FEATURE ARTICLE: “My Lifetime Passion, Weightlifting”

I started weighlifting for fun and to help me play football. Who could have imagined that I’d become a two-state champion?

I first became interested in weight training at around age 12 or 13. I had seen Vasily Alexeev, the Soviet strongman, on Wide World Of Sports a few times. I had seen him Clean & Jerk well over 500 pounds and I imagined what it would be like to be so powerful.

I wondered how much weight I would be able to lift over my head.  Soon I had my chance to find out.

The Beginning

My mother picked up a weight set at a garage sale, which she had actually bought for my older brother. He was always very slight of build as a kid and my mother thought weights would help him to build up some muscle and gain weight. But he was more interested in running so, after a couple of weeks of weight training, he joined the track and field team at high school and turned the weights over to me.

Mark in the 1980’s

I couldn’t wait to see how much I could lift. I brought a few friends down to the basement and we had a Clean & Jerk contest. None of us really knew what we were doing. We would just grab the weight, fling it up to our shoulders, and then push the weight overhead.

But I found that I could not only lift more than the other kids my age, but that I could keep up with most of the older kids. So I kept at it even though I didn’t know anything about proper technique. I also didn’t have money to join a gym. I just kept at it.

Things got more serious when I hurt my knee really bad playing football with friends. I ended up in the hospital and in traction for over a week. I left the hospital with a full leg cast.

With bad ligament damage, the only thing that saved me from surgery was my age. The doctors figured that since I was so young, the knee would heal on it’s own. Thankfully, they were right.

When it was time for the cast to come off, the doctor told me to do leg extensions to strengthen my knees and thigh muscles. My mother bought me ankle weights. I did my leg extensions faithfully every day.

Not only did my knee heal up, but I began to see muscle development in my legs. I liked the way that looked and I began reading muscle magazines.

The pages were filled with pictures of the top bodybuilders of the day, like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbo.

I started seeing results–building muscle and gaining weight. Those were good outcomes for football. That game was my first love.

All the weight training paid off, too. Just two years after knee injury I was voted best defensive player on my junior high football team. I was very proud and so were my parents.

I kept at the weights and played high school football. But I never quite achieved what I had hoped to achieve.

The one position that I was really good at–and really liked–was defensive end. But at 5’8” and 155 lbs. it became pretty obvious that I had gone as far as I was going to go in football. So I turned my attention to the weights.

But by that time I had become bored with doing bodybuilding exercises. I wanted something more exciting and more challenging, so I began to focus more on the Clean & Jerk and Squats.

I also started looking at photos of the other Olympic lift, The Snatch, where you lift the weight overhead in just one motion instead of two motions. I had an older cousin who was into Olympic weightlifting and I thought he could teach me. But he was in the same situation as me–lifting in his basement with no one to teach him proper technique. And we didn’t live close to each other, so we never really got to train together.

Getting Serious About It

At that point I had begun working part-time at a local gym. I made a few dollars and got a free membership from it. One day I was doing some Clean & Jerks when the gym owner approached me. He saw that I was really struggling with it and pointed in the direction of a guy who was on the other side of the gym.

That guy was was banging out reps with over 500 lbs. on Squats.

I explained to him that I had become bored with bodybuilding exercises and was now trying to learn the Olympic lifts. He said I should meet him on Monday night at 6:00 at a local barbell club.

I asked my cousin if he had ever heard of that club. He said he had trained there a few times. He eventually joined me at the gym and we became training partners.

The minute I walked into the club I knew I had just taken a big step towards getting serious about ‘this lifting thing.’ This was no fitness gym with treadmills and a juice bar. There wasn’t a janitor or cleaning person. In the summer the temperature had to be at least 120 degrees. There weren’t any windows or AC–just a big overhead fan that blew hot, stale air around.

This was no ordinary gym. People went there for one reason and one reason only–to lift and lift heavy!

I was introduced to the coach and other lifters. They welcomed me with open arms. They also made it clear that this wasn’t something to take lightly. If I wanted help, then I had to be committed. It was going to take patience, discipline, hard work, and dedication they said.

