Video of an 80-year-old woman deadlifting 310 pounds has gone viral. But this is nothing new for Nora Langdon. She is, after all, a powerlifting world champion.
Who Is Nora Langdon?
Langdon, a grandmother from Detroit, started powerlifting at the age of 65. She was experiencing changes in her physical health and wanted to feel better.
“I was in bad shape,” she told CBS News in 2022. “I weighed too much and I couldn’t go downstairs without getting tired.”
How Did Nora Langdon Get Started?
Langdon started training at Royal Oak Gym with a trainer who is the husband of one of her friends. At first she said it was intimidating and she was hesitant. But she got hooked and wanted to master the squat, deadlift and bench press.
She trained for two years before her first competition. Her trainer, Art Little, remembered how it all began.
“She watched us getting ready for a powerlifting meet and asked a question I’ll never forget it; ‘Do you have any old broads doing that?’ And I said, ‘yeah.’ She came and watched us at the meet and said she wanted to do it,” Little told Fox 2 Detroit.
Since she started competing Langdon has a combined 20 national and world records in powerlifting, with personal bests of 413 pounds in the squat, 381 pounds in the deadlift and 203 pounds for the bench press.
Langdon Is An Inspiration
This woman is 80 years old and if you needed help moving big furniture you’d call her before ant of your friends. Incredible.
“Powerlifting makes me feel younger and stronger,” said Langdon in an appearance on “The Rachel Ray Show.” “If someone wanted to get into powerlifting I would tell them, ‘Start walking, move your body and come to the gym. If I can do it, you can do it.'”
Langdon’s story is a testament that you’re never too old to try something new and succeed. It’s a matter of will, perseverance, and to not be concerned about what others think.
“I’ve beat everyone from 60 years old up to my age. I have no competition. It keeps me motivated and that’s why I go. I’m strong now. I take no medication. I’m in good health. And that’s where I want to stay,” Langdon told “Good Morning America in 2021.”
“A lot of older people just stay home, sit down and watch television after retiring. But you were born to continue until the Lord takes you away. Your body was made to exercise and you have to keep it moving in order to stay healthy.”
It doesn’t look like Langdon is slowing down anytime soon. Physical activity has proven to prolong life expectancy, and Langdon seems like the kind of woman that will continue to do this as long as she is able.
“Get up off that couch, go walking, walk a mile starting, then you can end up with five miles. You just have to be consistent and keep doing it and don’t let your mind or people tell you you can’t,” Langdon said.
Listen to your elders, they often have a lot of wisdom.