Powerlifting: She's 66, has osteopenia, and can deadlift 115kg
Published on
24 Oct 2021
Published by
The Straits Times
SINGAPORE - Patricia Lynn Meyer never expected herself to become a powerlifter, especially when she first walked into Hygieia Strength & Conditioning gym along Haig Road in April 2017.
She had been referred to the gym's owner Shaun Pang by her doctor as she was diagnosed with osteoporosis after being treated for osteopenia for the past 20 years. The former is a more serious progression of osteopenia, a condition where bones lose density.
But four years later, Meyer, 66, has become a national record holder in the sport.
At the Singapore Powerlifting Open on Saturday (Oct 16), she set new milestones in the squat (70kg), bench press (37.5kg), deadlift (115kg) and total (222.5kg) events in the women's Under-52kg Master 3 category (age 60 to 69).
The previous standards were 60kg (squat), 32.5kg (bench press) and 72.5kg (deadlift) and 160kg (total).
Meyer, who trains twice a week, was ecstatic with her results and thanked Pang and his team for working with her.
Recalling her initial apprehension, the Singapore permanent resident said: "If I had walked by (the) gym over 10 times, it would never have occurred to me to go in because it's not where I ever expected to find myself in.
"Shaun was very welcoming and patient. He explained what we were going to do and introduced the squat to me. He understood what weight would be doable for me and we tried a few basic exercises to see how I felt."
Pang, 36, added: "She wasn't expecting to see all the barbells and heavy weights but decided to give it a go. In the first few months, she was very concerned about her perceived limitations and worried whether these exercises would affect her knees and back.
"But I found she had a bit of a flair for it after a few months and she found that the lifts didn't cause her any pain. She's also very curious and will ask questions along the way. She's become more confident so she has grown both physically and mentally."
Meyer, who moved to Singapore from Maryland in the United States in 2000, has felt those changes as she has noticed an improvement in her bone density after going for a test a year after she started strength training and is now out of the osteoporosis range.
She added: "I also noticed that I have not fallen or lost my balance. I was shocked as I got to my 60s and realised how many of my friends have fallen and fractured their wrist or injured their knees or hips."
Besides feeling physically stronger, Meyer also appreciates the mental benefits of the sport. She said: "The other thing is the mental benefits which I didn't expect at all. I talk with other lifters my age and compare notes. The training is personalised and challenging so when you're successful, it's a small win.
"Having those small wins is really nice as it shows you're steadily getting stronger and it's a wonderful feeling to have, especially when you're in your 60s."
Her newfound strength was noticed by her friends who asked what she was doing. But when they heard she was powerlifting, some told her it was not safe and she might get injured.
But she chose to focus on the positive voices instead, talking to other female powerlifters in her age group, including some in the United States, and exchanging stories with each other.
Six months after she started powerlifting, she also started participating in small meets organised by the gym for its members. One day, she and Pang were looking up national records and to her surprise, the national standard for the deadlift in her category was 72.5kg, a weight she was sure she could lift comfortably.
While she could not yet meet the standards for the squat (60kg) and bench press (32.5kg), she still signed up for her first major meet, the Singapore Powerlifting Open in 2019. She also made it her goal to meet the standards for the squat and bench press.
Now that she has surpassed those weights, her next goal is to deadlift 125kg and bench press 40kg.
Beyond that, Meyer also hopes to inspire more people to pick up the sport.
She said: "It's quite empowering to be on a trajectory where you're getting stronger.
"Women in their 30s or 40s start losing bone density and if they realised it and did some specific resistance training to address it, it would be better for their future rather than when they're 60 to try and recover the bone density that's already been lost.
"It may not be intuitive that people (with osteoporosis) should take up lifting, maybe they think they're too frail so the myth I would like to debunk is that even someone like me who's got low bone density, under a carefully-supervised programme, can get strong and enjoy the benefits of powerlifting.
"Age is not a limitation."
Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reproduced with permission.
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