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At 86, great-grandmother Morjorie Newlin keeps pumping iron.
I know some of you have seen this lady but I couldn't find her on the search. She isn't raw, as far as I know, but boy, is she aging well!!
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Flex Appeal
At 86, great-grandmother Morjorie Newlin keeps pumping iron.
by Tasha Ho-Sang, Aug 2006
Fourteen years ago, when Morjorie Newlin was 72, her neighborhood supermarket had 50-pound bags of kitty litter on sale. Without anyone to help her carry the bags back to her house, she struggled mightily under the load. Never a particularly athletic woman, but staunchly independent, she decided that she had to do something about her deteriorating physical capabilities.
Though osteoporosis was also on her mind, the septuagenarian began lifting weights - for her cat.
Built to last:

"I want to be as independent as I can be, for as long as I can," says Newlin, a great-grandmother and retired nurse who turns 86 tomorrow. "I just want to do things for myself."
After 13 years of weight training, Newlin is more than taking care of herself. At her two-story home in Mt. Airy, Newlin, who runs up the stairs with the sprightliness of a 10-year-old, has a room dedicated entirely to plaques, certificates and trophies (some almost as tall as her) from bodybuilding competitions that have taken her as far away as Italy, France and Germany. She's won more than 40 trophies in her late-blooming career. "There are so many, I don't know what to do with all of them," she says.
"I chuckled when I saw this little old lady walk inside the gym," says Richard Brown, a personal trainer at Rivers Gym in Mt. Airy, where Newlin began her training. "I was a little leery. I was just training young athletes at the time."
The little old lady quickly showed him what an older athlete could do.
"She kept coming in day after day, week after week, and month after month," Brown remembers. "She didn't want to do 'girly' workouts. She wanted to train with us fellows."
"After a few months of training, I looked at her physique and knew she was ready for a [bodybuilding] show," he continues. "She definitely had something to show."
Newlin was bench-pressing 65 pounds when she was 73 years old. A year later she was throwing up 85.
The bodybuilding competitions are broken into two divisions. Newlin's first competition was in the Amateur Athletic Union, which is open to the public.
Newlin recalls being a little reluctant when she saw the string bikini she'd have to wear in front of the bodybuilding audience.
"I knew the contest meant a lot to my trainer so I went along with it," she says. To everyone's surprise, Newlin won. The crowd went crazy on hearing she was 74 years old.
Newlin began her competition career in that AAU's Master's Division, which splits contestants into two categories: under and over a certain age limit, usually 35 or 45 years old. Newlin obviously fell way over the dividing line, wherever it was set, but was competing and winning against women half her age.
"I was always the oldest in all my competitions," says Newlin.
The daughter of very active Barbadian immigrants, Newlin admits that athleticism is in her genes: "My family is used to walking and running long distances."
Although she's taking a break from bodybuilding competitions for now, Newlin is still training at least three days a week, now at Bally Total Fitness in Cedarbrook, and can still throw down with the best of them. "I could bench-press 90 pounds with a spotter. I can dead lift 95 pounds. I can squat 135 pounds," says Newlin.
She's been featured on Oprah and The View, and has appeared in commercials in Barbados. She spends her time out of the gym as a motivational speaker at schools and banquets, discussing the importance of exercise, weight training and dieting. "A lady called me earlier this week from Hawaii," Newlin says. "She asked questions about how to use weights."
Though some in her position might wonder how much longer they can keep it up - or how far they might have come if they'd started earlier - those questions never cross Newlin's mind. "Every day is different. The next day will take care of itself," she says with Zen-like calm.
"Age is only a number," says Brown.
http://www.citypaper.net/articles/20...03/naked.shtml
More links about her...
This one has a ton of info
http://www.fitbygeno.com/morjorie_ne...ting_older.htm
This page has a video on IE but on Firefox (at least for me) it doesn't show up.
http://www.momsonthemove.tv/show_detail.asp?id=45
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She looks good! I would be curious to see what she is eating though. Any info anywhere on that? I'll have to look around and see what I can find out. She isn't as "chiseled" as some of the female body builders, which I personally find not too appealing.
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OMG!!! She looks amazing! What a total inspiration to everyone! Thank you so much for sharing ~ I have new motivation to get my lazy bones to the gym. AWESOME!!
~Justine :rolleyes:
"Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true." ~ Robert Brault
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from the video
Morjorie Newlin
Morjorie Newlin is an 84 year old great grandmother, retired nurse after a 45 years, and body building champion to this day.
Transcript From The Show
Linda: You're 84 years old TODAY, happy birthday! How do you feel?
Morjorie: I feel good!
Linda: (Narration) No, you heard right! Morjorie Newlin, a great grandmother with 4 children of her own, a retired nurse after 45 years and a current body building champion is celebrating her 84th birthday today.
Linda: What do people think when they first see you?
Morjorie: Well, they think that this is not my true age, are you really 84, 83, 79 whatever. I am!
Linda: How did you get started in competing?
Morjorie: Well, I started in '92, I was 72 at the time, we were talking a lot about osteoporosis at the time and I was fascinated anyway with the weights and I figured I would try to find a gym where I can be taught how to use the weights properly. The man who was training me said, I am having a show and I want you to be in it and I said "ok". I didn't know what it meant when he said you need to learn the poses, I asked him to show me the poses
Linda: You didn't know this was a competition?
