Rarely can you see senior people going to the gym. But Barbara Garmon is an exception. The 73-year old world champion weight lifter has stated that she's in the best shape ever.
Indeed, Barbara Garmon is already close to celebrating her 75th birthday, yet instead of feeling tired like other 70-year olds, she feels great. In the exact words of the chatty Garmon, "But I'm in the best shape I've ever been in right now."
Garmon started training with Chad Landers, her personal trainer, in her 50s. From that time on, she has not stopped training.
Yahoo News reported that Garmon had an interview with People, and she mentioned, "I love being strong." To which she added, "I love feeling powerful." She said that she likes the idea of her being old, yet she gets to do things that many other women her age could not do, such as taking the steps instead of riding on an elevator on the way to higher floors of a building.
She became resolved at getting fit after facing a hair raising bout with a couple of health issues. Some of which included breast cancer and severe hand injuries.
It was her trainer, Chad Landers, who encouraged her to join competitive weight lifting. When the latter saw that nobody has ever competed in her age group, he "just threw it out there," according to a report by People.
Garmon was able to join the IPF World Bench Press Championships in Prague and took home the gold. She earned such distinction after lifting 72 lbs of weights.
The beaming Garmon said, "It's lots of fun." The world champion weight lifter described competing as, "It's very encouraging. I have 23 gold medals now including the World Championship."
The feat of this 73-year old world champion weight lifter is enough to encourage a lot of people that getting old is not a hindrance to becoming fit. It is not a reason either not to hit the gym.
