This weekend was the Natural Athlete Strength Association (NASA) Midwest Regional Competition. There were 102 athletes from Colorado, Arizona, California, and New Mexico who competed. If you’ve never been to a powerlifting competition before, it is a trip and I highly suggest you check one out. There are tons of different federations and all of them are very fun to go watch. If you’re not familiar with how it works, every athlete gets 3 attempts at the squat, bench press, and deadlift. The highest weight for each lift is what gets recorded and the total of all three lifts is the final score and how winners and losers are determined.
This was Stan’s second time competing in powerlifting. He is 73 years old (YES, 73 YEARS OLD!) and he weighed in at 161 pounds. He has only been lifting seriously for the last three years and what he managed to do at this competition was nothing short of amazing. He set personal records on both the bench press and squat, lifting 148 pounds and 226 pounds, respectively. But what was most impressive is what he managed to do on the deadlift. Going into the competition, the national record for NASA in the Masters 4 category (70-79 years old) and the 165 pound weight class was 331 pounds which was set in 2013. Stan not only set a personal record but he SMASHED the national record by deadlifting 364 pounds!!! That record is sure to hold up for years to come and we at Liberty Performance Training could not be more proud of him.
Standing tall at the top of a national record-setting lift!
Stan is truly an inspiration. There are absolutely NO excuses in his vocabulary and he lives his life without any regrets. Perhaps what is so crazy to me about how much he has been able to accomplish in the powerlifting arena is that he works full time as a surgeon, pouring countless hours every week into his job! He is proof that if you truly want something, you can achieve it if you remain focused, determined, and intelligent about going after it. Thank you for motivating all of us to be better, Stan. You’re the GOAT.
Also (in case you were wondering) right after the competition was over and it was official that he placed FIRST in his age and weight class, he was already thinking about what steps to take next and re-evaluating his next goals. He told me he wants a 400 pound deadlift and I can’t wait to be there on the day he picks that up off the ground.
-Rich