All right... so the last post was back in June 2013... Let's make a long story really short and catch you up to this point as best we can. I transferred from Budapest to Washington D.C. in Autumn 2013. Then moved to Armenia in March 2014 (lovely country by the way!)
Then, my health took a giant nose-dive. We won't go into specifics, but let's just say that the gym was out of the picture and things were bad enough that I resigned from the State Department and we moved back to the U.S. In May 2015. I spent several months getting my health under control and finally started getting back into the gym in January of 2016.
In January 2016 I was 32 years old, about 265lbs, and eager to try something new. It had been 14 years since my last powerlifting competition, and I decided the time had come to make a comeback.
I spent the next several months tearing apart my old manuals and training books, looking for that all-too-elusive "Golden Program" that would kick me back into shape. I worked my butt off, tweaking things here and there, and pushing myself harder than I expected to be able to considering the long layoff. (Don't worry, I took a couple weeks to ease into it before digging into the hard stuff.)
I started off fairly weak. 405 Squat, 275 Bench, and 405 Deadlift. But I improved pretty quickly over the next nine months.
The result.... I took first place in the men's Classic Raw 275lb weight class at the USPA Rocky Mountain Regional Championship on Sept. 10th. Now, the 275lb weight class is nowhere near as competitive around here as the 196, 220, or 240 weight classes, but considering it was my first competition in 14 years, I'm happy with the win.
My stats in the competition were as follows: 496 squat, 340 bench, 518 deadlift. Since then I have been able to get my lifts up a bit more as well. Current stats (tested at home) are Squat 515, Bench 365, Deadlift 525.
Now- I plan on updating this blog regularly. I am also currently working on a powerlifting training manual that will detail the programs I am creating for myself. I have already updated my Fitness Goals page. I have bulked up quite a bit, so now it's time to maintain/build strength while trimming off the fat. Stay tuned!
If you are wondering what I do for work now... I am an author. I posted back in 2013 about my debut novel, but now I have more than 15 novels out and more on the way. Most of those novels have spent months on Amazon's Top 100 fantasy lists in the U.S. and U.K. Check out my Amazon Author Page, or follow me on Twitter @Author_SamFerg.
Also... since people always want videos or pictures for proof... here are a couple from the meet in September.
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