I had no problem with any of that. I had been involved in athletics ever since I was a kid and I had already been training with weights for the last 5-6 years. I hardly ever missed a workout.

The coach handed me a broomstick and told me I needed to learn technique before I could use any weight at all. I was encouraged to do Squats since I had experience and decent form. But I soon learned that I would be starting from scratch when it came to the Clean & Jerk and Snatches.

After about four weeks of using the broomstick I was allowed to progress to any empty Olympic bar. I was getting impatient. I wanted to put some weight on the bar and see how much I could lift, but I knew it was important to learn the technique so I stuck it out.

I also found out just how incredibly flexible Olympic weightlifters are. I thought I already had good flexibility, but I found out quickly that I wasn’t as flexible as I thought I was. My shoulders were not very flexible at all. I had a tough time doing overhead squats (squatting with a bar overhead, arms fully extended). I just had to keep doing them over and over and over until I finally developed the necessary flexibility.

But now it was finally time to start using some weight. We increased the weight, little by little, each week. I was monitored carefully: “Keep your shoulders over the bar!” “Elbows out! Don’t swing it!” “Stop using your arms!” “Pull it higher! ”“Use your traps, your hips, and your legs!”

Learning How To Compete

After about nine months of learning technique and building leg strength with heavy squats I was ready for my first contest. The contest was in early December, 1981 in Vineland, NJ.

I ended up borrowing a teammates’ shoes. The problem? They were about two sizes too big for me, so I had to wear three pairs of socks to make them fit.

There were two sessions of lifting. The morning session was for the lighter weight classes, starting at 52 kilos (114 lbs.) and going up to 75 kilos (165 lbs). I was in the 75 kilo class.

But I wouldn’t lift at that weight. Why? Vineland, NJ is a long drive and since I was the only one on our team in that lighter class, it was agreed that I would just eat my way into the 82.5 kilo (181.8 lbs.) weight class.That way we could all drive together and lift together in the afternoon session.

Now I know that sounds like a lot of weight to gain, but I didn’t actually have to weigh 82.5 kilos. I only had to be over 75 kilos. I weighed in at 75.1 kilos, which qualified me to lift in the 82.5 kilo class.

A week before the contest I weighed about 74 kilos. I needed to gain 1.1 kilos or roughly 2.5 lbs. I really stepped up my caloric intake during that week and I was certain I’d gain the necessary weight in time for weigh in. But when I stepped on the scale the day of the contest I was still slightly underweight.

I was devastated. All that hard work and training and now I wasn’t even going to be able to compete. But I forgot that weigh-in was for a full hour. I still had about 30 minutes to try to get my weight up to 75.1 kilos.

My teammates sprung into action. They ran around the locker room asking the other competitors if they had any extra food they could spare. After shoving three bagels down my throat and drinking what seemed like at least a half gallon of water, I made weight.

Whew!

There I was, though, lifting with a bloated stomach and shoes that were two sizes too big, But I managed to make 4 out of 6 lifts, My first contest was behind me.

I continued to compete and make good friends along the way. One of my short-term goals was to be able to snatch more than I weighed. I achieved that in my fourth contest, snatching 170 lbs. at 163 lbs. body weight.

Lifting Under Adverse Conditions

One thing I learned early-on is that you stick with it if you really enjoy it. That was important because in the 1980’s Olympic Weightlifting wasn’t a popular sport in the USA. There was no money to be made. No glory. No fanfare. Little recognition. No government support.

We all lifted under adverse conditions. In one of my early competitions, our warm-up area was in a garage. In that area you do lifts with lighter weights and gradually increase the weight until you’re close to the weight you’ll be attempting in the competition.

This garage wasn’t well-heated and it was December. You also had to walk outdoors, from the garage to the venue where the competition was taking place. It was cold! That weather defeated the whole point of warming up.

In another competition I asked where the locker room was and a man pointed to the bathroom. There was no locker room. You got changed in the bathroom.

I remember another competition where they barely had enough weights for warm ups.

These were conditions you had to get used to.

Lifters lifted for the love of it.

One thing I really liked about competitive weightlifting was the camaraderie. It was a fraternity, a brotherhood. Everyone helped each and supported each other. It didn’t matter if you were a national champion or someone (like me) struggling to snatch your body weight.

