JOHN POLAK

POWERLIFTER

polakmade@aol.com

450 pound raw (no assisting clothing or gear) squat, 100% RAW Worlds

John is an elite masters drug free (natural) raw powerlifter that has competing in assisted (supportive equipment) and raw (no wraps, supportive suits of any kind, just a wrestling singlet, lifting shoes and a weight belt) for over 15 years.  John has held national and world records in raw powerlifting in the AAU, 100% RAW Powerlifting, and the ADAU.  

Lifts (all done in the 165 pound weight class)

460 pound squat

350 pound bench press

535 pound deadlift

1345 pound total (squat, bench, deadlift)

Titles

Best Masters lifter 100% RAW Worlds 2001, 2002

AAU Worlds winner 2006

Numerous wins in ADAU, 100% RAW, and AAU powerlifting federations

I am no longer in competition.  I feel there is a point that older clean (no performance enhancing drugs) lifters (over 45 to 50 years old or so) should stop engaging in maximum effort single repetition lifts to avoid potential crippling injury (gets too hard to recover as one gets older).  However I still train around the powerlifting lifts (squat, bench, deadlift) and variations.  For the powerlifting lifts, I generally do sets of no lower than 5 repetitions, with an occasional 2 or 3 rep set, and stop lifting about one rep short of failure.  I also use smaller weight increases (10 to 30 pounds).  This allows me to monitor my body and give more time to catch potential injury.  I recommend this to assure you will be weight training and being healthy well into the senior years.

I do not do well in franchise gyms.  I make too much noise, too intense, too much weight.  Thus I train here in my home gym:

Equipment are prototypes for my gym equipment line, POLAK MADE.  As you can see, the gym shared space with my fabrication shop.

Good lifting buddy, Kevin Prosser.  Kevin runs powerlifting meets in Maryland, also doing mixed martial arts.

I authored a book "Powerlifting to Look Good" copyright 2006.  On sale, E-mail if interested in purchasing. $25.00.

Details my training methods which consists of old school powerlifting with some bodybuilding.  Book also has nutrition and lifestyle advice.  Get strong and look good doing it!