From Collegiate Rowing to Senior Weightlifting: A Journey of Lifelong Fitness and Resilience

Nanci's active journey began early, deeply rooted in a wide array of high school sports like cheerleading, basketball, and volleyball. Her dedication solidified during her time on the crew team at the University of California, Berkeley. Training rigorously twice daily, six days a week, starting at 5 AM, she engaged in running, weightlifting, and strenuous rowing, activities that not only built incredible endurance but also instilled invaluable lessons in teamwork and mental fortitude. This intense period laid the groundwork for her enduring relationship with exercise.

Following her collegiate years, Nanci maintained her active lifestyle through aerobics, tennis, skiing, and volleyball, adapting her routines as life progressed. However, she faced significant physical setbacks, undergoing hip replacements at 48 and 49 due to hip dysplasia, and later a knee replacement at 55 from years of wear and tear. Each surgery necessitated extensive rehabilitation focusing on strength and mobility, a process she approached with determination, eventually regaining full function and even joining the Colorado Senior Volleyball Association at age 50 to continue her passion for team sports.

A pivotal moment arrived at 63 when her son, Carl, a certified personal trainer, inspired her to seriously take up weightlifting. Carl, having witnessed the remarkable strength of an 80-year-old client, challenged his mother to pursue similar gains. Nanci accepted, commencing a regimen of twice-weekly full-body workouts that included lifting, cardio conditioning, and mobility exercises, carefully tailored to her history of surgeries. Alongside her training, she consciously increased her protein intake, focusing on foods like chicken and fish to support muscle development, a change that significantly contributed to her physical transformation.

Over just two years, Nanci’s life underwent a complete metamorphosis. She experienced a surge in energy, improved knee and back strength, and a deeper appreciation for the multifaceted benefits of fitness, balance, and physical resilience, particularly vital for older adults. Quantifiable results from her yearly DXA scans revealed an impressive 18-pound increase in muscle mass and a 29-pound reduction in fat, with her body fat percentage dropping by 17.3 percent since 2024. Beyond the numbers, the visible development of her muscles significantly boosted her self-confidence, affirming her desire to maintain this robust state for the remainder of her life, a goal she credits entirely to strength training.

Her current fitness regimen, at 65, seamlessly integrates strength training, targeted mobility work, and her beloved recreational sports. With Carl’s expert guidance, her full-body workouts — alternating between “push” and “pull” days — are dynamic, adjusted each session based on her body’s feedback. This personalized approach allows for the inclusion of corrective exercises to address any muscle imbalances, weak core engagement, or hip stability issues. Her typical exercises encompass lat pulldowns, dumbbell bench presses, assisted pull-ups, rowing machine drills, pushups, and barbell squats. To enhance balance, she incorporates single-leg squats and Bulgarian split squats, while burpees and jumping rope cater to cardiovascular health. Corrective hip work, featuring banded lateral walks, single-leg bridges, and clamshell variations, ensures comprehensive joint support. Nanci consistently lifts challenging but manageable weights, performing three sets of ten repetitions for each exercise, with Carl progressively increasing the load to foster continuous strength gains. Crucially, each session concludes with stretching, particularly for her knees and hamstrings, to combat stiffness and enhance flexibility.

On days without Carl, Nanci proactively engages in lighter leg and abdominal exercises, including sets with an abs roller and bodyweight squats, incrementally increasing her repetitions to continually challenge herself. Beyond structured workouts, daily walks or bike rides with her husband keep her active, and her passion for volleyball leads her to play three to four times a week. These team activities not only ignite her competitive spirit but also offer social engagement. Her aspirations include participating in the 2026 Huntsman World Senior Games in Utah and the 2027 World Masters Games in Japan. During her summers in Nantucket, she embraces various water activities such as swimming, kayaking, snorkeling, scalloping, sailing, and clamming, ensuring that her pursuit of fitness remains diverse and enjoyable.

Nanci credits three key insights for her transformative journey: prioritizing whole, fresh foods, finding daily avenues for activity, and sharing her fitness journey with loved ones. Her diet, rich in protein from sources like tuna, roast chicken, and fresh eggs from her own chickens, along with plenty of vegetables and brown rice, fuels her muscle growth and sustains her energy. Even on less strenuous days, she ensures movement through walks, bike rides, or targeted exercises, recognizing the positive impact on both her physical and mental well-being. Her lifelong involvement in sports, from coaching girls’ volleyball to playing in leagues, underscores the joy she finds in shared activity and setting a positive example. She looks forward to sharing these active pursuits with future grandchildren, demonstrating her commitment to a healthy and vibrant life.

Nanci’s strength training has profoundly enhanced her daily life, making activities like playing volleyball, snorkeling, or simply walking feel more robust and effortless. The tangible sensation of growing stronger and building muscle has been deeply gratifying, giving her a level of mobility and independence that she observes many her age lack. She moves without needing assistance for everyday actions like sitting or standing, a testament to her dedication. This journey is far from over; Carl’s suggestion of competitive bodybuilding has ignited a new aspiration, now on her bucket list. Nanci is eager to explore the full extent of her strength and embrace future fitness goals, confident that her two years of consistent effort are just the beginning of an exciting and powerful chapter.