Delroy Mcqueen
2002 Commonwealth Games 105kg weightlifting champion
2004 London Powerlifting Championships 110 kg powerlifting champion
2005 British 110kg powerlifting champion
2005 GPC 110kg powerlifting world runner-up
2006 South East England 125kg powerlifting champion
2006 British 125kg powerlifting champion
I started doing Olympic weightlifting in 1991, when I was 15 years old. A weightlifting coach named John Jackson came to our school and started teaching weightlifting in physical education class. I went to his weightlifting and powerlifting club. My weightlifting career began.
After the 2004 European Weightlifting Championships, I officially switched to powerlifting. I found that I didn't enjoy lifting weights anymore and I felt like powerlifting suited me better.
An important reason that influenced me to switch from weightlifting to powerlifting was that I trained at Mark Cullimore's club, where I met many excellent powerlifters.
Mark believes that I can become an excellent powerlifter. I also discovered a website called irongame (friendly, right?), which has a lot of powerlifting videos. I saw a video of Steve Goggins squatting 500kg and a video of Andy Bolton doing the heaviest deadlift in history of 423kg. It made me think about what I could accomplish if I switched to powerlifting. At this point, my good friend and competitor Nathan Scot invited me to join him in powerlifting training, and the transformation began.
My best weightlifting results are 165kg in the snatch and 210kg in the clean and jerk. The best results in powerlifting are squat 435kg, bench press 220kg and deadlift 375kg.
My most serious injury occurred in 1999. I was working on the snatch on Saturday morning, doing the third set with 140kg. The barbell fell from behind and injured my right elbow, tearing the medial ligament directly in half!
In February 2000, I had elbow surgery. Experts said I only had a 30 to 40 percent chance of ever being able to lift weights again. But I love weightlifting. The surgery was successful and the doctor said I needed to rest for 18 months. But I was competing nine months later and broke the British clean and jerk record 11 months later.
My current powerlifting training plan
Monday
Squat 6 sets × 2~6 times
Leg press 6 sets × 6~10 times
Leg flexion and extension 6 sets × 6~10 times
Leg curls 6 sets × 6~10 times
Heel raises 6 sets × 15~20 times
Thursday
Bench press 5 sets × 10~15 times
Posterior deltoid fly 5 sets × 10~15 times
Front raise 5 sets × 10~15 times
Triceps strength exercises
Saturday
Squat 6 sets × 2~6 times
Leg press 6 sets × 6~10 times
Deadlift 6 sets × 2~6 times
Bent over rowing 5 sets × 10~15 times
Grip strength exercises
Training suggestions: 1. Be careful not to overtrain. I used to practice many times a week and squat every day. Now I only practice 3 times a week. This has improved the quality of my training, allowing me to rest more fully and gain strength faster.
2. Use periodic cycles. You can't stay at the top for very long. After a while, you should actively lower the weight and start the next cycle. This avoids injuries and overtraining.
3. Protect joints. Using knee pads, wrist pads, elbow pads, weightlifting belts, and squat vests when lifting heavy weights will greatly reduce the risk of joint injuries.
4. Do it step by step and don’t increase the weight too quickly. Quality movements are more important than heavy weights. As long as the movements are standard and the training is scientific, lifting heavy weights will be a matter of time.