65-year-old Achieves BIG Goals, Finds a Home at PowerStrength

Lesia McQuade prioritizes her health. Weightlifting has been a game changer for the former Livonia, Michigan resident. 

“It really helped my back,” Lesia said. “My back was really bad and I started lifting and it made a big difference. I had done yoga, bootcamp, swimming, I tried different things – but lifting, that whole exterior chain, it really strengthened my back.”

She moved to West Michigan from metro Detroit, a couple years ago.

Now 65, Lesia sought out PowerStrength to help her stay active and enjoy life.

“I want to be able to get out of this chair when I’m 80-years-old by myself,” Lesia said. “I don’t want to have to have a La-Z-Boy that boings me out when I get older. This has been a good place for me.”

“I wanted to live too,” she continued. “That is another reason why I lift, so I can go out and play because we kayak, we hike, we travel a lot, we do outdoor activities.”

LIFTING FOR A CAUSE

Last summer, Lesia set a goal. She wanted to take part in a charity lift to raise money for Alzheimer’s.

She wanted to deadlift 200lbs.

So Lesia sat down with Austin Trotter, General Manager at PowerStrength Alpine, and they developed a plan to get her there.

“She mentioned to me that she was deadlifting for a cause (the Alzheimer’s lift), and her goal was to lift 200lbs for the competition,” Trotter said. “So, that is what her training revolved around for the next few months, getting her deadlift stronger. Due to the small groups, we were able to personalize her training to account for her deadlift goal, and she consistently trained 3 sessions per week to hit her goal.”

“He (Austin) knew what I needed to do and I listened to him.” Lesia said.

The entire staff at PowerStrength takes the goals of each member extremely seriously. No matter which coach was leading the small group session of no more than six people per coach that Lesia was attending, her plan was being executed.

“They know what I’m supposed to lift and what training,” Lesia said about the coaches at PSTS. “It wasn’t just deadlifting all of the time, it was all of the exercises that would help me get there. I never lifted 200 (lbs) in this gym, but they had me prepared for that lift, they knew I could lift 200 (lbs). And I pulled it, so I was really happy.”

The Alzheimer’s Lift featured a crowd of people all there to cheer on those participating and when Lesia reached to lift 200lbs, they went crazy.

“It is a good feeling to hear the crowd cheering,” Lesia said. “It really gave me some energy to pull harder, but then it was a relief that I did it. I was happy that I did it.”

“When I saw the video of her hitting her 200lbs deadlift goal, I was beyond ecstatic for her,” Trotter said. “It was awesome to see all of her hard work pay off for an amazing cause.“

THE POWERSTRENGTH “GOLDEN GIRLS”

Lesia and her husband moved to the westside of Michigan to be closer to their son who was going to school and playing hockey at Aquinas College. 

She has been a great fit in the 40-and-over personal training program at PowerStrength Alpine.

“Lesia is not only a great member but is overall an amazing human being,” Trotter said. “She has a love of strength training and it has been awesome to see her develop throughout her time here.”

PowerStrength has not only allowed Lesia to live a healthy lifestyle, but also to make new friends.

“I really didn’t know anybody in Grand Rapids and I have found a community here of ladies,” Lesia said. “Lots of times we will go out for coffee afterwards. We call ourselves the PowerStrength Golden Girls, that is what our little club is called.”

The group is made up of 5 women that all attend PowerStrength Alpine.

“We are all older women and we go out for coffee and we have a group text chat that we keep track of each other in, what is going on in our lives” Lesia said. “We not only support each other here, we support each other outside the gym, which is kind of nice.”

DESIGNED FOR YOU

People of many different ages and fitness levels choose PowerStrength to reach their goals. The coaches at PSTS design each workout to fit the needs of the individual and provide 1-on-1 attention in each session to maximize the results.

“That is the other thing about PowerStrength that I really like is that training a 65-year-old woman and training a 27-year-old man is different,” Lesia said. “You can’t ask me to do 10 reps of squats, I just don’t have it in me. They will modify your routine. It’s not cookie cutter.”

Barbell exercises are sometimes part of the workout regimen at PowerStrength, but far from the only exercises. Lesia had previous barbell lifting experience when she came to PSTS, but she has learned many new things that have led to even bigger gains.

“They have challenged me,” Lesia said about PowerStrength. “Here we do accessory exercises and those can be really challenging, you find out what is weak. When you are doing that exercise, it’s like ‘oh my gosh, this is killing me.’ It definitely increases your mental fortitude, because it is like ‘OK, I can do this.’ I come in here and I know it is going to be hard for one hour, what is one hour out of my whole day? Then I feel good afterwards, I might be spent, but I feel good afterwards, and I know I’m building the muscles to support my bones so it is good. It has kept me really flexible.”

All of the programs at PowerStrength are carefully crafted by the experienced coaches that know what gets the best results in any circumstance. Many years of research and results with countless clients over-40 go into each detail of the exercises performed at PSTS. 

“For lifting, that is a big aspect, knowing what to program or how to program. You can read books and books on programming,” Lesia said. “It is nice to come in here and they tell me if I am going to do 4 sets of 5, 5 sets of 4, or what I’m going to do.”

And Lesia has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

“I’m just going to keep going,” she said. “I’m going to keep going.”

READY TO TAKE CONTROL?

Men and Women over 40 seeking a stronger, more energized lifestyle can join the personal training programs at PowerStrength at any time. No previous workout experience is required as each program is customized to the fitness and ability level of each individual.

Multiple small group and private sessions are offered in the early morning, mid-morning, late afternoon, and evening.

Click HERE to learn more program details and schedule your risk-free consultation.