Everyone banded together.

My next goal was to Clean and Jerk 100 lbs. more than I weighed. I came close in May 1984 at age 22 with a 259 lb. C&J at 170 lbs. body weight.

I felt like one of the biggest things that was holding me back was an inability to gain weight. Standing at 5’9” and weighing 170 pounds, I was a light body weight for a lifter. I finally started to gain some weight at age 23 and reached another goal–of snatching over 200 lbs. with a 204 lbs. snatch at 177 lbs. body weight.

Shortly after turning 24, I did a 281 lbs. C&J at 176 lbs. body weight. I was very pleased to be lifting 105 lbs. above my body weight, but now came my next goal–to C&J over 300 lbs.

I achieved that in October of 1986 with 137.5 kilos/303 lbs. at 188 lbs. body weight. It took me almost five years, but I finally did over 300 lbs. It felt great!

My next goal was to snatch 100 kilos/220 lbs. I wasn’t as good on Snatches as Clean & Jerks, but I really wanted to get to at least 100 kilos. I had done it in training a few times, but still hadn’t achieved it in competition.

I finally did it in February, 1987 at age 24. Not only did I snatch 100 kilos, but I also did a 303 lbs. C&J on the same day (at 82.5 kilos/181.8 lbs., the class limit).

In May, 1988 I had my best competition with a snatch of 102.5 kilos/226 lbs. and a Clean & Jerk of 140 kilos/308 lbs. at 179 lbs. body weight. Those lifts weren’t nearly enough to qualify for a national competition, but I had come a long way since my first competition six and a half years earlier. I was very happy and was also starting to collect quite a few trophys and medals.

Dealing With Injuries

Unfortunately, that’s when my body began breaking down. I had developed tendinitis in my knees and shoulders. I was way over-trained, but I was too stubborn to admit it. I felt like I could do much more if I could just get rid of this tendinitis. I started taking cortisone shots and continued training as hard as ever.

I had a few more contests, but was not able to match my best lifts. As I approached the age of 27, I started gaining weight–too much weight. After all those years of trying to gain weight I couldn’t stop gaining weight. My body was changing: my weight was going up but my lifts were going down.

The tendinitis was getting worse. Competing was no longer fun. After 35 competitions I walked away, feeling somewhat frustrated but, at the same time, feeling pretty satisfied with what I had accomplished.

I had lifted some pretty heavy weights during that time. I had front-squatted 405 lbs., back-squatted 460 lbs, cleaned 319 lbs, jerked 330 lbs, from Squat stands, Snatched 226 lbs. in competition and 231 lbs. in training, and Cleaned & Jerked 308 lbs. in competition.

I did all of that weighing only about 180 lbs. I thanked God and walked away. But the story doesn’t end there. While I may have stopped competing, I never stopped lifting.

Writing A New Chapter

For the next 22 years (1989-2011) I continued to train. During that time I got married, changed jobs, had a child, and bought a house. I no longer had an unlimited amount of time to train or, for that matter, the energy to do it, so I altered my training program to fit a new lifestyle.

But in 1997, at age 35, I got the itch to compete again. I would be competing as a master now (35-39 age group), but try as I might, I couldn’t get my lifts up to where I felt they were respectable enough to compete.

In 2008, my son (now 15 years old) developed an interest in lifting, so I started coaching him. He competed in contests and it was a lot of fun coaching him and getting back into the contest scene, seeing people I hadn’t seen in years.

It inspired me to pick up the intensity in my own training. I had a setback in early 2008 when I tore the tendon in my elbow/tricep. I had surgery, but recovered fairly quickly.

I decided at that point that I should back off a bit on the Olympic lifts and focus more on Squats. Squats had always come fairly easy to me, and I wanted to see if I could get back up to a 400 pound full squat at age 46.

I not only did 400, but surpassed it.

One day while reading the town newspaper, I came across an article about a local gym that was holding a non-sanctioned powerlifting meet. I had never competed in a power meet before, but I figured it would be a good meet for a first-timer, like me, so I entered.

