Powerlifting pensioner Melanie, 72, says pumping iron is the secret to staying young

A CHAMPION powerlifting pensioner says pumping iron is the secret to staying young. Melanie Lester, 72, won gold in the over-70s British powerlifting championships in June after squatting 100kg. Powerlifting pensioner Melanie Lester says pumping iron is the secret to staying young Former teacher Melanie, from Sudbury, pointed to the mental and physical benefits of taking up weightlifting She can deadlift 135kg — the weight of an upright piano — bench press 45kg, and teaches other OAPs how to do it through u3a, a national charity which encourages older people to stay physically and mentally active. Former teacher Melanie, from Sudbury, Suff, pointed to the mental and physical benefits of taking up weightlifting. Sign up for the Fabulous newsletter Thank you! She said: “I haven’t always lifted weights – I started about 10 years ago when my mother died. “It put me in a dark place and weight lifting helped me pull myself together. “After Covid I started doing competitions in power lifting and now I lift for Team GB.” She said: “Your bones get weaker as you age and power lifting staves off issues like osteoporosis. “I thought, ‘Why don’t I start doing classes?’ “Now I teach two classes of six per week. Most read in Living Melanie won gold in the over-70s British powerlifting championships in June after squatting 100kg Credit: U3A ‘If I can inspire one more person to start lifting weights, it will make my day’, says Lester “When I go to the gym there are people in their 20s and 30s and I just feel like one of them. “If I can inspire one more person to start lifting weights, it will make my day.” Comment now