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Bodybuilding champ at age 70

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Rebecca Woody. (Photo: MEDIADRUMWORLD/MAGAZINEFEATURES.CO.ZA)
Rebecca Woody. (Photo: MEDIADRUMWORLD/MAGAZINEFEATURES.CO.ZA)

A personal trainer, who was diagnosed with arthritis and advised by doctors to stop weightlifting, has defied the odds by becoming a bodybuilding champion.

Rebecca Woody (70), from Missouri, US, grew up with a fitness fanatic father who was a coach at a local community center.

“My father coached boxing, football, baseball and basketball to young men and girls’ volleyball and basketball. I wasn’t the best at these sports – I was a tiny girl so the taller and stronger ones stood out – but I always gave 100% because I didn’t want to embarrass my dad.”

Rebecca says her brother was a boxer who lived with her for a while in the early eighties. That’s when she decided to try out lifting his weights.

“I was in my early thirties and just had my third baby but the weight wasn’t coming off. My brother had moved out and took his weights with him, so I decided to join a gym.

“I asked the owner of the gym to help me understand the equipment. The bodybuilders at the gym assisted me with tightening my meal plans and they showed me the proper way to pose for bodybuilding,” she recalls.

But in 1982 Rebecca was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis – a long-term condition that causes pain, swelling and stiffness in the joints.

Rebecca Woody

Her doctor told her that her condition meant she’ll never be able to participate in any bodybuilding competitions and asked her to stop lifting weights.

Yet the American’s passion for the sport motivated her to keep weightlifting to prove her doctors wrong.

Between 1980 and 1990 Rebecca competed in three National Physique Committee (NPC) bodybuilding competitions and she’s won each one. In 2015, at the age of 66, she took first place in NPC Muscle Mayhem Master’s competition.

She also says her dedication for the sport and continuous weightlifting has helped improved her symptoms of arthritis.

“I’ve learned to balance the weights despite my arthritis, even though these days I can’t lift what I could in my thirties and forties. I have good days and bad days, but I believe if ‘you don’t use it – you lose it’,” says Rebecca who’s a personal trainer at a local gym.

In April this year she competed in a bodybuilding physique contest in the over 35s category. She was the oldest participant but came in first place for bodybuilding and second for physique.

MEDIADRUMWORLD/MAGAZINEFEATURES.CO.ZA

Rebecca says her bodybuilding and impressive physique has kept her fit and in shape which is a win for her marriage as her husband, Steve (56), is fourteen years younger than she is.

Although Rebecca maintains her workouts and healthy eating habits, she revealed she still occasionally digs into fast food.

“I’ve been doing this for so long, it’s become a habit to eat well and to go to the gym – it’s just like washing my face and brushing my teeth. Don’t get me wrong, I eat pizza and Mexican food sometimes and I enjoy a margarita and love good wine but it’s all in moderation.”

Rebecca says because of her age people see her as in inspiration. “They tell me ‘you’re the reason I go to the gym or do cardio or take Zumba classes’. It really makes me feel good.”

Source: Magazine Features

(Pictures: MEDIADRUMWORLD/MAGAZINEFEATURES.CO.ZA)

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