Here’s a warning to all the “tough” meat-eaters out there: Don’t try kicking sand in Rocky Luedeker’s face. The 62-year-old vegan powerlifter could have you on your backside in a second. She started lifting weights competitively four years ago and now holds 13 world records and 26 state and national records. Her best curl is 45 pounds, her best squat is 124 pounds, and her best deadlift is 184 pounds.
Rocky Packard Luedeker / Facebook
And she’s a real person, unlike Rocky Balboa. She’s a true champion. Armed with a can-do attitude—and maybe some rice and beans—the Arizona athlete intends to prove that vegans (including record-breaking, powerlifting ones like her) can get plenty of protein in their diets. That’s because virtually every vegan food, including beans, broccoli, lentils, mushrooms, peas, tofu, and whole grains, contains protein.
And unlike animal-derived foods, vegan ones also contain fiber, complex carbohydrates, and other essential nutrients—but none of the cholesterol that’s found in meat, eggs, and dairy “products.” Many people who eat animal-based foods actually get an excessive amount of protein. Too much can cause kidney stones and cancer of the colon and liver. High levels also leach calcium from the body, ultimately causing osteoporosis.
A report on the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study at Harvard University confirms that people who eat plant proteins rather than animal proteins tend to be better able to maintain a healthy weight and are less likely to suffer from cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and other life-threatening conditions.
Rocky may be more than twice the age of the other powerlifters on the PlantBuilt Vegan Muscle team, but she doesn’t plan to while away her golden years in a rocking chair. She’s competing in Las Vegas in November, trying to break the bench press record. She wants to inspire others to question their limits. Her daughter, Bianca, is a proud part of the “Lifting Luedekers” and is in training for the 2024 Olympics.
Rocky would really like to see more women her age competing, working out, and being active.
“If I’m doing it, they can do it!” she says.
If you feel inspired by Rocky to get out and lift some weights or if you’re someone who enjoys weightlifting and wants to become more serious with your training, I suggest taking a look at Daniel Austin’s book The Way of the Vegan Meathead: Eating for Strength. Austin is a competitive powerlifter and a vegan, and he lays out a simple, easy-to-follow training program and even offers sound advice on devising a vegan meal plan to maintain lean, healthy muscle and fuel your body all day long.
So what about you? Are you a vegan powerhouse? Did Rocky inspire you to get active?
Share your “vegan strength story” on Prime’s Facebook page and motivate—and impress—others.
Did you know?
Some of the strongest animals in the world, such as gorillas, elephants, and buffaloes, are plant-eaters, as Patrik Baboumian, who broke the world record for the most weight ever carried by a human, points out in an ad that he appeared in for PETA.
