| Name |
| Chandler Marrs |
| Age |
| 54 |
| Class |
| SHW |
| Squat PR: |
| 203 official, 225 unofficial |
| Bench PR |
| 139.7/150 unofficial (living room, lock down PR) |
| Deadlift PR |
| 341.7 official/352 unofficial (living room, lock down PR) |
| Years powerlifting? |
| 5 |
| How did you come to powerlifting? |
| I had been doing CrossFit for about a year when someone at the gym mentioned that there weren’t too many older women powerlifting and that I could do just bench and deadlift if I wanted. Squatting has been a struggle for me since the beginning. Gave it a try and it was fun. For the next year or so, continued with crossfit but added one day a week of powerlifting, and then slowly, did more powerlifting and less crossfit. Now, I train powerlifting 4 days per week, do some push/pull/carry type exercises on Saturdays and only do crossfit on occasion. |
| Do you have any previous athletic or lifting experience? |
| I was a competitive swimmer and played water polo through college. I continued with water polo off and on for the next 15 years, plus a bunch of other workout modalities. Although I lifted weights as a swimmer and when I was younger, it was never for max weight. It wasn’t until I began with crossfit that I began pushing to lift heavy. It never occurred to me, frankly. |
| Do you compete? Why or why not? If you compete, what do you like most about the competitions? |
| Yes, I compete about 3-4X a year. I need goals and deadlines. Otherwise, I am just working out and I get bored. With the powerlifting, I am constantly learning and improving. I am getting stronger. They say women of my age lose muscle. I think they are wrong. |
| Equipped or Raw? |
| Raw |
| Do you have a coach or trainer? In person or online? How did you find your trainer/program? Do you have any advice for women looking for a trainer? |
| I have a trainer, a real live trainer, not online. I couldn’t do this without one. I am not sure how women, or men, for that matter, train alone. Too much to learn. I was lucky though, my trainer was associated with our local gym. Had I had to search for one blindly, I am not sure I would have even become a powerlifter. As far as finding a good trainer, it is critical that the trainer have an understanding of training older athletes. It is not the same as training 20 somethings. I have had to overcome so many age-related weaknesses.
Since COVID lock downs a year and half ago, I have been training in my living room. It was good for me to learn how to program and lift heavy on my own but I am looking forward to going back to my coach in the near future. |
| Where do you train? Gym, garage? |
| Mainly with my trainer in his garage gym, but I also still belong to the crossfit gym and train there occasionally. |
| What is the hardest part about beginning lifting as an older woman? |
| Stupid things like balance. Don’t know when I lost it, but I did and learning to cue muscles and proprioception has been one of the most difficult aspects of lifting. |
| How has lifting affected your health? |
| I am healthy, perhaps healthier than I was in my twenties, thirties and forties. Is it all related to the lifting, no, not necessarily, but it helps. |
| What would you tell women just beginning this journey? |
| Go for it. You will be pleasantly surprised by how strong you are. I know that I never thought I would be doing this or could do this, but here I am, consistently deadlifting over 300lbs for the few years. |
Updated: August 2021
