John Brown of Ordinary, still lifting weights competitively at the age of 53, beat a man 15 years his junior on March 9 to capture his sixth bench-press trophy from Fort Bragg, N.C. He lifted a personal-best 325 pound to nab the title in the open competition.

Brown, a retired soldier, has been a fixture in the Fort Bragg contests for years. He has previously won the Iron Mike competition, a mixture of athletic and strength events. When Iron Mike came to an end, he switched to the bench press.

At 53, he competes against lifters 35 and older and while he knows his dominance won’t last forever, he enjoys the training, the challenge, and friendly support from the crowd and other lifters that have put him over the top many times.

The 2013 competition started with nine lifters at 300 pounds. Each competitor gets three lifts, Brown said. In training, he had managed 320 pounds. At 315, just he and the second man were left. The 38-year-old competitor lifted 315 a...