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Age is nothing but a state of mind: The 70-year-old body builder
'Age is nothing but a state of mind': The 70-year-old body builder whose abs put men half his age to shame
- Sam 'Sonny' Bryant, Jr., grom Georgia, has been bodybuilding for 27 years
- He took up the sport to relieve the stress of a painful marriage break up
- Within 11 months he entered his first competition and came third
- He works out twice a day and at night works as a forklift truck driver
- He says he'll never retire: 'More people die retired than people do working'
Sam 'Sonny' Bryant says he's as old as he feels. Feel him, though, and you'll never guess his age.
That's because the iron-pumping pensioner has pecks that men half his age would only dream of. His biceps are bulging and his legs are like logs of oak. And the only pills he takes are his vitamins.
At 70 years old, Sonny is a champion bodybuilder from Georgia ... and he has no plans of hanging up his singlet just yet.
'People ask me when I'm going to retire,' he says. 'I say "never". More people die retired than people do working. I love to work, I love to work out. I've been doing this for 27 years.'
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Iron-pumping pensioner: Sam 'Sonny' Bryant, Jr. says he's only as old as he feels. Feel him and you'll never guess his age
Is this the body of a 70-year-old? Sonny started bodybuilding when he was 44 years old
Sonny works the graveyard shift at personal-care emporium Kimberly-Clark as a forklift driver and works out twice a day to maintain the body that has won him more titles and trophies than he can count.
He started out aged 44 when going to the gym seemed the perfect way to let off steam when his second marriage began to fall apart.
He says he'd never lifted a weight before in his life but soon got the knack and entered his first competition just 11 months later in Columbus, Georgia.
He arrived with the wrong outfit – a red, white and blue Speedo – and says he had no idea how to pose.
'The judge called out for a pose, and I had to see what everybody else was doing,' he told the Chronicle.
Against the odds, he came third in the novice competition and fourth in the master competition. Now he can deadlift 425lbs with out a grunt.
Looking decades younger, bodybuilder goes strong at 70
Let off steam: He started out 27 years ago when going to the gym seemed the perfect way to let off steam when his marriage began to fall apart
'I was just like a crack addict - I was hooked,' he told Augusta.Chronicle.com. 'I had two trophies, never having won anything before.
'People say it's age that makes you old, but I believe it's your state of mind that makes you old. Age is just a number.
'It gives most people a reason to be lazy and not do anything. I meet a lot of people who say, "wait til I get to that age".
'Then I tell them how old I am and they are embarrassed. And I tell them that to make a point - it's inactivity and their state of mind that makes them old.'
'I'm like a crack addict': He says he'd never lifted a weight before in his life but soon got the knack and became hooked instantly
Prize-lifter: He entered his first competition just 11 months later in Columbus, Georgia, and came third in the novice contest and fourth in the masters' showdown
Bryant’s diet typically is a dry waffle or scrambled eggs with well-done bacon at Waffle House after he gets off work at 6 am. He then heads straight for Gold’s Gym on Walton Way Extension an hour later.
Born in 1943, Sonny is one of seven children. His father worked in the chalk mines while his mother was a maid and school bus driver.
After his graduation in 1964, he married his childhood sweetheart and joined the army. But the marriage could not withstand the long periods he spent away serving his country and soon broke down.
'Age is just a number': He says it isn't age that makes you old, but your state of mind that makes you old
He has a strong philosophy: 'If you start thinking you're old subconsciously, your conscious mind is going to take hold of that and your body is going to start acting old, feeling old. Then you're old'
After seven years in the forces, he was medically discharged for blistering feet and moved to Chicago where he worked as a restaurant manager, a factory worker and an office cleaner.
Upon his return to Augusta, he began working at the Vet*erans Admin*istration medical center as a nursing assistant where he met his second wife whose father was a patient there. But in 1986, she dropped the bombshell that she wanted a divorce. That was when he turned to bodybuilding.
But he didn't give up on his hunt for nuptial bliss and married for a third time in the late 1990s. He says he never loved her like a wife, however, and they divorced in 2005. From then on, his relationship with his body grew.
How does he manage to stay so fit? He has a philosophy as strong as his bicep: 'If you start thinking you're old subconsciously, your conscious mind is going to take hold of that and your body is going to start acting old, feeling old. Then you're old.
'I don't believe it. I'll dance all night - but that's just me.'
And he has a message for the couch potatoes out there too.
'I want people to recognise what I'm doing and realise that it can be done,' he says. 'They can do it. 'A lot of young guys, they go home, sit around, watch TV and do nothing - I've seen a lot of young guys who are older than me.
'I can't sit around too long. I hate it. I've got to be busy.'
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Wow that's just amazing right there , this is very motivational. This guy is a straight bad ass , nice read.
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PAiN liked this post
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70 yrs old? Really? I dont know Thats pretty damn impressive for that age. I would have to see something that shows me hes 70 before i believe him.
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Dam Pain !
That makes everything right .
I thought that was a message to me .
Only Email contact:
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Will read all emails.
Will not reply going forward to avoid malicious intentions
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Very impressive. I'll probably have to retire from the gym at 55, at least with these joints of mine.
Nice post Pain.
RMKICKS IS POWERED BY: A UNIQUE DESIRE TO EXCELL, BNSF & LF GEAR!!!!
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Originally Posted by
rmkicks
Very impressive. I'll probably have to retire from the gym at 55, at least with these joints of mine.
Nice post Pain.
Have you tried hgh and all the cartilage rebuilding components. Believe me there are the run of the mill and then there are some products out there that have the very best ingredients and ingredients that only the best formulations use due to costs. I truly believe that the body can rebuild itself provided you give your body the building blocks. For instance, I suffered a fairly severe groin pull. Every time I took a step, it was like a little knife was poking me in the groin tendons. I immediately started injecting. igf1 LR3, and the next morning the pain was half, and next morning barely had pain, and the following no pain at all. Years in the past I took at least one month to heal a groin injury of about the same severity...as defined by the amount of pain.
Bare in mind, aging is an accumulation of damage to all the body tissues. If you reverse the damage you have essentially reversed the age of that tissue. And hgh repairs damage in the cells of the tissues. Google something like...the best joint healing formulations or joint healing ingredients...research and you will find the best.
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This is an excellent post. That bodybuilder in his 70's is a great example for all of us. In all seriousness, I do believe age is a state of mind. Here's a couple of funny thoughts though . . . Now that I'm in my 50's, I keep repeating that statement that "age is a state of mind." I never said that shit when I was in my 20's, 30's, or even 40's. Oh yeah, and with all my joint issues, in addition to doing quality cycles on a regular basis now, I'm considering starting to carry a med kit to the gym just to get through my workouts. Here's a couple of items I'll be putting in it - a bite stick, ace wraps, big ass bandaids, and some cold packs to start. Also, I've been catching myself saying "Pain is also a state of mind." The older I get, the more things hurt. But I'll never quite and I want to look like that 70 year old one day.
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This dude kicks ass!
A man is only as the woman that he feels! So he must be banging a 22yo hahaha
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Damn, I'm 53 and plan on training as long as I am physically able to but I with some of you. Not sure the body will hold out that long. lol
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