Morjorie: No, no, I didn't know anything about bodybuilding.
Linda: (Narration) Well she knows a thing or two about it now. In her first competition at age 72, she won in the women’s 40 and above category. And, she’s been taking home trophies ever since.
Morjorie: (referring to trophy) This is a sexy one. Yea, this is the one from France from 2001.
Linda: (Narration) Not just in the U.S., in her 80s, Morjorie leaves women half her age empty handed, even overseas.
Morjorie: And I have more trophies in here.
Linda: (Lifting a Trophy) You are a champion! My goodness, you gotta be a body builder for this.
Linda: What do you kids think about their mother being in a body building competition at 84 in a bikini?
Morjorie: Well, everybody approves except my middle daughter. I realized that when the judges call out these poses they have see certain areas and this is the way you have to be dressed, so you just forget it, just blank it out, get out there and do your routine.
Linda: Yu must get some dates! I mean, I am sure guys hit on you now, look at you, you're gorgeous!
Morjorie: Yeah, they do, but I can't be bothered, they want you to take care of them and I don't want anybody parked in my house.
Linda: Tell me about your family?
Morjorie: Well, I have 4 children, one son and 3 daughters, I have 4 grand children and I have 2 Great Grand children, twins, a boy and a girl and my great grandchildren, they have been to the gym with me.
Linda: You get calls from around the world for advice?
Morjorie: Yes I do. My advice is to first of all, I think they need to exercise, find out what kind of exercise you can do and what you like to do, because if you like what you're doing, you're more likely to continue doing it, and it's not all about losing weight, it's about gaining strength and being able to do what you have to do.
Morjorie: (showing citation) This is an award that I received from the mayor.
Linda: That’s some accomplishment. I bet people ask you all the time, how do you stay so young?
Morjorie: I can’t do anything to be young, I don’t wanna be young. I’ve been young I feel good just the way I am.
Tips
To contact Morjorie: Please call her at 215-247-8926
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SHUUUT UP!!! 86? Are you kidding me? Amazing. This is what aging should look like. What an inspiration!
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Heck, I'll be 35 in November, and I want HER body!
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She's 87!!! I however find it extremely strange I cannot find ANY information on her diet...how sad if this is the result of steroids and not perserverence and eating well...dunno, just a thought...no web site either, which I find strange.
August 13, 2007
Happy 87th Birthday (August 4) to Morjorie Newlin
Most 87-year-olds don't celebrate their birthday with a two-hour workout at the gym, especially when it involves bench pressing 90 pounds. But Morjorie Newlin isn't your typical senior citizen.
Competing in the Amateur Athletic Union's body-building events, she's been a regular winner in her age group (45 plus). "And always," she says, I'm the oldest person in the competition." She's won over 40 trophies and has competed in events as far away as Italy, France, and Germany.
If you want to see how fit and trim this woman is at 87, check out a recent picture. And this feature isn't the first time Morjorie has been in the spotlight.
Eight years ago, she was featured in Parade magazine in an article written by my friend Jean-Noel Bassior. At the time, Morjorie had just turned 78. With 6 years of experience (Morjorie took up the sport at 72), she was already placing first in events.
Vanity didn't play a role in Morjorie's decision to train as a body-builder, although her body is gorgeously sculpted as a result of her regular workouts.
"Far more important to me," she says, "is to keep moving. When you're older," she continues, "you need to keep your body strong. I want to maintain my independence as long as I can."
Morjorie's youthful spirit is infectious even over the phone, and she has, she happily confided, influenced others to become physically active. At the conclusion of our Sunday afternoon chat, I asked Morjorie if she had any advice for us youngsters. (I'm only 65.) Without hesitation, she emphasized the need to build muscle and bone strength as we age so that our physical capabilities don't deteriorate.
Her body conditioning and shape are proof that she's absolutely right! She could be a role model for all of us.
Last edited by Veganforlife; 09-05-2007 at 02:38 PM.
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DANG! She looks GOOD! I wish I looked that good.
:D :D Zeh hayom asah HaShem; nagila venismekha vo! (This is the day Adonai has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!) :D :D
“I’m not a vegan because I love animals, I’m a vegan because I hate plants!”
My 30 day challenge blog including some recipes
View my weight loss ticker
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my mouth rolled to the floor and out the computer room door. I dont know what to say.. just..........
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Wow... good stuff Lucy!
Here's one thing I found. At least it doesn't sound like she does the high protein stuff... Or junky stuff.
“The highest I have ever weighed is 105,” said the energetic octogenarian. “I don’t do any of the special dieting. I just eat food. I have never really liked fatty food or fast food, and I don’t like gravy. I can’t stand to see a plate of food swimming in gravy.” http://www.chestnuthilllocal.com/iss...ocallife1.html
Imagine getting this AND raw together as we age!
Last edited by juicyraw; 09-06-2007 at 04:06 AM.
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thats totally
INSPIRING
That makes me want to get with the program !
That goes against everything I was lead to believe about aging.
Last edited by EZ rider; 09-05-2007 at 04:03 PM.
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