A 64-year-old Huron County man is still pushing the limits in powerlifting competitions, setting several records for his age at the recent Summertime Slaughter in Collingwood.
Ben Worsell recently took part in the World Raw Powerlifting Federation (WRPF) event held at Side Launch Brewery on July 12.
The Goderich area native has been weightlifting competitively since he was 40, but in his first WRPF event, competing in the Masters 4 category, he says he made his mark in the benchpress, deadlift and squats.
"I opened with a fairly light squat and then kind of took off after that," said Worsell. "By the time I was done with my three squats I had two Canadian records, and then I got three World records and three national records in bench press. Then I got three national records and two world total records when I was done deadlifting."
All told, he squatted 215 kg, bench-pressed 160 kg and deadlifted 227.5 kg, for a total of over 1327 lbs combined. Worsell also went nine-for-nine, meaning he didn't mess up a single lift.
Worsell has been doing competitions since he turned 40. The Goderich-area native lived in Alberta for years, but moved back home to be closer to family.
Now, this summer was the first time that entire family got to cheer him on at a weightlifting event.
"The great thing now is my grandchildren were there to watch me, my son-in-law, my daughter, my wife. That was amazing for me because I've never had that many people from my own family there to see me lift weights before. My wife watched me lift all over, but to have my grandsons there was just amazing. They had them on the microphone and the place lit up pretty good, as they kept saying 'Here comes the old guy to try another one,'" laughed Worsell.
Worsell was the only one in his age category to compete at the Summertime Slaughter. This winter, he hopes to be setting WRPF records in a new category.
"My birthday is in Decmeber and I'll be 65 on the 3rd. There's a competition coming up I think on the 7th of December and it puts me into the next age bracket, 65- to 70-year-olds! I think there's quite a few records there I think I could achieve."
When he started out, Worsell used to just compete in bench press, but after several surgeries from an automobile accident, he began doing squats as rehab.
He says his wife Renee is the main reason he's still able to do this.
"My wife has supported me through all of this, and she's put up with all of the injuries I've had, and I've had lots of them. She takes care of my food preparation when I'm dieting, and puts up with me, because dieting makes you grumpy. She's just stuck with me through all of this and I can't thank her enough, she's just been wonderful."
