61-year-old Windsor trucker breaks world records in powerlifting competition

When Ron Strong chose to become a competitive powerlifter, he started training at an age when others in the sport would have passed their prime.

"Some guys start at 18. By the time they're 35 or 40 years old, they're beat up," said Strong, who started taking powerlifting seriously when he was 40.

But earlier this month, the 61-year-old — who also works as a truck driver at Windsor's Fiat Chrysler plant — was able to break multiple world records at the International Powerlifting Federation's world championships in Sweden.

In the past 21 years, he's competed in a number of competitions. This was his second time in the M3 age division at an IPF event, specifically for people who are aged 60 and over.

The Sweden event was also his first time performing in the 120 kg+ weight class at an IPF event, meaning only powerlifters who weigh more than 120 kg (or 265 lbs) can compete against one another.

For his age and weight class, Strong broke the world squat record, lifting 235 kilograms (or 518 pounds).

He also broke the overall performance record, which comes from the combined weight of a powerlifter's squat, deadlift and bench press. At this year's IPF world championship event, he lifted a total of 650 kg (or 1433 lbs).

If that's not impressive enough, he did it all while overcoming an injury to his left leg.

"I just picked the wrong time for it to happen. I was pushing myself a little too much and strained it," he said. "We had to go right back to zero and rebuild the deadlift. It was going real well. We got to the middle of May. And then, bang — strained it again."

When Strong took up powerlifting in 1998, he didn't have dreams of breaking world records. In fact, his only intention was to "get in a little better shape" so he could play hockey.

But things quickly changed when Strong picked up the weights.

"I started enjoying doing what I was doing here. I went to a contest about two months later."

Now, Strong trains at the Power Pit Gym in Belle River four days a week — he does squats on Monday, bench presses on Wednesday, deadlifts on Thursday and more bench presses on Sunday.

"It's usually a couple hours every session," said Strong, who adds he's had to slow down his training regimen in recent years because of his age.

"Sometimes, less is more."

One of Strong's training partners, Luke Tremblay, also performed well at this year's IPF world championships. Tremblay took home a silver medal for squats, a bronze medal for the bench press and another bronze medal for his overall performance.

The same competition saw Strong take home four medals — one gold for breaking the squat record, another gold for breaking the overall performance record and two silver medals for his individual bench press and deadlift.

"He outdid me on that one," Tremblay said with a laugh.

Tap on the player below to see Strong's record-breaking squat (at 1:13:30):

Strong was one of two powerlifters who took the 22-year-old under his wing. Tremblay said "it feels pretty good" to be under the guidance of someone who has been powerlifting for about as long as he's been alive.

"I never had to worry about what the next step was or how I was supposed to do something because they were there to guide me through the whole process."

Tremblay adds seeing Strong perform at such a high level at age 61 motivates him to do the same.

"I've seen 60-year-olds that don't fare too well walking down the street." said Tremblay. "But he's in here deadlifting over 600 pounds. It does blow my mind ... He's right up to snuff with us young guys."

Staying motivated

How does Strong maintain his passion for powerlifting at the age of 61? He says it's all about keeping things "fun" and looking forward to performance milestones.

"Unfortunately in this sport, you're never satisfied. If there's goals to go get, you want to go get them. I think that's what drives me."

But Strong doesn't just maintain his interest in powerlifting because it keeps him goal-oriented. It's also about staying healthy.

"I'm able to do a lot of things that a lot of other 61-year-old guys couldn't do. I got grandkids now. I like to chase them around. When I go out, my heart still thinks, 'He's 18 years old,'" he said.

"It keeps me young."