78-y-o Michigan grandmother deadlifts nearly 400 pounds with help of Holy Spirit
At 78, Michigan grandmother Nora Langdon is a powerlifting champion who can deadlift almost 400 pounds and bench presses more than 200 pounds, thanks, she says, to the power of the Holy Spirit, eating right, and training consistently.
"When I squat this is what I say, I say, 'Holy Spirit fall on me,' and I just do it and I come right on up," said Langdon, who attends the Word of Faith church in Southfield in a recent interview with Fox 2.
The spirit-filled grandmother who started powerlifting just 13 years ago holds 19 world records across two weight classes, according to Open Powerlifting and she doesn’t appear ready to stop setting records any time soon.
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The retired realtor explained in an interview with The Christian Post Thursday that she started working out at the Royal Oak Gym after she noticed she became winded going up and down stairs and she was also a little overweight.
“I was 65 years old and I used to be a realtor. I got tired going up and down the stairs and so I said, let me get some training,” she recalled.
She said the husband of a friend offered to train her along with another friend at a birthday party for a “good price,” so they began training together. The friend ended up quitting the training, but Langdon said she pressed on with prompting from the Holy Spirit.
“When I first started now, I [trained] … came home, took my shower and everything. The next morning I got up and I said, I’m not going back. I was hurting all over. And I heard this voice say, ‘go back,’ and I decided to go back. And that was the Holy Spirit telling me this is for you. That’s the way I felt,” she said.
“After about a month or two, he [trainer] asked me did I want to go to a tournament and I said yes. So I went and I got a certificate that first time I went. And I fell in love with it,” she said.
Langdon said getting the certificate boosted her confidence and as she continued training, she also noticed added benefits.
“My health was not really good before I started. I was a little overweight,” she said. “I didn’t have any physical ailments [but] I had real high blood pressure. [Now] my blood pressure is down to normal now,” she said, and it’s been that way for at least the last 10 years.
Art Little, who trains Langdon, told Fox 2 that he was apprehensive about training her at first because of her age, but she was determined.
"She's really been an asset to the gym, and to me, and to the whole powerlifting field," Little said. "To see somebody at that age doing what she's doing, it's a blessing."
Langdon told CP she works out three days each week and said she has inspired at least three other congregants from her church to join the gym with her.
“One guy, he told me the other day that his blood pressure is going down. I appreciated that. They just keep encouraging me,” she said.
Along with her faith in God, Langdon gives a lot of credit to her faith community for her healthy habit, particularly her pastor.
“My minister encourages all of us to read the Bible and take it literally and apply it to your own life and that’s what I’ve been doing all my life, ever since I started with the church in 1986. I was a heathen before then,” she laughed. “1986 is when I started with the church and I’ve been consistent with the church and he [minister] always teaches you to be consistent and change your way of life, and that’s what I did.”
For older adults who might be scared of doing something new to improve their life, Langdon said she wants to inspire them to be brave.
“Don’t be afraid. God did not bring us here just to sit down and do nothing. He brought us here to encourage one another and to live a Christian life. A lot of older people, when they retire from their job they want to sit down and watch TV. That’s the wrong thing to do,” she said.
“God has never said retire. There is nowhere in the Bible that says retire. So you have to keep going, and that’s one of the main things to keep your body going and to keep your health going. It’s to keep moving,” she said.
