Bruce “Bup” Barry is far from the biggest man walking these parts.

But, come Saturday, the 67-year-old powerlifting phenom will look to make more history when he competes in the Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate Raw Dawg National Meet in Lancaster.

At that time, the Lehighton native will aspire to achieve a World Record squat of 672 pounds, which would be the highest ever in any weight class in the country, as well as a World Record squat of 707 pounds, which would be the highest squat in any weight class in the world for the 65-and-over age group.

“That’s my goal for this meet,” Barry said. “I want to beat the highest amount of weight lifted in an event.”

For Barry – who stands 5-feet, 8-inches and competes in the 220-pound weight class – the distinction would rank right atop his herculean mantel of accolades.

“It would mean a lot to me,” he said. “It would be a validation of all the hard work over these years.”

Athletic background

Barry was a standout athlete in his years at Lehighton High School.

A 1970 graduate, Barry lettered in four sports, including two years in football, during which time he rewrote several Lehigh Valley League records as a senior when he was Lehighton’s Scholar-Athlete and an Honorable Mention All State player. As a senior, he attained All Lehigh Valley League running back honors, leading the league in scoring and rushing.

He also lettered two years on the Indians’ wrestling team, where he was the 154-pound LVL champion as a senior, and then became the first Lehighton player to letter for four years in baseball, where he played in every game and started in all but one game in four years.

Barry then moved on to the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he was one of two players to walk on and make the freshman team, and as a sophomore, was the JV team kicker. He went on to play rugby for his junior and senior years there, being a kicker on the Falcons’ team. As a junior, he and his teammates won the Rocky Mountain Rugby football league championship and the Aspen Ruggerfest.

Soon thereafter, Barry was about to begin his foray into the world of powerlifting.

Getting started

Unlike most powerlifters, Barry’s route to the arena was unconventional.

Barry said childhood friend Jake Boyer introduced him to his gym in 1977.

“My brothers were going there,” he said. “I worked on basic lifts, the squat, bench press, dead lift, worked out for a few months; that was my introduction to it.”

But, it wasn’t until 2013 that Barry decided to get serious about powerlifting.

“I decided I wanted to get in shape, gain some strength, started a weightlifting program, did the squat, bench press, dead lift,” he said. “While doing that, someone said I should compete three months after I started lifting.”

From there, Barry joined the gym — at age 60 — and less than a year later began a powerlifting program.

Success wasn’t far behind as Barry would go on to become a member of the USA Powerlifting World Team, which competes in the International Powerlifting Federation.

Champion

Barry currently holds the World Record Equipped Squat of 635 pounds set on March 17 in the 220-pound weight class while competing in an International Powerlifting Association meet at 66 years old. Most lifters consider the squat the ultimate judge of strength, making Barry the strongest person in the world in the 220-pound weight class over the age of 65.

Barry didn’t get serious about fitness as an adult until just before turning 60 years old. A year later, he started Powerlifting training and started competing after only three months.

In his first meet, he set International Powerlifting Association World Records in squat and dead lift for the 198-pound class and age 60-64.

During the next three years, Barry set World, National and State Records for several powerlifting organizations including the IPA, Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate, US Powerlifting Association, Southern Powerlifting Federation and World Natural Powerlifting Federation in the 198-pound and 220-pound classes in the squat, deadlift and total.

Barry said he has always competed in drug-tested events, and been tested several times, having never failed a test.

During this time, he set the Masters All-Time Raw World Squat Records age-60-plus of 523.6 pounds in the 198-pound class and 545 pounds in the 220-pound class.

In 2016, Barry was selected for the USA Powerlifting Raw World Team in the 105 kg/231.5-pound class after setting and resetting the Squat National Record for age 60-69.

He competed in Killeen, Texas, at the Raw (Classic) World Championship at 105 kg where he reset the US National Squat Record, won the Gold medal in squats and tied for the World Championship. Barry had to settle for the Silver medal because the French lifter he tied had a lower body weight.

Barry won the US National Equipped Championship, and was selected to the Masters World Equipped Team, and in August won the North American Championship in St Croix, US Virgin Islands.

In November, he represented the US in the International Powerlifting Federation Masters World Powerlifting Championship in Tallinn, Estonia in the Masters 3 (60-69) in the 105 kg weight class and won the World Championship, winning Gold medals in squat, bench press, deadlift and total.

In December, he competed in the USA Powerlifting Open Meet in Orlando, Florida, and again reset the National Raw Squat Record with a lift of 231 kg/509.3 pounds, which exceeded the IPF World Record by 1 kg, but this didn’t count as a World Record because it wasn’t in an International meet.

After a 15-month recovery from several broken fingers, Barry competed in an IPA in June 2018, and set six IPA World Records in the 220-pound class (65-69 age) in the Raw and Equipped squats, deadlifts and totals, achieving two impressive lifts of equipped 625-pound squat and 500-pound dead lift.

His legacy

Barry, of Macungie, was inducted into the Carbon County Hall of Fame in 2017.

Retired from the Air Force as a Major, he is also an Air Force Academy Graduate, and is a Retired Airline Pilot, retiring as a Boeing 777 Captain.

Barry is married to his wife, Diane, and together, the couple has four daughters, Katie, Brittany, Lauren, and Ashley.

Currently, he is a medevac pilot flying a leer jet.

As he reflects on his achievements, Barry said he’s most proud of the fact that he’s always done things the right way.

“I’ve always done it completely drug free,” he said. “I’m extremely proud that I’ve done all of this without any performance enhancing drugs.”

Barry’s performances have put him in a class by itself.

“When I go to a meet, I go to beat myself, because most of the meets I compete in, I don’t have anybody to compete in at that meet,” he said. “I compete against world records, some of which I own.”

As the years go on, Barry said he only continues to get stronger.

“I think it’s because I’ve only been lifting for six years, and my body is still adjusting to the lifting process,” he said. “It’s a credit to my genetics; at a high level, genetics is critical.”

Barry explained that he decided to powerlift because he wanted to get in shape and get strong.

“I left myself go,” he said. “I finally decided for the sake of my kids and myself and my wife, I want to get in shape; this is one of the ways I can do it.”

Barry said he’s also found that he’s less susceptible to getting injured.

“Powerlifting has increased my bone density, stability and balance,” he said. “I’m able to do everyday things without hurting myself.”

Barry offered words of wisdom for those who, like himself, may get a late start in the sport of powerlifting.

“No matter how old you are, it’s never too late to start working out; start out slow and progress,” he said. “I don’t know if I can go much higher, but I’m going for it.”