THE POWERLIFTER
Ted Brown – 86
You were a bodybuilder when you were younger. Why turn to powerlifting? I was in the army and worked in a woodwork factory so I’ve always been very physical. When I was 19 a friend saw me sunbathing and told me to try bodybuilding. I really enjoyed it, but my training gradually became stale. I met a former rugby player who offered to teach me powerlifting – the principles were the same, but there was much more room for progression. Six months later I won a county competition. How do you continue to set records into your eighties?
You have to keep pushing. I used to run my own gym and had a motto on the wall, “Do what you can, while you can, because there will come a time when you can’t.” My wife wants me to pack it in, but what else am I going to do? Go fishing? I’d feel lost if I didn’t train.
What does your training regime consist of?
I put in three two and a half hour sessions a week: legs on Monday, chest on Wednesday, deadlift and back on Friday. I buddy up with a younger friend of mine. He’s 76.
When was your peak?
Aged 52. No doubt about it. I was squatting three times my bodyweight, bench-pressing double my bodyweight and deadlifting 205kg. Back then I read an article that said an American, Phil Nayer, was the world champion at the 60kg weight division and I thought, “He’s claiming these as world records, and I’m doing it in the gym!” So I went to America and took the lot from him. Is it exhausting to keep up this level of training?
No. The only time I rest is when I take a week off after a competition. And even then
I’m itching to get back into it. Even if I go on holiday with my wife I have to find a gym.
Do you follow fitness trends?
I stick to the same methods I always have. My gym is real spit and sawdust. There are two classes of powerlifting now: ‘classic’ – just a belt and a leotard – and ‘equipped’ which uses squat suits, bench shirts, all that stuff. As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t count. How would you advise athletes looking to maintain their fitness into old age? Swimming is one of the best types of exercise, because it’s easy on the joints. And the rowing machine, as so many muscle groups get involved.
Has age caused any setbacks?
I had a triple bypass aged 69. I took three months off to recover, and then I suffered a stomach lesion. Doctors said it could have been the end. It’s the only time in my life when I wasn’t training. I honestly think the need to get back in the gym pulled me through. Powerlifting saved my life.