Richard Douglas Young
August 21, 1944 – October 7, 2005
Richard Douglas “Doug” Young was born, raised, and lived in Texas. He played football in high school and took up powerlifting in his late 20s. During his football years and after training ended, he got out of shape and gained quite a bit of weight. At work, his colleagues teased him about it. Weighing over 110 kg (242 lbs), he decided it was time to make a change.
Doug lost a lot of weight in a short period of time. One day, while weighing himself at a gym, he noticed a bench press nearby. Remembering his strength training days from high school football, he decided to see how much he could still lift. From that moment he was hooked, bitten by the iron bug.
It didn’t take long for Doug to regain the weight he had lost, but this time it came back as muscle mass. His strength skyrocketed, especially in the bench press, and within less than a year he had reached a world-class level.
He went on to win three national titles and several world titles in the -110 kg / 242 lbs category. This was considered the heavyweight class until 1979, when the -125 kg class was officially introduced. After that, he began competing in the -125 kg / 275 lbs class.
Doug broke two world records in the bench press. The first came in 1978 in the super heavyweight +110 kg / +242 lbs class, where, weighing only around 120 kg / 264 lbs, he benched 277.5 kg / 611.8 lbs. Breaking Don Reinhoudt record at 275,5 kg. Later, when the -125 kg / 275 lbs class was introduced, he set another record with a bench press of 267.5 kg / 589.7 lbs.
Doug Young’s Training Style
Like many lifters in the 1970s, Doug followed more of a powerbuilding style of training. His workouts included the bench press, squat, and deadlift, but also many other muscle-building exercises. However, he didn’t use the traditional approach of 3 sets of 10 or 12 reps. Doug preferred to train heavier with fewer repetitions, even in his bodybuilding or accessory work.
He often used routines built around 6 sets of 6 reps for exercises such as triceps presses, lat pulldowns, cable flyes, and dumbbell curls. For a man of his size and strength, the weights he used in those exercises, even with only 6 reps, were extremely heavy.
Doug, like many powerlifters from the 1960s to the 1990s, was influenced in some ways by Terry Todd.
Doug’s Best Official Lifts
- Class -110 kg / 242 lbs
- Squat: 327.5 kg / 722 lbs
- Bench: 255 kg / 562 lbs
- Deadlift: 335 kg / 739 lbs
- Total: 915 kg / 2,018 lbs
- Class -125 kg / 275 lbs
- Squat: 327.5 kg / 722 lbs
- Bench: 267.5 kg / 589,7 lbs
- Deadlift: 340 kg / 750 lbs
- Total: 932.5 kg / 2,056 lbs
Class: +110 kg / +242 lbs
- Bench press: 277,5 kg / 611 lbs (weighed around 120 kg / 264 lbs)
Supportive Gear
Doug used supportive gear for his squat and deadlift, but this was during the very early days of powerlifting equipment. At the World Championships in Perth, Australia, in 1977, you could see Doug wearing the same “singlet”/suit for the squat, bench press, and deadlift—something you would never do if a squat suit were truly tight and supportive.
You can read more about supportive powerlifting gear here.
For training program and instruction videos, get the Built Strong App
