Seventy nine years old.
And lifting an Olympic bar.
That alone should make most of us pause for a second.
Miguelina Padrón, from San Matías in La Laguna, only started powerlifting in 2022. Not at 22. Not at 42.
Seventy five.
Encouraged by her grandson.
There’s something bloody brilliant about that. A grandson nudging his grandmother into the gym… and instead of politely declining, she gets stuck in and ends up competing nationally and internationally.
From training with a mop handle… to lifting serious weight.
That’s not a “nice little hobby”. That’s graft. Discipline. Turning up when your body probably has a few opinions about the matter.
Rosa Dávila and Yolanda Moliné receiving her at the Cabildo feels deserved. Not because it’s a headline. But because stories like this matter.
We talk a lot about ageing in Spain. Long life expectancy. Healthcare. Pensions. What we don’t talk about enough is strength.
Real, physical strength.
Active ageing isn’t just walking the dog and playing a bit of bowls. It’s resistance training. Muscle mass. Balance. Independence. The stuff that actually keeps you out of hospital and off a walking frame.
And here’s the uncomfortable bit for the rest of us.
If Miguelina can start lifting weights in her mid-seventies… what’s our excuse?
I see it in Tenerife all the time. People retire here and slowly shrink into the sofa. Sun, terrace, a few vinos, repeat. Which is lovely… until it isn’t.
Then you see someone like this and it resets the narrative.
Age isn’t the barrier most people think it is. Comfort is.
Breaking stereotypes is one thing. Picking up a barbell at nearly eighty is another level.
Fair play to her.