Rose-Ann Gets Strong at 99

by Michael Shammas, SSC | January 23, 2024

I want to share with you the story of Starting Strength Boston’s oldest member, Rose-Ann. She turned 99 years old on September 18th of 2023, which I believe makes her the oldest member within SS gyms, and probably the oldest barbell trainee in the world. She lives a quiet life and is fairly averse to cameras and media, which is why I'm writing up her story in this article for this obscure website. Although as her daughter likes to say, “If you don’t want attention, then you shouldn’t be 99 and barbell training.”

Rose-Ann began training with us at SS Boston shortly after we opened in 2021 per the recommendation of her nearly 70-year-old daughter Deb, a founding member of our gym. Deb and her husband Ray quickly saw the value in fortifying their physical capacities, and thought the Starting Strength method would be a good fit for a physically-conscientious individual like their mother.  

Rose-Ann’s intro session involved the usual assessment of physical capabilities, including the ability to squat down and stand up through a full range of motion. Much to our amazement, she was able to sit down on one of our benches and stand back up without any issues. She seemed offended even by the notion that we would assume she would allow her physical condition to deteriorate to the point where she couldn’t perform a squat with the weight of her own body.

A fiercely independent individual, Rose-Ann lives alone in the house she has lived in for 67 years. She does her own cooking, cleaning, and sometimes gardening, and is extremely popular around the holidays due to her stellar home-made pies. Wary of the unfortunate possibility of a fall-related injury – an accident that several of her friends have fallen prey to – the decision to begin strength training seemed like a no-brainer to Rose-Ann. Since that day, she can now perform sets of 3 with 57 lb on her back (although, something tells me she wishes she had an excuse to not squat). Rose-Ann’s favorite quip when asked how long she's been lifting is to reply, “Well, I started when I was 96…”

Rose-Ann was admitted to the hospital with abdominal pain on Sunday, November 26, 2023. On her intake form, she let the staff know that she had deadlifted 88 lb a few days prior on Friday. She immediately became a celebrity and received visits from staff all throughout the hospital. After running some tests, the doctors found a malignant tumor in her colon. The standard protocol after diagnosing a 99-year-old patient with this ailment is to send them home, let them deteriorate, and go quietly into the night. Because she was strong and fit enough thanks to her training at SS Boston, the doctors decided to operate and remove the tumor. Upon hearing the news that this operation may pose an inconvenience to her weekly training session, Rose-Ann was adamant about being released from the hospital by Friday.

The surgeon was able to remove part of Rose-Ann's colon along with the tumor, the only unfortunate consequence being that she has to live out the rest of her days with a colostomy bag. She went for 2 walks the day after her surgery, and did not want to skip a beat with her training. The only words that came out of Rose-Ann’s mouth after her remarkably unique surgery were about Starting Strength. She sang the praises of the program to every staff member that would visit, and there were quite a few given the circumstances. She attributes her physical condition to training and recognizes that it is the most valuable activity in her life.

Rose-Ann is currently about 5 weeks post-surgery at the time of this article being written. She is wrapping up her post-surgery PT and will be joining us back at the gym in no time. I would like to note that, given that it is the first week of January, Rose-Ann was able to spend another holiday season with her loved ones. Barbell training gives us a surplus of quality years that can be spent with loved ones, traveling the world, pursuing new and old passions, or living into your centennial year. I find it absolutely staggering that Rose-Ann was able to fight and beat cancer (hopefully permanently) via emergency surgery at the ripe young age of 99, and I know you will as well.