Granny on maximalki: 71-year-old powerlifter playfully presses the bar

According to the stereotypes, people of retirement age should sit on a bench, knit and babysit their grandchildren. But 71-year-old Mary Duffy (Mary Duffy) broke the system and is seriously engaged in "iron sports". Grandmother-powerlifter participates in international competitions and wins championship places, proving that such a thing as age is very relative.

A resident of Trumbull, Connecticut, Mary Duffy first came to the gym at 59 years old to get rid of extra pounds. She soon became interested in weight lifting, and powerlifting became an integral part of her life. Now the woman spends 20 hours a week in a fitness club, and in her champion piggy bank more than 30 records of the USA and the world.

The grandmother-athlete can playfully lift a barbell, which many men younger than her by 20-30 years barely tear off from the platform. Her record in the deadlift is 112 kg, in the bench press 57 kg, and in the squat 79 kg. Some of Mary's friends warn her against abusing her workouts, claiming that six hours of training three times a week is too much for her age. But the woman just laughs and says that at 71 she feels much better than at 40.

In an interview with The Sun, Mary said that her life credo is "You can't turn back time, but you can rewind it." Looking at Miss Duffy's training, it is hard to argue with this statement – she will actually give odds to many thirty-year-olds.

Mary and her 76-year-old husband Denis Duffy have been living together for 40 years. When they met, Mary played sports, but then stopped training, devoting herself to work and household chores. In 2007, her mother died and the woman, overcome with longing, began to eat a lot. In two years, Daffy gained almost 50 kg of excess weight and once realized that she looked terrible.

She bought a subscription to a fitness club and in a few months became smaller by 4 sizes! When her personal trainer, Bobby Calabrese, suggested that she try out powerlifting, Mary agreed and soon became so involved that she literally counted the hours until her next workout.

In 2014, at the age of 64, Mary took part in triathlon competitions for the first time and, despite the modest result, she enjoyed participating very much. Since then, Duffy has competed twice a year in competitions held by the International Powerlifting Association.

Success came very soon and at the moment Mary has set more than 30 state and world records of the International Powerlifting Association in her age and weight category. Surprisingly, the athlete has time for her husband, children and grandchildren, with whom she spends a lot of time. The champion grandmother also runs Instagram and regularly shares her success with her followers, of which she already has more than 28 thousand.

No less amazing is the story of fitness grandmother Joan McDonald from Ontario, Canada, who first came to training at the age of 70, and at 73 already became a motivator for young people.