im now 38 and found the gym again within the past year and half. I have been watching my diet and was working out 5 days a week for 2 hrs a day for the 5 months i was off during winter. I got back up to bench pressing over 350 and squatting 400 or so (never really maxed) and i dont really deadlift bc of lower back issues but did some repping of 315 pretty easy. Now that im back to my mowing business i can only make it few times every few weeks. Im probably in the best overall shape ive ever been in .... im not the 215 pound huge monster i once was (415 bench, 21in arms) ...but im happy at 196 and 18.5 inch arms and im just conditioned better. I lift with no help (raw category) Im looking so fwd to this winter and maybe even doing a meet or show......

Oh yeah!!! The famous double WOZ deadlift, extremely difficult. A double Hobbit deadlift was proposed but later dismissed from competition as it was deemed to be too risky due to the weight of the game.

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In high school( 11th grade) i went to a state benchpress meet and wld of had the state record but wasnt clear on the rules at the time.

I’m no powerlifter, but I’ve got back into the gym. I’ve been hitting it hard and lifting 5 days a week. I run too and like to compete in 5k and 10k races. It’s easy to get out of going and come up with excuses, definitely takes dedication

Thanks for the encouragement! It's a bit harder for women who want to lift, but I've found more and more other women that are getting in to it. I have two friends that have even competed.

I need to get back into it. I was deadlifting 500, squatting 400, bench was a weak @ 255.

I've trained hard for years then my gym partner moved, my gym chained up the doors one day and I had a second kid. I haven't touched a weight in 6 months.

I'm a fat slob. I need to get back to it. I do have memberships to two gyms so does that count?

Damn, I only ever got to 235 bench before I fell off. I was pretty happy with my dumbbell press, got up to 105's before I stopped working out on the regular. HATED!! leg day.
Usually work out maybe 2-3 days a week now, Not as religiously as before.

I didnt know u had to pause for a few seconds on your chest. I didnt train thst way back then but i got my weight easy (285 weight only 139) ...but i had to drop to 242 i belive to get the pause. Unfortunately that wasnt the record. If i wld have known the rules beforehand im sure i wld of had state record for my weight class.

Yep i got my lady in also and shes doing very well and is very strong.... her body is really changing and looks great. She was always a runner but has gotten more results from 1.5 years of weights than a lifetime of running. Its fun to lift togeather sometimes also and im glad my knowledge is getting passed on....

I benched 405 once upon a time, and could rep 300 easy. After many years of working out my shoulders started to get injured occasionaly, so i decided to stop with the heavy weight before i tore something and just get my excersise at work. Occasionally ill play with a bowflex which is the only equipment i have left beside dumbbells. And that 405 was excruciating, im 6'4 with a 6'9 wingspan.

I started training for powerlifting 3 years ago when I was 43. I did 3 competitions. My best competition lifts were:
Squat 551
Bench 424
Deadlift 578
Total 1554

I hurt my lower back in the last competition (not sure what happened as it didn't start hurting until later that night), and it took about a year before I could start really lifting again. That was last summer, and I decided to give Strongman a try instead of powerlifting. My wife was already doing strongman, and it just looked like more fun.

I have since done one unsanctioned strongman competition, which I won, and one sanctioned event, which I took 3rd place. I am currently training to compete in Master's Nationals in Las Vegas in mid September.
These are the events I will be doing at Nationals:
Log Clean and Press - 280lbs for reps
Yoke Walk - 800 lbs for 60 ft
Axle Deadlift - 580lbs for reps
Farmers Carry - 320lbs per hand for 60 ft
Steel stone over bar for reps - 320lbs

After nationals, I may change gears for a few months and train to do another powerlifting meet. I want to try to add about 300 pounds to my last total, so I want to see how close to that I can get.

There are a few videos up on my instagram if you want to see an old fat guy lift some stuff. @powerliftingandpinball

My best advice for someone who wants to start powerlifting, or Strongman, is to go to a gym where you can see and work out with those people. If you spend all of your time at a regular gym, you start thinking that a 300 pound deadlift is pretty strong. When you walk into my gym, you will find at least 10 women who can do that for reps. It is insane. When you see guys squatting 900 pounds, deadlifting 800 pounds, and benching nearly 600 pounds, it makes everything seem a little more possible.

The numbers I list here are all for raw lifting. We only have a couple of guys still doing geared powerlifting. It seems to be dying off for the most part.

