They say Father Time is undefeated, but 62-year-old David Ricks is putting up one heck of a fight. The Masters powerlifter is fresh off a win at the 2022 IPF World Classic Championships, where he set three IPF world records in the squat, bench, and total.
And on July 1, 2022, Ricks showed that he’s full of more than one-rep maxes by taking 238 kilograms (525 pounds) for a ride eight — yes, eight — times in the back squat.
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Ricks was in Orlando, FL, on a business trip and was training at a local LA Fitness gym. The lifter wore wrist wraps and his personalized lifting belt during this set. (Rick’s legs weren’t visible in the video, so it’s not clear if he wore knee sleeves.)
“I decided to push myself and hit a PR of eight reps at 525 pounds,” Ricks wrote in the caption of his Instagram post. “Not too bad for a guy who will be 63 in four weeks [as of June 1, 2022]. I left some unfinished business in Sun City, South Africa, a few weeks ago. I am working towards the Masters Classic Worlds in Canada in October.”
The meet that Ricks referred to competing in next is the IPF World Classic & Equipped Masters Powerlifting Championships, which will be held on Oct. 8-15, 2022, in St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada.
He will look to add to his new IPF World Record squat in the Masters 3 category at 93 kilograms, which currently stands at 305 kilograms (672.4 pounds). The other records he set in Sun City, South Africa, were in the bench press, which as of this writing stands at 202.5 kilograms (446.4 pounds) and the total at 772.5 kilograms (1,703.1 pounds). Though Ricks owns the IPF World Record deadlift of 287.5 kilograms (634 pounds), he pulled 265 kilograms (584.2 pounds) at the most recent Worlds.
Ricks doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon, either.
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According to Open Powerlifting, he has competed in 92 meets since 1981. So, he is closing in on 100 sanctioned meets for his career. Not counting 2020 because of the pandemic, he has competed in at least two meets a year, going back to 2003. If Ricks steps on the platform in October and competes in two meets a year, he’s on pace to reach the century mark in 2026.
It’s also worth noting that when he competed in that first meet 41 years ago, Ricks’ only squat at the Pennsylvania State Collegiate Championships was 240 kilograms (529.1 pounds), only two kilograms more than what he performed for eight reps in the featured training video.
Featured Image: @ricks.david on Instagram