In all my years of Olympic weightlifting, I had never done much bench pressing and had never done deadlifts, but I was mainly entering the meet for the Squat. I had about 6 months to get ready for the meet so I started doing deadlifts and benches in my training.

On the day of the contest I learned they do things a lot differently in powerlifting than in Olympic lifting.

The other difference between a power meet and an Olympic lifting meet is this: in Olympic lifting you keep adding weight to the bar with each attempt. So for instance, if you were taking 100 kilos as your opening attempt and made it, they would then add weight to the bar–unless, of course, someone else was also taking 100 kilos.

Once everyone who wanted to take 100 kilos was done, they would just keep adding weight. Maybe one or two lifters wanted to try 102.5. After they were done, they would put on 105, then 107.5, and so on. You didn’t have to wait that long in-between attempts, which I liked.

I didn’t like waiting. If I had to wait too long, I would go back to the warm-up area and take a light weight in-between attempts so I wouldn’t cool off and get tight.

I was expecting the same procedure to be used in powerlifting. I found out the hard way that it wasn’t.

I took 405 lbs. for my opening squat attempt. I made it fairly easy and went over to the scorer’s table to inform them that I wanted 415 lbs. for my second attempt.

I took a seat and waited for them to put the 415 on the bar. Since no one else was taking that weight, I had two minutes from the time they were done loading the bar. Same as Olympic lifting, right? Wrong!

Next thing I knew, the announcer said, we will now put 135 Lbs on the bar for Joe’s second attempt. What? Wait a minute! What happened to my second attempt? Did you forget I’m taking 415 next?

It was explained to me that they do it differently in powerlifting. Everyone takes their first attempt. Then we take all the weight off and start over again for second attempts. After everyone takes their second attempt, we start over again for third attempts.

What? Seriously? I had 20 lifters ahead of me! Back to the warm ups. I felt like I did about three squat workouts before I finally got to take my third attempt of 425.

Somehow I had enough energy left to make it. I benched 250 and deadlifted 450 for a 1,125 lbs. total in the 100 kilo/220 lbs. weight class. Considering I was 49 yrs old and in my first powerlifting meet ever, I felt pretty satisfied with my lifting.

Becoming A Champion

It felt great to be competing again. I reconnected with a friend who I had competed with me years ago. He told me that he was still competing in both Olympic lifting and powerlifting. He encouraged me to keep competing. He told me I would soon be deadlifting 500 lbs.

I thought he was nuts! But…

Eight months later it was time for my first sanctioned powerlifting meet. I squatted 420, benched 255, and deadlifted 465 for a 1,140 total at 228 lbs. body weight. Four months later I competed again in a deadlift-only contest. I did 480 at 220 lbs. body weight.

Mark at 49.

I was starting to believe my friend. Maybe I really could do 500 lbs.

After the Deadlifts they had another contest. You had to squat your body weight for as many reps as you could do in a minute. Against my better judgement I gave into temptation and entered. I needed to do 25 reps to win. I did the 25 reps, but almost fainted afterwards.

I was 50 yrs. old.

Seven weeks later I competed again, attempting a 500-pound deadlift for the first time. I didn’t make it, but I felt confident I would reach the 500-mark soon.

My next meet came about three months later. I deadlifted 500, but the judges turned it down for a slight hitch. The reason for the hitch was that I started to lose my grip halfway up.

My next meet was about five months later and I felt certain I would finally get the elusive 500. But I again lost my grip on the second attempt at 490.

Up to this point I had been using a hook grip on my deadlifts. A hook grip is where you tuck your thumbs under your other fingers for a more secure grip. It helps to have long fingers, or long thumbs, neither of which I have, and 490 lbs. is a lot of weight to hold using a hook grip.

So I tried using a different grip for the first time ever. I used what’s called The Over/Under Grip. You use a standard overhand grip with one hand and an underhand grip with the other hand. Almost all of powerlifters use that grip.

It worked! I made 490 on my third attempt.

Three months later I competed again. I was 51 yrs. old at the time and my body weight was now up to 110 kilos/242 lbs. I squatted 435, benched 265, and finally deadlifted 500–using my new grip, which I grudgingly gave in to.

But this was a non-sanctioned meet. I still had to get the 500 deadlift in a sanctioned meet.

