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New to Powerlifting

theck4291

Level 2 Valued Member
So this is kind of an about me post, introducing myself and getting advice.

I am 33, male, 5ft10, 355lbs. Now, I haven't worked out since 2009(senior year of highschool) and decided to get back into it for fun. Yes, I am a big guy, but I'm not a couch potato. With that being said, I'm not overly active either. My job is pretty sedentary, so it's not like I perform a ton of manual labor.

I say all of this to get an idea of where I am coming from, and hopefully paints a fuller picture.

I \want to get into either powerlifting or strongman, so I went to a local gym(about 15miles away, closest place to me) and figured out all of my maxes so I can create a workout program and buy the equipment I need for home. I figure with the drivetime, gas, and membership, the equipment pays for itself mostly within the year. My bench was 335lbs, my squat was 505lbs(no weightbelt, they didn't have one that fit me- note: I have purchased one and it is on its way currently) STRICT OHP was 255lbs, push press ohp was 275lbs, and deadlift was only 400lbs, but I had bad form and couldn't figure out how to get in proper, as my stomach kept getting in the way, but that's taken care of now, so I will retest for my max. Everything I see shows every person(on all these different leaderboards I've been watching, and in different forums and Facebook groups) having a higher deadlift than squat, so I am hoping my deadlift is over 500lbs at least. Plus- not using any straps for deadlift. I can continental clean 225 lbs with a set of 10 push presses following the clean, and can continental clean 255 with a set of 3 push presses.

I went on Facebook and bought a used set of weights. Olympic barbell, 4 45lb plates, 2 35lb plates, and 4 25lb plates. I have a squat rack/bench combo setup I bought at an auction, plus some home gym type of deal(Weider 6900) from a neighbor for free. I have a handful of dumbbells, both fixed weight and the kind you can add or remove weights from.

I used a website called blackironbeast to calculate my workout program, and am going to be following the 5/3/1 program with adding on Boring But Big. I have a couple things of MuscleMilk I got a good deal on, as well as buying creatine pills to supplement with.

I know my maxes(especially without any training towards them) are pretty damn good, but my real question is what can I expect in terms of results if I truly follow this program and stick to it? Am I deluding myself thinking I can make something of myself in powerlifting/ strongman, or do I actually have a chance?
 
This is possibly the most profound and important decision you've made regarding your body in the last 15 years. The moment you're living now, this threshold at the beginning, is much more pregnant with meaning and power than whatever the end of this journey is. I'd say, screw "making something of yourself" in any competitive field, enjoy the beauty of strength training.

But I know how it is, so I'll tell you something that is absolutely true and undeniable: you can get strong as hell.

Not to disturb your start with more information, but, if you havent already, you'll most likely cross paths with Starting Strength and Mark Rippetoe, so you might as well give his stuff a look and see if you'll like it.

Careful with those benches and squats without spotters. And keep at it.
 
theck4291 said:
but my real question is what can I expect in terms of results if I truly follow this program and stick to it? Am I deluding myself thinking I can make something of myself in powerlifting/ strongman, or do I actually have a chance?
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You can expect to get stronger. What exactly are you wanting out of the program?

What do you consider “make something of myself?” These guys that are the top tier of the elite level lifters usually have a decade of training behind them, and it is hard to say where you’ll be in 5 years let alone 10 if you train hard and consistently … other than stronger and better than you are now.
 
I have to say that your numbers are very, very good if you haven't touched a weight in 15 years. I'll even be frank and say they're too good to be true.

If true, please, carry on, be great.

Of course, if you're on this forum, I'd expect there's a reason you're attracted here, and the programming here would be a reason for it.

Keep at it and have fun.
 
This is a little hard to believe tbh. Do you have any vids of your lifts? As far as the question, your numbers are decent (if true) but wouldn't be competitive for your weight class, at least not at the elite level. Could you become competitive at anything? Well only one way to find out.
 
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Antti said:
I have to say that your numbers are very, very good if you haven't touched a weight in 15 years. I'll even be frank and say they're too good to be true.

If true, please, carry on, be great.

Of course, if you're on this forum, I'd expect there's a reason you're attracted here, and the programming here would be a reason for it.

Keep at it and have fun.
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Well that made my day, thank you. Outside of going to the gym like 3 times in 2013(literally 3x in one week then quit) I swear I have not touched any weights since 2009. I am beyond excited to see where this can take me.
metaldrummer said:
This is a little hard to believe tbh. Do you have any vids of your lifts? As far as the question, your numbers are decent (if true) but wouldn't be competitive for your weight class, at least not at the elite level. Could you become competitive at anything? Well only way to find out.
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Yes, I have videos of a my 275 push press, done today actually, and 2 videos of 225 x 5 from a continental clean- had to do 2 because my wife was filming me and started the film partway through my clean.

I have no "proof" I haven't worked out for the last 15 years, other than my wife of 15 years knows I haven't worked out. She doesn't understand that the numbers I am putting up are impressive. I am aware they are, but she has been around me since we've been 18 and I've always been exceptionally strong, just never had numbers to quantify it, and now that we do, she doesn't understand that the numbers are out of the norm for a lot of people who do work out, let alone people who don't work out.

