Shirley Webb, 78, can deadlift 225 pounds!  And she achieved this in just six months! 

Shirley was featured on the news recently. Two years ago the main form of physical activity came from one chore. That being mowing the lawn and nothing else! Very typical of non-exercising adults, if she was on the floor she couldn’t get up without the aid of a chair. She couldn’t climb the stairs unless she held onto the railing. This is very typical of elders who aren’t retaining muscle mass.  We can’t age well without maintaining muscle.

It was two years ago that she joined a fitness club in Wood River, Illinois with her granddaughter. Shirley became famous for a video showing her deadlifting 225 pounds at the club. Since joining this club she can assist herself freely without aids of a chair or other help.

Shirley has set the Illinois record for deadlifting at 237 pounds and the Missouri mark for 215 pounds, both in age and weight groups. In June she is hoping to set an American record for deadlifting, which should be easy, because there is no national record in her age group. Shirley says, “I have no intention of stopping right now. When I go to the gym and work out, when I leave, I feel so much better than I did when I went in, and I just feel so good. I feel tremendous.”

Congratulations to Shirley.  And all the other senior athletes and weight trainers.  I am sure there are many others in addition to those I wrote about in January’s newsletters.