Deadlifting 215 pounds would be pretty impressive for most of us -- not to mention beyond the means of many of us -- but it's a piece of cake for a 77-year-old active grandmother from Rochester, N.Y.
And Ms. Willie Murphy has the trophies to prove it.
Murphy, who began by lifting 5-pound weights a few years back, recently deadlifted those 215 pounds at the World Natural Powerlifting Federation Championships in Atlanta earlier this month.
After seeing a sign for a weight-lifting competition at a local YMCA, she thought lifting weights might be good for her
Asking an employee of the Y if she could take part, she was told, "Go for it, granny."
That's all she needed to hear.
Now, in addition to deadlifting more than twice her 105-pound weight, Murphy can impress with one-handed pullups and pushups of the one-handed and fingertip variety.
An it's just her natural strength, she says.
"None of those steroids for me," she emphasizes.
In addition to her deadlift prowess that allowed her to win her division at the WNPF event, she bagged first-place trophies in bench press and power curl.
And if that weren't enough, she was proclaimed World Natural Powerlifting Federation 2014 Lifter of the Year.
What's her health regimen?
She eats whatever she wants to, she says, like a good healthy pizza from Pizza Hut accompanied by a little rum and cranberry juice.
Three day a week she's at her local Y to hoist those weights and get in a little powerwalking.
She's become something of a celebrity there and an inspiration to people young and old, many of whom will tell her she's their idol.
"They see I'm old and I'm not being pushed around in a wheelchair," she says. "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."
