Winnipeg woman, 62, wins gold at World Powerlifting Championships | CBC News

A Winnipeg woman who won gold at a powerlifting world championship over the weekend said she took up strength training later in life to keep up with her grandchildren.

Although Gail-Ann Breese, 62, has remained active her entire life, she began to feel sluggish in her late 50s and began looking for ways to gain energy. She stuck to various forms of cardio but never considered strength training until a friend mentioned it and referred Breese to a trainer.

“When I first started, I certainly had no idea that I was going to end up as a world powerlifting champion,” she told host Marcy Markusa during an interview with CBC on Tuesday information radio.

“I’ve been ramping up a bit the last few days.”

Breese’s trainer educated her on bone density and muscle loss that occurs after midlife, she says, and that strength training can help counteract it. Together they created a fitness plan for Breese.

She attended her first powerlifting meeting in December 2019 — a day-long event that included three attempts at the squat, bench press, and deadlift.

“I remember when I first walked onto the platform [I thought] ‘Oh, please don’t fall flat on your face,'” Breese said.

She would qualify for provincial, state and western powerlifting meetings, leading her to join Team Canada at the World Classic & Equipment Masters Powerlifting Championships in St. John’s, where earlier this month 520 athletes from 30 countries competed against each other.

Breese says she was one of four Manitoban women to compete at the World Championships, where she won two gold medals — one for deadlift and one for overall weightlifting, after lifting a total of 700 pounds in three categories. She also won a silver medal in the squat lifting category and a bronze medal for the bench press.

Her family is proud and supportive of her powerlifting journey, although “I’m sure they’re sick of eating lean chicken for dinner,” Breese said. Her granddaughter plans to dress up as a powerlifter for Halloween this year, she said.

Breese is at her strongest thanks to powerlifting and says many older women have cited her as their inspiration. Powerlifting has also helped Breese through retirement and kept her active and social during that transition, she said.

The powerlifter’s advice to others who want to achieve their fitness goals is self-investment, education, and persistence.

“Make yourself a priority,” she said. “Take some time to hit the gym … Learn about nutrition, learn about what you’re eating, and then just be consistent.”

Breese’s trainer and fitness instructor, Dino Camiré, is the owner of One Family Fitness Center in Winnipeg. He says many people write off Breese’s success as a “special gift,” but the reality is that she had a goal and stuck to it.

“A lot of people think just picking up a dumbbell and doing that a few times a week is enough,” he told CBC in an interview Tuesday. “But you have to actually increase that load … for the rest of your life just to maintain your muscle mass and offset the changes with age.”

Camiré says Breese has tripled the weight she can lift in her three years of powerlifting, which means she’s increased her weights by one percent every week.

“It’s very slow, very gradual, but you have to be consistent,” he said.

A fitness freak in his late 30s, Camiré says Breese inspires him to do what he does and that “anything is possible.”

Breese also inspires others in the same age group, he says, which is a demographic he sees more often to take up the sport to gain and maintain bone density and muscle.

Camiré says he is very proud of Breese and excited for her future.

“Now we have a world champion who lives here in Winnipeg, Manitoba. That’s crazy.”