LAKELAND, Fla. — Inside Lakeland's All American Gym on a Friday morning, 74-year-old Nancy Georges is powering through her third workout of the week. Deadlifts, bench presses, rows and pulls. Just another training session for a woman redefining strength at any age.
“My motivation is to age gracefully. I don’t want fall down and end up in a nursing home,” Georges said.
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Standing just 5’1” and weighing 99 lbs., Georges just set a world record by deadlifting 210.5 lbs. at the World Association of Benchers and Dead Lifters World Championships.
“It was more than double my body weight, so that was enough to get me a world record in my age and weight group,” Georges said.
The retired Polk County elementary school teacher got serious about weightlifting 16 years ago after being introduced to the sport through group fitness classes. What started as a way to stay active quickly turned into competitive powerlifting.
“It’s a very supportive community. Every time you go to a meet you make new friends and people are cheering for you. Complete strangers they watch you struggle on the platform, and they cheer for you.” Georges said. “I can do my little 200-pound lift and I come off the platform and the guy who just lifted 600 lbs. gives me the high-fives and tells me ‘Good lift little lady.’”
Georges has earned multiple gold medals in senior competitions and was recently inducted into the APA Powerlifting Hall of Fame. Her trainer, Ken Snell said her dedication is inspiring.
“There’s a lot of people here that will come up and ask me about Nancy, and they keep track of her kind of in a secret way, so to speak,” Snell said.
When she’s not lifting weights, the grandmother of four enjoys sewing, quilting, baking and golfing, all while continuing to raise the bar on what’s possible at any age.
“I think it’s important to keep weight training. It’s good for you and you’re never too old, strength is empowering,” Georges said.
Three other women from All American Gym, Paige Gore, 23, Carly Grennor, 35, and Jennifer Lopez, 44, also set state and national records in November at the World Association of Benchers and Dead Lifters World Championships.
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