A good number of grandmothers need a helping hand to carry their shopping bags or climb a flight of stairs – but not Willie Murphy.
And she’s an 82-year-old grandmother.
At just 105 pounds, Murphy doesn’t exactly sound like she can lift much of anything, but don’t let her weight fool you. She could probably put most of us to shame in the gym, cranking out one-handed push-ups and pull-ups with ease, according to USA Today.
(yes, that’s 81-year-old Murphy doing a ONE-handed push up)
It all started with a weight-lifting competition at her local YMCA in Rochester, New York, a few years ago. After an employee told her she could compete — “Go for it, granny” — Murphy began lifting 5-pound weights. Now she’s taking home trophies.
She holds the national records in the bench for reps, the strict curl, and Ironmaiden categories. Murphy was named the WNPF Lifter of the Year in 2014. And she now holds New York state records and national records across multiple WNPF age brackets.
She recently took first place in her division in the deadlift, power curl, bench press, and bench press repetition competitions at the WNPF World Championships.
There aren’t any women close to Murphy’s age for her to train with. In fact, Murphy got into the sport by picking up tips and techniques while watching men lift at the YMCA. She has never worked with a trainer.
“I was surprised that people were thinking that it was strange of me to be in the gym with mostly men at that particular time,” Murphy said.
“But I kept getting stronger and stronger and I don’t wear any belts, I don’t use chalk and I don’t use the ammonia like other people when they compete in a competition. It just happened. I guess I’m just one of those things that nature has taken good care of me.”
Back at her local gym, other people who exercise have started asking to feel her biceps. One woman even called Murphy…
… her idol. “They see I’m old and I’m not being pushed around in a wheelchair,” she told USA Today.
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“I wanted to become better, to have a little edge in life, so I started the weight training,” admitted Murphy. “Little by little I became stronger and stronger.”
But that doesn’t have to happen just because you hit 60: “When you start strength training in your 60s, 70s, 80s, even 90s, you will add about one pound of muscle per month,” Westcott says. Since muscle is your calorie-burning engine, those gains translate to fat loss — no dieting required.
The truth is, you can build muscle well into your golden years — a time when people are normally losing 10 to 15 percent of their muscle mass per decade.
She added: “They see I’m old and I’m not being pushed around in a wheelchair. I can shovel my own snow.
“And I can push my car if it gets stuck in the snow… I’m almost 80 years old and I am still living life.
“I guess it’ll be very strange to a lot of people. But I do what I do, and I’m loving life.”
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