You’re Not Too Old: A 75-Year-Old CrossFitter Proves Consistency Changes Everything
Manage episode 516549908 series 3566555
What if growing older meant growing stronger? That’s the reality Beverly McCarter created after walking into a CrossFit gym at 63. Now 75, she trains six days a week, deadlifts 170, and chases grandkids with the kind of energy that turns errands into adventures. We explore the simple shifts that changed everything: building muscle to take pressure off joints, turning “slow” into a mindset advantage, and using small, repeatable systems to make hydration, protein, and sleep automatic.
Beverly opens up about the aches, osteoporosis, and carpal tunnel that led her to try strength training—and how physical therapy principles and progressive lifts eased the pain she once managed with caution. She shares the habit that saved her life: three decades of annual mammograms that caught cancer at stage zero, requiring only minor treatment. We talk about finishing last on the whiteboard yet winning where it counts, the burpees she still dreads, and why one rep at a time beats perfection every day of the week.
Community is a core theme. As someone who moved from Taiwan to the U.S. and lived in Colorado, Oregon, California, and Utah, Beverly learned to build deep friendships by reaching out first. The gym, church, and school became chosen family, helping raise kids when relatives were far away and filling quiet days in retirement with laughter and purpose. For caregivers, adult children, and older adults themselves, her message is clear: it’s never too late. Start with chair exercises, a short walk, or a light dumbbell. Add a palm-sized protein. Track water with a system. Show up even when it’s slow.
If you care about healthy aging, fall prevention, mobility, and real-world strength, this conversation will change what you believe is possible at any age. Subscribe, share with someone who needs a nudge to start, and leave a review telling us the one small habit you’ll begin today.
Chapters
1. Meet Beverly: Strong at 75 (00:00:00)
2. Starting CrossFit at Sixty-Three (00:01:06)
3. Mindset and Consistency Habits (00:02:27)
4. Early Cancer Detection Through Routine Care (00:03:39)
5. Building Strength to Reduce Pain (00:05:05)
6. Motivation Through Setbacks and Soreness (00:06:46)
7. Nutrition, Hydration, and Systems (00:08:50)
8. Functional Fitness for Grandparenting (00:10:56)
9. Finding Community Across States (00:13:20)
10. Friendship Maintenance and Support (00:16:08)
11. Daily Connection to Avoid Loneliness (00:18:26)
12. PRs, Deadlifts, and Pride (00:19:50)
13. The Burpee Love-Hate Truth (00:21:20)
14. Never Too Late: Start Where You Are (00:22:35)
15. Closing Gratitude and Takeaways (00:24:20)
68 episodes