When David O’Connor and his longtime girlfriend, Loretta Salazar, pull chains on the side of the road, they often get stopped by passersby.
People say they can’t believe that the 76-year-olds can carry those heavy chains, which they always do after a powerlifting session.
O’Connor replies by asking the often-younger inquirers a question.
“It’s like, ‘Why aren’t you guys doing it?’” O’Connor said while coaching Megan Smith, a friend of O’Connor and Salazar, in weight training one recent afternoon at the couple’s self-built home, Castle Anam Cara, in Barrington.
O’Connor, a Manchester native, and Salazar, who is originally from Exeter, can’t do everything they did when they were 20 or 30 years old. But they live — and lift — by the philosophy of reaching the maximum potential of your age.
O’Connor and Salazar have had an eclectic life together since they met on a singles whale watch tour in the early 1980s.
They’ve been competitive dancers, store owners and bounty hunters, they said. They’re collectors. They spent 20 years on the Renaissance Faire circuit and previously gave tours of their medieval-themed home to grade school classes.
O’Connor and Salazar both set Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate (RPS) world records at the RPS Vermont/New Hampshire Pro/Am Powerlifting Championship at The Zoo Health Club in Concord last month. Smith won the deadlift competition in her weight division and age bracket at the competition.
“We’re just firm believers in why not operate near your optimal level?” O’Connor said. “Why operate at 70% and miss all of that great stuff that is there at 80%, 90%?”
O’Connor won the squat in the 132-pound division of the 75-79-year-old age bracket by lifting a record-setting 156 pounds. The 1971 Dartmouth College graduate also deadlifted 250 pounds to take first place in his weight division and age bracket. It’s the second-best mark ever by an RPS competitor in that weight division and age bracket.
Salazar won the deadlift in the 105-114-pound division for the 75-79-year-old age bracket with her record-setting mark of 160 pounds.
A 54-year-old Rollinsford resident, Smith won the deadlift in the 105-114-pound division for the 50-54-year-old age bracket by lifting 160 pounds — the second-best mark ever by an RPS competitor in her weight division and age bracket.
A former distance runner, gymnast and rock climber, O’Connor always did weight training to stay in shape for his other sports. Salazar, a dancer most of her life, got into powerlifting because of O’Connor.
Smith started powerlifting with O’Connor and Salazar about nine months ago.
Last year was difficult for Smith. Salazar encouraged her to try lifting because of its mental health benefits.
She didn’t know O’Connor was training her for the RPS competition in Concord until the event was around the corner.
“I kept coming back because things just rapidly started turning around as far as my mental state,” Smith said in between exercises.
Smith said her friends also helped her focus better and quiet the countless thoughts that used to run through her mind. O’Connor compares channeling your focus to training a poodle to walk straight on the sidewalk.
“That has literally been lifechanging for me,” Smith said.
O’Connor and Salazar, who are both vegetarians, believe there are three pillars to reaching one’s full potential: diet and nutrition, exercise and socialization.
When they speak at 55-plus communities, they tell residents that no matter their age, they have a potential they can reach — and will enjoy the rewards of doing so.
O’Connor notes that research shows heavy lifting is extremely beneficial to seniors’ health.
“It’s never too late,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor and Salazar don’t have a set amount of competitions that they want to compete in each year but they’re always active.
O’Connor, who went to Manchester Central before studying earth sciences at Dartmouth, and Salazar train at home three times a week.
To celebrate their 76th birthdays, they pulled a 1,000-pound chain down the road with 10 friends last September.
O’Connor, Salazar, Smith and some of their friends started the year with a New Year’s Day polar plunge at Jenness State Beach in Rye. Again, Smith learned she was participating in the event at the last minute.
O’Connor and Salazar have about six regulars, including Smith, who work out with them at least once a week, including some folks in their 20s.
O’Connor and Salazar train and educate people free of charge. The couple simply enjoys working out with company.
And the castle door is always open to anyone who wants to join.
“We give out and we get it back in — as it should be in life,” Salazar said.
