How I Became One of the Strongest Grandmas in America
In January of 2021, at the age of 65, I competed in my first powerlifting meet. My two events were bench press and dead lift. I knew going in, I was the oldest competitor. It was exciting and there was a lot to learn. There was too much swirling around in my head, too much to remember. I did not do as well as I had thought I would in the bench press. It was fine. “This is my practice meet,” I thought. Time to get ready for the dead lift, one of my favorite things to do.
How did I get to this place? It started at the age of 50. My work as a swim coach included getting certified as a lifeguard every 3 years. The skills needed to pass had changed. Participants for the class had to swim 20 yards, dive down 10 feet to get a 10 lb weight, come up, put weight on chest and swim on your back to where you started and get out of the pool with the weight in 1 minute, 40 seconds. I timed myself, 2 minutes, 20 seconds. Lordy, I was going to have to work on swimming faster and building an aerobic base. Swim workouts started with a 400 yard swim the first time. It took 15 minutes and it was all I could do. My goal was to add 100 yards a week and swim 2–3 times a week. Within a month and a half, I realized I needed to do more to get back to being a healthy and hopefully athletic person again.
I was weak, sluggish, and had poor eating habits. My son was going to deploy to Iraq and I knew I had to get into shape or I would not be able to sleep. I hired a personal trainer and found out how much more I needed to do to become healthier. It was a slow progression. I started with seeing my trainer once a week and swimming twice a week. It took over a year, but I worked up to working out in the gym 2 days a week and swimming for 30–60 minutes 2–3 times a week. I kept working; rehabbing from a torn plantar fascia, dealing with piriformis syndrome and taking 9 months doing a specific set of exercises to get my gluts to activate. Imagine that, your body is so good at compensating that even with the largest muscle in your body refusing to participate, it will function. It won’t always function well though. Why was I doing all these frustrating and sometimes tedious things? Because I liked how I felt when I got in shape, I was happier, I slept better, life was easier. Plus, I had gotten the competition bug, I rediscovered track and started competing in the Senior Olympics and State Senior Games where I focused on the 50 and 100 meter sprints.
It was glorious. Going fast is addictive. I loved how in the present moment I would be and I loved the intensity. I thought I had found a whole new athletic future for myself.
One day during preseason training, I sprained my knee. It took all summer for it to heal. Next spring, it happened again. Diagnosis- arthritis and bone spurs in both knees. No more sprinting.
During the off season, my new coach had been having me lift heavier. It was my idea. I wanted something intense when not sprinting. I remember him telling me, “You know most people your age are not doing this.” I was 57. I thought I would like it and my age was not important. I was right.
So, I switched to weight lifting as my competitive sport. Turns out I really like it and I am good at it. I competed at the St Louis Senior Olympics in bench press, bent bar bicep curl, and leg press for two years. I wanted to compete more than once a year. Powerlifting meets were the way to go.
Finally, I took the plunge and signed up for a local meet. In December, I was introduced to straight bar dead lifts. I had been doing trap bar dead lifts prior to that. It was an adjustment. Technique was paramount. Focus was extremely important. “Grasp, roll to shins, look up and pull your shoulder blades down” became my mantra. About a month before the meet, it started going well.
Here I am at the meet and I am far too excited. I knew I could do well at the deadlift, but I felt frantic. My coach told me to sit down, close my eyes, and calm down. It worked. My confidence was there and I knew innately, I could lift well today. I felt good. The second lift felt great, better than the first. It was 228 lbs. I had never lifted more than 225 in practice. I had three numbers in mind for my third lift. “Go for it.” So I told them the highest number. I do not know why, but I knew I would do it. My turn, “grasp, roll, look up and pull your shoulder blades down.” Lift. It was heavy, but not difficult. 253 lbs, a personal record.
Sometimes I look at my numbers and I am proud of all the work I have done in the last 14 years to be able to do this. Other times I look at my numbers and I am astonished. I cannot quite believe that I can do that. It’s wow, just wow.
Next step, going for the state record and then the national record. No one could have told me before this year that I would be powerlifting and doing well. I would not have believed them. Time to go for the unbelievable and astonishing.
Many thanks to my coach, David Rogers, and my family for your support.