All during this time, my wife (I got re-married in 2011) not only supported and encouraged me to keep lifting, but she even started training with me. So my next contest was extra special: my wife decided to compete, too.

The contest was in Long Island on a brutally hot summer day. The place at which we were lifting had neither AC nor fans. I felt like I was back at the barbell club.

My wife was lifting in the morning session and I was lifting in the afternoon session. My wife did great, making 8 out of 9 attempts. But after coaching her all morning on this brutally hot day I was pretty worn out. I didn’t know where I was going to get the energy to compete myself.

But the good Lord provided. I not only competed, but had one of my best meets yet. I weighed in at 238 and squatted 200 kilos/440 lbs., which was a New York State record for my age group and weight class. This was the “raw division,” meaning no knee wraps and no special lifting gear. I benched 265 (my weak lift) and deadlifted 500, which was another New York State record.

Two months later, in Newark, NJ, I squatted 445 and deadlifted 505 at 240 lbs body weight.

Four months later I broke those records by doing 452.5 on the squat and 510 on the deadlift. My wife competed with me again and again, and she made 8 out of 9 lifts. I was very proud of her.

Three months later was another non-sanctioned meet. It was perhaps the most fun contest ever. The reason? My son competed with my wife and me.

We all lifted great that day. I squatted 455, benched 275, and deadlifted 510.

While I took a break from competing for six months my wife kept competing. At that same hot place in Long Island she again made 8 out of 9 lifts–squatting 210, benching 100, and deadlifting 245, which was a NY State record for her age group.

In October, 2014, at almost 48 years of age, she squatted 215, benched 100, and deadlifted 255! I was very proud of her and amazed at what she had accomplished with only about two years of training.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. She was a great athlete in high school, excelling in softball. I’m sure she could have gone on to deadlift 300 lbs. if she had continued, but the aches and pains of heavy lifting were taking a toll and she decided it just wasn’t worth risking serious. injury. So she stopped lifting.

My son and I also lifted in that October meet. My son deadlifted 365 at only 163 lbs. body weight and I’m sure he could have gone on to deadlift 400. But he, too, had his share of physical ailments, especially with his hip. So after that meet I was back to lifting alone. On that day, I squatted 430 on my second attempt, but had to skip my third attempt due to a slight leg injury. I benched 280 and deadlifted 525 at 252 body weight.

In my next contest I squatted 455 and deadlifted 530 at 253 lbs. body weight. Those were NJ State records for my age group and weight class. Six months later, I deadlifted 550 lbs. at 260 lbs. body weight in an unsanctioned meet.

Then, one year later and at age 54.

Six months later, at age 55, I bench pressed 300 in an unsanctioned meet, which was quite an accomplishment, given the fact that I never trained very hard on the bench press.

When Will The Road End?

So from 1981-1989 I competed in 35 Olympic weightlifting meets. From 2011 to present, I have competed in 20 powerlifting meets. I’m not sure how many more competitions I have left in me or how many more I really want to do. I

It seems like every competition is supposed to be my last, but then there’ss always one more goal to reach. This year I will be competing in a new age group (55-59) and I hope to break more records.

Mark at 52.

I never dreamed that I’d still be competing at age 55. I’ve accomplished much more than I had ever expected. For that I am grateful. It’s only through the grace of God that I’ve been able to continue for so many years. All the glory goes to him.

I’m also blessed to have made so many friends, and to have trained with so many great lifters, over the years. I’ve had the opportunity to compete alongside my son, my wife, my cousin, and I’ll always be grateful for the support and encouragement my family has given me.

Many people have told me that I have inspired and motivated them. I hope I can continue to do that for many years to come.

What have I learned from it all? Don’t let age stop you from doing what you enjoy. God gives all of us a gift–something we’re good at and enjoy doing. Don’t let it go to waste!

_______________________________________________

My best training lifts as of May, 2017 (weights all in pounds):

Full Back Squat – 462 @ age 52 (Raw)
Full Front Squat – 431 @ age 53 (Raw)
Deadlift – 600 @ age 55 (with straps, but no belt)
Bench Press – 300 @ age 55 (with a pause)
Incline Bench – 265 @ age 55