ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. – Michael Boddicker, an Army Contracting Command-Rock Island IT specialist and Iowa National Guardsman, took home three medals and one trophy from First Army’s Rock Nation 500lb/1000lb Club Lifting Competition held at the RIA Fitness Center on February 2, 2024.

Boddicker was recognized for best squat (635 pounds), best bench (475 pounds), best deadlift (635 pounds), and best total (1745 pounds). He said he participated in the event because he has a regional championship in Des Moines the first weekend of March and was using the local competition as a steppingstone to gauge where he is at in his program.

Fitness has always been a part of his life, having participated in wrestling and football in high school, coaching wrestling after high school, and joining the Army at age 17, which has its own physical fitness requirements.

“I didn’t start over with weightlifting until 2008, when I first deployed,” said Boddicker. “I was so out of shape, I would go up a flight of stairs at home and would start sweating, and then I was 280 pounds and found myself in the desert, so I started up again.”

After he returned from the deployment in 2009, he learned his sister, already a big swimmer, decided she wanted to swim the English Channel and she wasn’t sure what training she would need. Boddicker stepped up and trained her for two years, and she successfully crossed the channel in 15 hours 39 minutes in 2011, the first Iowa female to do it.

Boddicker also participated in some Strongman competitions, but worried as the risk of getting injured doing Strongman is really high.
“I did a few of those and every time I would get hurt, so I decided to do something else,” said Boddicker.

Enter, powerlifting.

Boddicker’s weekly training regimen has him focusing on his three main lifts – squat, deadlift and bench – one day per week.

“Sunday is deadlifting day and then I don’t deadlift again until the next Sunday, because you want to give your body the whole 7-day recovery cycle,” said Boddicker. “Wednesday is squat day where you hit your squat numbers, weights, and reps that you need. Friday is bench day.”

The other days are dedicated as accessory days, which address the minor muscle groups that help improve his main lifting movements. All this wear-and-tear on his body is fueled by plenty of nutrition.

“I put down, on average, each day of the training cycle, about 4 pounds of chicken and 4 pounds of rice as a base,” said Boddicker. “I’m eating every three hours. You think you’re eating a lot, but I actually lost 30 pounds once in a 12-week training cycle.”

Since beginning competitive lifting in November 2022, he competes every four months or so in the sub-masters, in the 35-39 age group and 308 weight class.

“It’s been quite a bit, I think five sanctioned competitions,” said Boddicker. “I ended last year in the top 25 globally. I’m really looking forward to this one in March, because it’s a regional competition and depending on if I do good enough there, I could be heading to nationals in October in St. Louis. That would really show me that in less than two years, I’ve gone from just some guy in the gym to a national competitor.”

He hasn’t gone on this journey alone, however.

“My two coaches – one is 86 and the other is 65 – are both world class lifters and they live here,” said Boddicker. “The 86-year-old has world record bench presses, and he did a 275-bench press at 78 years old. The deadlifting coach, he pulled a world record 600-some pounds at age 62, eight weeks after he had his knee replaced. There’s 120 some years of experience in those two guys alone that people see walking around the gym that they might not talk to, but it doesn’t hurt to ask people for help.”

Boddicker is also part of an informal group of powerlifters who gather at local commercial and specialized powerlifting gyms, sharing knowledge and technique. He said the equipment at commercial gyms versus powerlifting gyms is totally different.

“If you really want to hone your ability, hit up one of the powerlifting gyms, and talk to people,” said Boddicker. “There is a wealth of knowledge, which we are more than willing to share.”

He said most of the people in this group are in high school, including one who has all the makings of a prodigy, and the potential to be a national-level competitor in high school.

“Most of them that we have in our group have rough home lives and they would rather just be with us in the gym instead of at home or running around with their buddies causing trouble,” said Boddicker. We support them and even buy them equipment, if needed.”

This isn’t the first tight knit, but not closed, community Boddicker is a part of. Having served in the Iowa National Guard for more than 20 years, he knows how to be part of a team making a difference.

“I am an ammunition logistics specialist in the guard, and as part of that I have some projects I do in Kosovo and Albania, which takes me there about 2-3 times a year,” said Boddicker. “I help NATO and non-NATO members become compliant with international standards when it comes to storing ammo and ordnance.”

Additionally, he displays teamwork in his civilian IT specialist role at ACC-RI, he supports the whole center by managing the Army Training and Certification Tracking System profile information, as well as providing unique IT support to the high-visibility Contract Administration Training Center mission.