In October, Kate Evert will begin the long journey from the small town of Republic, Missouri, to Cape Town, South Africa, to compete in the World Masters Powerlifting Championships. The competition is for athletes aged 40 and above – Evert is 75.
“Seventy-six in November, heaven help me,” she says.
Evert started lifting in 2018, because of her children’s nagging about her health. Since then, she has won four powerlifting national championships in her age and weight bracket.
If you think a 75-year-old woman powerlifting is uncommon, well, you’re right. “The thing about competition at my age is that there aren’t very many competitors. Like, hardly any,” Evert says. “For three of those national championships I was the only lifter in my age and weight class, so I got the medal just by showing up.”
But this isn’t false humility. Evert is confident about her strength and ability. And she’s been researching her competition in Cape Town – one other woman – and she likes her odds. “Not dissing that woman at all,” Evert says. “I’m just stronger.”
I talked to Evert over the phone to hear about how she got into lifting and her championship preparation.
How did you get into weightlifting?
It was six years ago – I was 69. I live alone, and my children started to tell me that they didn’t want me to be the little old lady who falls and can’t get up, so would I please go to a gym? I hated sweating and I didn’t like the gym. It was boring and stupid. But I said, fine, if it’ll get you off my back, I’ll do it.
So I went to a gym, and the [gym staff] interviewed me and said: “Why are you here? What are your goals?” And I said: “I want to get strong.” Why that came out of my mouth, I have no idea.
They assigned me to this trainer, who I later found out focused on power lifters. We started working out, and I hated it, and it was fine.
Then one day, about six months after I started, my trainer took out his phone and pulled out a video of an old woman doing a deadlift. He told me she was a client of his, and that she was lifting 204lbs at the Missouri state championships.
Later, my trainer said: “I knew I had you when you looked at me all starry-eyed and said: ‘Can I do that?’”
Soon after, he left that gym [to work at] a power-lifting gym. I followed him there, and we started squatting, benching and deadlifting. We worked on making my body understand how to do this stuff. It took me a year before I could confidently squat without falling over backwards.
Why do you think that video made you go starry-eyed?
She was an old woman like me, and she was doing a thing that made me go: “Wow, you’re a badass.” That appealed to me – being able to do something that most people my age couldn’t do.
I also wanted to be able to thumb my nose at my kids and say: “See what I can do now? I’m not a lightweight who falls and can’t get up.”
Once you started seriously lifting, how did you feel? What did you like about it?
A lot of it was the reaction I would get from people when I told them what I was doing. Young people would go: “That’s so awesome!” That felt good.
And I loved the fact that I could do these things. The fact that I could put 200lbs on my back, squat down and then stand up again felt awesome.
The other thing is, your endorphins get going, and they’re doing happy parties up and down your spine, and you feel really good. I often say, if I could bottle how good I feel at the end of a workout and sell it, I would make a fortune.
What’s your favorite lift?
It used to be the deadlift, because it’s the easiest one to learn. Once you learn how to hinge [your hips], you can deadlift.
Now my favorite is the squat. I have a squatter’s body, with short little legs and arms. The squat is my favorite because you have to really think about it. There are a lot of things going on that you have to make sure you’re doing properly. You can’t think about anything else. My mantra when I squat is: “Control, sink, explode.” Having that in my head and nothing else is restful, in a weird way. We live such scattered lives now, that being able to not think about anything else is nice.
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How did you start competing?
My first competition was in July 2019 [with] all three events: deadlift, squat and bench. I was the first lifter, and I was as terrified as I’ve ever been in my life, mostly because I didn’t want to embarrass myself. Then I proceeded to do just that.
My squat was about 120lbs. Not very much. But because I was so nervous, I did what’s called a “dive bomb”: you’re not in control when you squat down, so you lose all your bracing and can’t get back up. I fell onto my backside. Luckily, the spotters caught the bar and it was fine. I was like, why am I doing this?
Then I did well for the rest of the competition, and since then I’ve generally done two national-level meets every year.
Part of what I love is having an audience. But I also had to admit that I’m competitive. Competition is what makes me keep lifting. Because otherwise, it’s hard work, and it can be scary. If I didn’t have any reason other than to be healthy, I don’t know if I would do it.
I’ll also tell you, power lifters are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Yes, we compete with each other, but at the end of the day, it’s you against the iron. Either you can lift it or you can’t. That provides us the opportunity to cheer each other on.
Have you inspired any of your friends or family to start lifting?
No. There are several of my friends who would benefit from this, but you can lead a horse to water … They watch me and go: “That’s really cool, you’re so strong.” But they don’t make the mental leap of: “I need to do that.”
You’re heading to Cape Town in October for the World Masters Powerlifting Championships. How are you preparing?
I work out three times a week. Tuesday is when we do top sets [heaviest set of repetitions performed for an exercise] for squat and bench. Wednesdays is an auxiliary arms day to build up my upper-body strength. And then Friday is Kill Kate Day. That’s when we do volume [a high number of sets and repetitions with slightly lower weights] for all three lifts.
When I leave there, I tell my trainer: “I hate you so much.” But then the next week I can lift even more. He’s very good.
What does your recovery look like?
Sitting here on the couch like a slug. The only thing I do every day is I walk for at least half an hour, just to keep the old body moving. But rest is as important as the actual lifting.
Well, good luck in Cape Town!
I’m feeling pretty confident. Training’s going well. Everything’s feeling really good. As long as I don’t mess up.