77-year-old grandmother lifts big at the gym
ROCHESTER, N.Y.-- At the Maplewood YMCA in Rochester, New York, there's one septuagenarian you won't find working out with the lightweights: 77-year-old Willie Murphy.
At five feet tall, she's a 105 pound powerhouse who can dead-lift more than twice her own weight, bench press 125 pounds, and run through push-ups like there's no tomorrow.
"I'm old -- If I can do it, get with it," said Murphy. "It's not that hard. I'm that new senior and I got it going on."
She earned first place awards in her division at the World Natural Powerlifting Federation's championships. She was named the 2014 Lifter of the Year after taking home gold in the dead-lift, power curl and bench press.
She rarely gives up any edge... maybe to her fan club of five-year-olds at the "Y." But anyone half her age can forget about it.
Holding back isn't in Willie's vocabulary. Neither is quitting, which is why she's such a motivating presence at the gym. She encouraged workout buddy Jim Marron to cross off sky-diving from his bucket list by going with him.
"I wish you could bottle it," Marron told me. "She is the most inspiring person I know."
"What goes around comes around and it makes us all better people to be on the planet," said Murphy.
For Willie Murphy age isn't a number, it's an attitude.
