She deadlifted twice her body weight at 60. Here’s how it started.
The rappel rope was in her hands. Below her: a hidden canyon chamber in Moab, Utah. Above her: a decade of work she never saw coming.Jodi, now retired after 40+ years behind a desk at a major corporation, stood at the edge of that canyon wall and went over.
“It was thrilling,” she says. “And it would not have been possible in my pre-APT life.”
Let me back up.
For most of her career, Jodi was what she calls a workaholic. Athletic in her younger years — she ran track, rode horses — but midlife put exercise on the backburner. She walked. She ran from point A to point B when she had to. That was it.
By her late 50s, stress had become a constant companion. Posture was suffering. Small aches were shrugged off as just getting older. And the idea of joining a gym? Honestly, it made her nervous.
“I had never belonged to a gym and was pretty sure it would be a struggle to fit in.”
The turning point was, in her words, “funny.” She’d done business with Ken Barber Appliances for years. One day she noticed a new building at the old Ken Barber site. Curious, she poked around online. Found the Advantage Personal Training website. Sent a couple emails. Signed up for a trial.
She walked through the doors in March 2015 — unsure, self-conscious, and bracing for judgment.
What she found instead stopped her cold.
People of every age and ability working alongside each other. Coaches who actually asked about her goals, not just her age and gender. Workouts that felt designed for a real person, not a generic template.
“I was surprised by the compassion of every coach. They are all kind and interesting people — even when they’re making you sweat.”
The stress didn’t vanish overnight. But it started to lift. Posture improved. Energy returned. And then things she’d have called impossible started happening.
She finished Spartan Races. Multiple of them.
She deadlifted double her body weight. (She prefers the trap bar. The asterisk is hers, and she’s fine with it.)
And recently, she rappelled down into a hidden canyon chamber in Utah at an age when most people are slowing down — not going vertical.
“APT has been great for my mind, body and soul.”
