An Atypical Athlete
I have never considered myself athletic. I never participated in sports in high school or college. My favorite pastime today is gardening. So imagine how strange it felt to find myself, at the age of 56, competing in my first ever national Powerlifting meet.
Powerlifting – huge muscle-bound men hefting impossibly heavy weights in smelly, dark gyms – that’s what comes to mind to most. It’s actually a real sport (totally different from bodybuilding and Olympic lifting, by the way), this meet sanctioned by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and the 100% RAW Powerlifting Federation. Powerlifting is a strength event consisting of three events: the squat, the bench press, and the deadlift. You compete against others in your own weight and age class – but mostly you compete against yourself.
