I am 31 years old and have
been weight training for the past 8 years, I originally got into
weight training because I was like many youngsters fascinated by
Arnold Schwarzenegger and all that he had achieved.
About 3 years ago I was
approached at my gym by a guy who was a competitive powerlifter and he
said that he had been watching me and that I was strong enough to have
a chance of doing well if I entered a powerlifting competition, so I
joined the "British Drug Free Powerlifting Association" an affiliate
of the "World Drug Free Powerlifting Federation". The reason I joined
this organization was because although most of my Idols were using drugs I felt that I only ever wanted to be natural and to
show people what can be achieved drug free and the BDFPA are avid drug
free and always drug test 10% of lifters at every meet as well as out
of competition tested (which I have been subjected to) and to date I
have been tested on about 10 occasions.
My 1st competition was March
1999, a regional event in the north west of England, I entered the
bench press category at 75KG (165 pounds) bodyweight and broke the
British record, this win qualified me for the British championships
which I also won and then onto the European & world bench press
championships, I also during that year broke the European Record with
a bench press of 172.5 KG (380 pounds) over twice my bodyweight.
The following year I retained
my titles & moved up to a heavier weight class (82.5KG / 181 pounds)
and also started competing in powerlifting (all three power
disciplines Squat, Benchpress & Deadlift combined total). In September
2000 I participated in my 1st power comp which I won and again
qualified for the British championships (unfortunately I came 2nd, my
first taste of defeat), 2nd was still good enough to qualify me for
the internationals and I put my disappointment behind me by winning
the European championships & setting a new world record total 602.5KG
(1325 pounds), I have since retained all of my titles and also broken
my own total record by totaling 610 KG (1342 pounds) as well as
setting a new bench press world record of 193.5 kg (426 pounds).
Not content with my
powerlifting exploits I also was part of a nine man team in February
this year that broke the "Guinness Book Of Records" 24 hour bench
press record, we beat the existing record of 10 million pounds,
achieving 11 million pounds with 4 hours to spare and are now
officially in the famous book of records.

Mike Joseph during lift at the
WDFPF Championships held in
Capiago, Como,
Northern Italy on November 23rd & 24th, 2002
Courtesy of LA Muscle

Mike later appeared on the podium after managing to
bench press 180 kg (in spite of a shoulder injury from
the 24 hr. bench press competition last Feb.) and
won his class as well as the overall best lifter title.
Congratulations!
Courtesy of LA Muscle
My ambition is to continue
competing and hopefully powerlifting will become an Olympic sport, as
I dream of an Olympic Gold Medal. I hope that what I have
achieved drug free will be a great example to others to stop them from
taking steroids etc. , my motto is "Drug Free the way to be".