by Jerome Licini
Growing up as a skinny geek, I had knocked around with lifting ever since my dad bought me a weight set in high school, but I didn’t start lifting seriously until a near-catastrophic accident at age 59. When I did, I started out just lifting at home to try to get bigger and stronger. Eventually I tried a powerlifting gym. I really liked the gym owner and the vibes there, and the introductory personal training weeks showed me that despite a prior knee surgery, I could eventually do full-depth squats, but I’d have a long way to go. The other members were very nice and there would be in-gym competitions, but I am very motivated by PRs at home, and I didn’t think I would ever be able to really be competitive in the big three lifts. After deciding against that and as I became happier about my size, I did consider bodybuilding, but I would have had to start training muscle groups that I never did, and dieting was never easy for me, so it would be a monumental challenge to get on stage.
Eventually, I stumbled across the USAWA, probably through a podcast that mentioned all-round weightlifting. As I looked into it, I couldn’t imagine that I hadn’t run across it in four decades of on-and-off working out and reading muscle media. I immediately felt that it would be perfect for me. The fact that it kept records on more than 200 lifts felt very freeing, and when multiplied by the number of age and bodyweight classes, there were plenty of available national records just waiting to be grabbed.
I joined in January 2025 and started looking into the practicalities. I reached out to gym owners who then put me in contact with other members. EVERYONE was extremely friendly, supportive, and encouraging, despite my difficult travel and family constraints. I learned more about the USAWA and people’s lifting careers, and I became even more convinced to get involved. When I found out that the lifter who lived closest to me was an official, I realized that if I became an official too, we could judge each other’s lifts, so I did my written and video tests before ever lifting in person.
Finally the stars aligned, and I was able to get to Denny’s gym on a Record Day in May. The support and camaraderie from the other lifters there was amazing. With their lifting tips and encouragement, it was easy to beat my home PRs, and it served as my third practice judging so I became a certified official. I started participating remotely in meets, officiated occasionally when possible. At each step along the way, I have found this to be an organization filled with extremely supportive members and club owners through every email, phone call, and in-person visit!
I’m a huge believer that the USAWA is a great federation, especially for older lifters who are motivated by PRs. The concept of relative newbies being able to earn national records is extremely empowering. I’ve started talking with a neighbor who works out to see if he might be interested, and I plan to go back to the powerlifting gym to see if it might click with any of the members there.
I find that I am more motivated to keep working out consistently because I always have an upcoming meet to look forward to. I love the variety of the scheduled lifts because it gets me to work on more than my favorites, for example, I’ve restarted my rotator cuff rehab exercises to improve my overhead lifts. Finally, my doctor is happy that I am losing weight to improve my A1c, but my real motivation is that I want to improve my Lynch factor for meet standings. Overall, I am very happy to have finally found a community after lifting by myself for almost five decades.