Feel free to look at my Facebook profile, the videos of my lifts will be public.

www.facebook.com

Timothy Heck

Timothy Heck is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Timothy Heck and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected.
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com

I don't mind if people have my personal info, I plan on sharing my stats if I compete so my personal info will be on here at some point anyways. I tried strict pressing 275 but failed(I hit 255 strict yesterday, so maybe after a day or 2 cool down I'll hit the 275).

Only bench video I have is of me at 325, deadlift at 400, and squat is at 475(my daughter was filming that and hit pause instead of record so I don't have one at 505)
 
theck4291 said:
I went on Facebook and bought a used set of weights. Olympic barbell, 4 45lb plates, 2 35lb plates, and 4 25lb plates. I have a squat rack/bench combo setup I bought at an auction, plus some home gym type of deal(Weider 6900) from a neighbor for free. I have a handful of dumbbells, both fixed weight and the kind you can add or remove weights from.
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So keep in mind, a lot of the cheap beginner equipment maxes out around your tested maxes. See if you can find the weight rating of the equipment you before too long so you don’t exceed it.

Second, start signing up for competitions. Especially powerlifting scales to your ability, so you can gain a lot from competing often as a beginner. Strongman has a bit more of a minimum threshold, so start doing those as soon as you think you can hit at least one or two events.

Last don’t forget to record your lifts while training. This allows you to take feedback and improve your technique as you progress.
 
Congrats on coming back to the iron after a hiatus. Great decision. Expectations are to feel better, get stronger, and lean out a bit. Your most important issue as an older lifter is going to be fatigue management. You must get sleep, eat, and walk daily. The walking part is often overlooked but aids in recovery tremendously. I an a 54yo competitive PL and started in my 40s. Hit me up with and questions, especially if you decide to compete.
 
I am an avid home gym addict, who loves my expensive kinex playsets but you aren’t at the point where a home gym is beneficial. Watching your videos there is a lot of technique issues that you need a coach to fix. Video feedback is great but it’s reactive instead of proactive. When you’re moving that much poundage you have much more liability on every bad lift than most beginners.
 
Hrungnir said:
I am an avid home gym addict, who loves my expensive kinex playsets but you aren’t at the point where a home gym is beneficial. Watching your videos there is a lot of technique issues that you need a coach to fix. Video feedback is great but it’s reactive instead of proactive. When you’re moving that much poundage you have much more liability on every bad lift than most beginners.
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I completely agree on form. I've been watching other and doing tons of YouTube searching on technique and form, with my wife watching with me to help me correct form while working out, and have been using smaller weights to get form better before going super high again.

Those videos(the ones at the gym) were a spur of the moment decision to get into this and I went. I was literally watching "how to deadlift" videos while resting after benching
 
Welcome, @theck4291 ! You are really strong. But to get in to competitive powerlifting you'll need to get the technique down, and then train based on your good technical maxes. For instance, the squat isn't close to parallel. So going way down in weight and focusing on full range of motion so you can get white lights, then training up from there, would be a good way to go. Coaching highly recommended. Do you have any in the gym you train in? Or nearby?

+1 to signing up for competitions. Even before that, if you can go watch one, you'll learn a lot.

P.S. Good for you for using safety straps in the squat rack.
 
many great advice above. Only thing I want to input is keeping yourself healthy. Heavyweight + heavy bodyweight can really stress your heart/kidney. Try to keep an acceptable bodyfat, don't skip your car-deal, and control your stress.
 
I'd pretty much echo what others have said. Your deadlift doesn't look too bad and you obviously have a good bit of pressing strength, but your squat was about 1/4th of how far down you'd need to travel for it to be a legal depth in any PL fed. I think it's possible to clean up your form on your own, but really I'd suggest seeing if you can't find someone to train with that knows what they're doing or even hire someone. I think the squat would be the biggest challenge especially since you might lack the mobility to even go as far down as you need to.
 
metaldrummer said:
I'd pretty much echo what others have said. Your deadlift doesn't look too bad and you obviously have a good bit of pressing strength, but your squat was about 1/4th of how far down you'd need to travel for it to be a legal depth in any PL fed. I think it's possible to clean up your form on your own, but really I'd suggest seeing if you can't find someone to train with that knows what they're doing or even hire someone. I think the squat would be the biggest challenge especially since you might lack the mobility to even go as far down as you need to.
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Sorry been taking care of some other stuff and forgot to reply. Yes, my squat is definitely not low enough, however at 450 I hit a very deep squat, definitely deep enough to count. Working on ankle mobility right now, I actually suffered an almost completely disabling work injury back in 2019. Had material fall on my ankle and rupture 2 of my tendons, but I'm as healed as I'll ever be and just need to work on stretching it out and gaining a little more flexibility.
 
theck4291 said:
Sorry been taking care of some other stuff and forgot to reply. Yes, my squat is definitely not low enough, however at 450 I hit a very deep squat,
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Sorry but I highly doubt it.

I mean this is where you need to be, at least for stricter federations...

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As someone who's currently working on making sure they're hitting depth for 90% of their reps in training there's really only 2 ways to go... You can either be realistic and try to address whatever issues you might have, or you can just lift as much weight as you possibly can with whatever depth or form you have and hope people on the internet are impressed. Personally I'd rather have a respectable lift depth and form wise whether I was competing or not, but YMMV.
 
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