BELWOOD – There’s a special satisfaction from accomplishing something that once seemed out of reach, and that’s a message Alix McGregor hopes people take away from her story.
Nearly 80, McGregor is a strong woman, and she’s proud of herself for it.
She set five records during the True North True Strength weightlifting competition in Elora on Aug. 23.
It was her second weightlifting competition – her first was the same event last year.
She achieved a 150-pound Bavarian deadlift, a 100-pound Anderson squat, a 48-pound Hackeschmidt floor press, a 25-pound Saxon deadlift and a 40-pound dumbbell-to-shoulder lift.
A video from the competition shows McGregor taking three attempts to complete one successful lift, steadying herself with deep breathing between each try.
Joy radiates through her body when she pulls it off.
Lying on her back, McGregor’s legs kick gleefully the moment she achieves her goal.
McGregor, along with the crowd watching on, celebrated after making a successful lift. Photo by AJ Coghill of ALCO Visuals
She jumps up, throws her hands in the air and wraps them around competition organizer Chris Frappier in celebration.
McGregor said the crowd at the competition, which included her sons Darren and Jad as well as a couple of her close friends, was “really magical.”
The lifts set United States of America Weightlifting Association records, but they were redacted because McGregor was wearing leggings, which she later found out are disqualifying.
But the disqualification didn’t deter McGregor, who reattempted the lifts on Sept. 14, wearing the proper attire.
McGregor decided to take things a step further and lift even heavier weights on her second attempt.
“I know I’ve got more in me,” she told the Advertiser before the second try.
That time, she set official North American records in the same five lifts, but increased her Bavarian deadlift to 155 pounds, her Saxon deadlift to 45 pounds, and her Anderson squat to 120 pounds.
Alix McGregor poses with her medals. Submitted photo
McGregor’s journey to weightlifting began when she started working with personal trainer Aimee Young in 2011, after fracturing her shoulder skiing.
When McGregor first started training with Young, she saw someone do a kettlebell swing, and thought “I’ll never be able to do that.”
Asked if she could do one now, McGregor chortled and grinned. “I’ve got a 40 (pound kettlebell) I can do,” she said, and she’s sure she could manage the 70-pound one too, if she pushed herself.
McGregor is accomplishing things she never believed possible.
She said people often tell her they can’t do it themselves, but she assures them they can, and advises starting small – like she did.
“Just showing up and doing anything is important.”
McGregor credits much of her success to Young, who she said is attentive, supportive and affirming.
And Young is always there, McGregor said, even meeting with her via Zoom while on vacation.
McGregor continues training while travelling, too.
She and her late husband, Jim, used to spend time on their boat; McGregor would bring weights and train on the deck, with Young online.
“I show up, no matter what’s going on,” she said.
Alix McGregor said this motivational quote is part of what inspires her to keep moving forward with her weightlifting training. Photo by Robin George
Young taught McGregor: “Your body follows your mind, [so] if your head’s not in it, it makes it a lot harder.”
“She sees everything,” McGregor said, noticing if she’s looking a little unbalanced, not engaging her core, or has something on her mind.
Sometimes McGregor isn’t in it, feeling anxious about a new lift, and other times she’s struggling with something in her life.
McGregor lost Jim three years ago to lymphoma.
Weightlifting was a big part of what kept her going through his illness and death.
She often visited the gym while Jim was at medical appointments, and sometimes she’d spend the first 20 minutes crying.
“Keeping your head in the game when you’ve got something going on in the background is tough,” McGregor said.
It was harder for her to keep showing up while carrying the weight of her husband’s illness and death.
But she did so anyway, keeping active every day, whether working out in the gym, lifting weights in her basement, or hauling heavy bags of mulch out to her bountiful gardens.
McGregor is no stranger to struggle.
At 31 years old, seven months after the birth of her eldest son, Jad, she had a mastectomy due to breast cancer.
“I was lucky,” she said, noting that the diagnosis she had would now be considered pre-cancer.
McGregor said her mastectomy was part of what sparked her motivation to stay fit.
Around the same time as McGregor’s cancer scare, her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, and McGregor worried they wouldn’t both survive. Her mother lived for another five years.
“It was one thing after another,” McGregor said.
In 1998, after McGregor fractured her shoulder, a bone density scan showed she was osteopenic and heading towards osteoporosis.
McGregor lifted 150 pounds in the Bavarian deadlift. Photo by AJ Coghill of ALCO Visuals
Her shoulder would pop out easily, even when doing something as simple as hanging a wreath. Once she started lifting weights, McGregor said she “went from being osteopenic [to] having good bone growth for my age.”
Before retirement McGregor taught nursing at York University from 2000-10, and was an associate director the last year.
She has lived on a rural property in Belwood since 1975.
She’s been lifting weights seriously for about six years, and in February, McGregor had a bone density scan showing no bone loss in three years, meaning she is no longer osteopenic and doesn’t need another scan done for three more years.
“I know it’s the weightlifting that has restored my bone health. I think that’s really important for people to know – for women to know,” she said.
When asked how she feels about her stronger body, McGregor’s face lit up and she stood up tall.
“I’ve become quite proud of myself,” she beamed.