Why do you think that is? The cost to compete/travel? I have a friend that was a competitive lifter and I know that as he started to age a bit, training was taking a toll on him. I mean it makes sense, even with a shirt on, he was still benching 600+ on a competitive level. That is a ton of weight to be throwing up on a regular basis.

Nice... what's your height/weight?

I think it is just too much of a pain in the ass for most people to get started with it. With raw lifting, a lifting belt and maybe knee sleeves are all you need to get started, and really all you need period. The shirts and squat suits are uncomfortable, and you have to maintain your bodyweight pretty closely, or you have to go by new gear that fits you. I also think the gear was getting too good. When a fairly little guy is 700 pounds or so, I think most people realize it isn't really him lifting the weight.

I am glad raw starting becoming popular. I would have never got into geared lifting.

Weightlifting used to be one of my other hobbies.

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I'm always super heavyweight. I am 6 feet tall, and my weight has fluctuated between 370 and 424 during the last 3 years. I need to work on diet and conditioning a lot more to be more competitive. I work out with a pro strongman who is way stronger than me, and I outweigh him by 65 pounds right now at 385. It is kinda ridiculous, and my size definitely makes this stuff harder.

"Stick together" more like it.

I don't remember numbers now but I used to lift constantly had heart and back problems which derailed my intentions of competing in strong man competitions. I'm 6 foot 1 300 pounds. My avatar is not me, like so many people like to think.

Wow your a giant...... im 5'8 195-205 ....

I used mixed most my life but recently went to hook as u get a more even build ....however the bar roll makes it more difficult imo...

I prefer to look at those guys as seeing what is possible. I could only deadlift about 300 pounds when i started. I thought that was decently strong. Then I started watching people half my size deadlift more (one guy weighed 160 pounds, and could deadlift 600). Seeing that that was even possible forced me to deadlift more. 300 feels heavy, but that doesn't mean 400 is not possible. I deadlifted 484 at my first competition which was only 3 months after I started training. I added close to 100 pounds to that in the following 9 months. If you are smaller, it will take you longer than that, but if you see other people doing it, I think it makes it easier to improve. Deadlift is almost all mental. You have to train yourself to pull that hard, because it sucks. lol

Theoretically, I like hook grip, but in practice, that shit hurts to much for me. lol
I have used hook grip up to about 450, but really didn't want to go any further. Now that I am doing strongman, I use straps a lot more, which gets rid of the unevenness of the mixed grip. I will train more with mixed grip if I decide to another powerlifting competition. My grip is pretty strong already, so I don't think using the straps hurts me too much. If my grip was weak, I would be a lot more worried about it. One of my buddies can deadlift close to 900 with straps, but struggles at 750 due to grip. I want to cut up his straps every time I see him use them, because he only needs grip strength at this point.

I use hook for anything up to 405. Anything heavier and I have to use mixed because it hurts too badly. My partner always used straps but I just thought that was a crutch and thought it screwed up my set up and focus.

I've been having pain in my left hip recently and I hope it's not arthritis due to years of deadlifting. Right now I'm blaming it on inactivity.

Ah, powerlifting. At 20 years old, it's behind me. I got too heavy, and not as strong as I imagined I would. My diet was rubbish.

I was regularly deadlifting around 450, but just shy of actually deadlifting a quarter ton. Always used straps and a belt.

Squatted 405 occasionally, always wrapped my knees. Never tested my ORM.

Started to get into Atlas Stones, towards the end of my "lifting things up," years.

It wasn't right for me. High Blood Pressure at 19 due to my size and heavy lifts just didn't suit me.

Same with pinball, same with anything really.

Hook, and for the exact same reason you cite.
My grip is my week point, so maybe mixed would assist in that regard, but the shoulder/posture difference kills it for me.

OH GOD I HAD NO IDEA WHAT ATLAS STONES WERE WHAT THE HELL PEOPLE???

3 years. 37yrs now weigh 155lb at 5'9". Dead 345 Clean 210, C&J 190, Front 245, back 270, bench 165 lol.

At 54 I find cardio is way more important to me these days. I like watching Steve Austin’s broken skull ranch...good stuff

I am 5’11” and 255 pounds and 43 years old
I am not a power lifter, just a heavy lifter. I am not interested much in my 1 rep max as reps give me pump and size. Though I do drop into the 3-5 rep range monthly. I am currently benching 345 in that range. Then triple drop on my last set to finish off with reps. I guess “raw” never had to clarify before. I don’t have special apparatus for benching.....I wear wrist straps on heavy days, don’t have to I guess, just safety precaution. My gym bag consists of keys, headphones, shoes, shaker cup, wrist straps, and chalk.