Alicia Read is a Winnipeg powerlifter, and she’s not letting her age define her.
“If a 91-year-old can do this, what’s stopping you?” asked Read.
The 91-year-old’s journey began when she fell and broke her arm in February; she was stuck at home and feeling hopeless.
“Not a smile on my face. I’m sure I had dull eyes too because my brain was dull. I thought as though my head was full of cotton padding. No joy in life, sitting in the corner. Miserable. Watching TV,” she explained.
But that script was flipped when Read was introduced to Iron Age strength for physio, which quickly turned into something bigger, sending her down a life-changing path.
“My head is getting clearer all the time. I’m happy. I came to the gym at first thinking that I’ve got this imposter syndrome. What am I going to do with all these men and their weightlifting? And I came in the door here, and I was instantly in a happy place. Just coming into the gym. It was wonderful,” said Read.
Read has been deadlifting since July, and for her son Bazil Read, seeing mom accomplish a personal best of 70 pounds over the weekend at a charity weightlifting event meant everything.
“You hear the crowd cheering, and I’m so proud of my MoM. I get a little teary, ya know, knowing that she’s living,” said Bazil.
Her trainer? The reigning 2026 champion of Manitoba’s Strongest Man, Tyler Sigurdson.
“She makes things that seemed impossible, lifting weights over the age of 90, getting stronger than you were several years earlier, seem suddenly very possible,” said Sigurdson.
Read, a great-grandmother, has four children, six grandkids, six great-grandchildren, and another on the way.
She says that before she started lifting, she was in a dark place, but her newfound passion has given her a new lease on life.
“I felt as though these were the last chapters of my life now. This was the end of my life. Turn the page and all of a sudden it would be the end. But now there’s another chapter, the weightlifter!” said Read.
Up next for Read? She hopes to deadlift her age, 91 pounds.
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