84-Year-Old Powerlifter Carrie Reese Crushes a 195-Pound Deadlift

Carrie Reese knows more than a little about how to work with the barbell. The 84-year-old competitive powerlifter made some waves on social media recently when her gym, Old Skool Iron, posted a video of her casually hitting an 88-kilogram (195 pound) conventional deadlift during a 5 a.m. workout.


However, this isn’t Reese’s first significant achievement in strength — not by a long shot. She’s been lifting weights longer than most and has logged almost a decade of performances on local platforms and the World stage alike. Before we dive into her tenured career in powerlifting, let’s take a look at the lift itself.




[/quote]

Reese’s Career
Reese clearly doesn’t seem restrained by her age. She has been competing in powerlifting for over a decade after starting at age 74, with several performances at 198.4 pounds (89.9 kilograms) bodyweight before slowly cutting down to her current category of 132 pounds (59.8 kilograms). While this specific deadlift is not in the realm of her all-time best performance (Reese has a raw deadlift personal best of 217 pounds), to comfortably crush a 90% single in the wee hours of the morning speaks to her grit as an athlete.


[Related: The Ultimate Guide to Strength Sports for Masters Athletes]


Her most recent competitive appearance was at the USPA Surf City Open on July 10th, 2021, in the Master’s 80+ division. Reese hit 82.6 pounds (37.1 kilograms) on the bench press and 203.9 pounds (92.4 kilograms) in the deadlift while competing at a bodyweight of 125.4 pounds (58.8 kilograms).


Carrie Reese Best Lifts

• Bench Press (Raw) — 91.5 pounds (41.5 kilograms)
• Bench Press (Single-Ply) — 95.9 pounds (43.4 kilograms)
• Deadlift (Raw) — 217.1 pounds (98.4 kilograms)
• Deadlift (Single-Ply) — 248 pounds (112.4 kilograms)

These lifts are astonishingly strong on their own merit for any female athlete weighing a buck thirty, but they’re doubly impressive to have been performed by a woman who began her athletic career after her 70th birthday. Reese currently maintains the World Record in her weight and age division in both the bench press and deadlift while competing within the World Association of Benchers and Deadlifters (WABDL).


No End in Sight
The “Powerlifting Grandma” seems to show no signs of slowing down her devotion to the iron, and with many world-class results under her weight belt, she has no reason to. Since 2013, she has competed in powerlifting at multiple events every year, with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


In a local interview with the Richmond Pulse, Reese made her intentions very clear regarding her status as one of the strongest elderly women on Earth by saying, “I intend to continue competing until I just drop dead. There’s no stop limit for me.”


A lot of athletes bark and bluster, but Reese can back it up. We look forward to seeing her smash even more double-bodyweight lifts in the coming years.


Featured Image: @oldskooliron on Instagram




Click here to view the article.