In the previous installment, I highlighted Clarence Bass and Wendy Ida, two bodybuilders who had gotten their fittest after 50.
Here are some more inspiring folks:
Tosca Reno: Fitness Professional
Started bodybuilding in her 40s to cope with a divorce. After her weight climbed to 204 lbs, she started using a treadmill and lost some, but was still flabby.
Tosca taught school at the time. A student’s father, fitness publisher Robert Kennedy, challenged her to start strength training and enter a physique contest. As she shaped up and got stronger, she developed the confidence to write fitness articles.
In a happily-after-after tale, she ended up marrying Kennedy. Today, at age 51, she’s in her best shape ever and manages a one-woman fitness industry. I believe she has stopped entering contests at this point, so her everyday weight, as you can see above, is “real” as opposed to competition gaunt.
Cheryl Ragsdale: Boxer
Took up boxing at age 49, developed a passion for mixed martial arts, and added added jiu-jitsu and muay thai kickboxing a year later.
She’s been an flight attendant, a Jenny Craig supervisor and a healthcare industry consultant.
Between her first two careers, she graduated from Harvard Business school.
Today, at age 51, she has remade herself again as a full-time blogger at Who Do You Respect?
Ray Moon: World’s Oldest Competing Bodybuilder
Suffered polio, two minor strokes, open heart surgery, and was fitted for a pacemaker.
Ray felt all was lost when, one day, he went past a gym and decided to check it out. He found a mentor in gym owner Graeme Lancefield, a former Mr. Universe, and turned his life around.
Ray mostly uses resistance training and pulley weights, and walks at least 4km a day. He has won four Australian amateur bodybuilding contests.
Before taking up bodybuilding, Ray was an acclaimed chef and restaurateur for 64 years, and even cooked for the Queen.
Guiness Book of World Records recently named Ray the World’s Oldest Competing Bodybuilder. He hopes one day meet the oldest female bodybuilder. “I bet she’s overseas though,” he said.
Next: Fittest After 50: Bodybuilding Brain.
Post image: The astonishing Cheryl Ragsdale, who’s doing some amazing work in the world.