The 89-year-old power lifter who can raise her own body weight

In the run-up to her 90th birthday, Avila Allsop finds it funny that she can lift 70kg.

After taking up powerlifting only three years ago, Allsop had her proudest win yet this February at the NZ Masters Games.

Powerlifting at the Masters Games usually consisted of three attempts at a maximum weight on three lifts - a squat, bench press and deadlift - against other women in the same age category.

But, being the only person aged in her group, Allsop proved her strength on just the deadlift.

"Shoulders back, keep your hands taut … if you lower the bar at all you're disqualified, you can hold it still but you mustn't drop it," Allsop explained.

There could also be no foot movement, no resting the bar on your legs, at the top of the lift you must stand up straight and you can't lower the bar to the floor until a referee signals "down".

"Reaching my goals is more important than winning, and you've got to be honest, I was going to win anyway because I was the only one in my age group."

The 70kg deadlift was a record that the mother of two did not think was in her sights for this competition.

"At Labour weekend, when I should have been training hard, I had this awful virus. I just had no energy. So eventually I started sort of half training, I went back to [lifting] 30kg. The bar itself is 20kg," she said.

"A fortnight or so before, 70kg was really not in my sight, and [my trainer] Tim wanted me to get more aggressive, he said some of the athletes had the grunt, but that's not me.

"Finally I decided I'd do it my way."

That way, Allsop believed, was powered by her faith in God, but "I'm not a Bible basher," she said.

"We saw another girl, she was aggressive, and she marched up to that bar and she stood there, and we could see her lips, and she said, 'It's mine'.

"Well, I said, 'God is my strength', and I got it up.

"I really don't see how I could have gone from 60kg to 70 without intervention."

Every day, Allsop warms up by laying on the floor of her Auckland apartment within the Country Club Huapai complex, getting herself up into a standing position at least 10 times.

Among other hobbies like spinning wool and arts and crafts, she cycles on a stationary bike to keep her "gammy leg" in good health and water walks with a friend in the fancy pool in her complex.

She tried to move every day, but admitted, "sometimes I am a couch potato".

Allsop said she eats well, avoiding sugar, ultra-processed foods and very rarely drinking alcohol, and sees her trainer, son-in-law, Tim Joyce, twice a week.

Her workouts with Joyce, who was also a physiotherapist, included doing lots of bodyweight work like squatting down with her back against the door.

Allsop made her debut at the Masters Games in 2019 in the indoor row. She made her powerlifting debut in 2023.

"It was one of the events at Masters. I said, 'Why not? Right?"

Now, her medal haul between both sports stands at five gold, four silver and two bronze medals.

Allsop holds records for her age group and believed she might be the first 90-year-old to compete at the NZ Masters Games if she gets there next year.

Proving it was never too late to start moving your body or getting fit, Allsop said you need to be prepared to "start at the bottom and work your way up" - always with the guidance of an expert.

"It's satisfying to know you can just keep going, I don't ever think of age, I don't think I'm old, and I don't know what all the fuss is about."

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