Janice Lorraine is an amazing woman.
For one, she’s Australia’s oldest bodybuilder at 75 years of age. But it doesn’t end there because she has also managed to win 23 bodybuilding titles, including Ms. Universe, Ms. World, and Ms. Olympia, even if she started bodybuilding at a late age.
Lorraine, who hails from Granville, Sydney, first started bodybuilding when she was 55 years old. The defining moment came after she had watched an older woman struggling to walk without assistance. That motivated this grandmother not to become “like her.”
“My aim is to show what’s possible and to motivate and encourage women of any age, to live the life they want to live and not be bound by traditional stereotypes and roles and the expectations of others,” explained the retired psychologist.
After her epiphany, she remembers “marching into the male-dominated weights room” in order to start Weight Resistance Training (WRT).
“I had heard that WRT was good for bone density and that it had been shown to be effective in preventing osteoporosis and so, in January 1998 I began WRT and decided that I would become a natural bodybuilder,” she told The Daily Telegraph.
She went hard at it for 15 months before joining her first bodybuilding competition in Sydney in 1999. Lorraine hasn’t looked back since and even plans to compete towards the end of 2019 at which point she’ll be 77 years old.
Like any athlete, Lorraine’s diet forms the core of her routine. Her main focus is health and fitness so her diet remains the same whether she’s preparing for a competition or not.
She calls her diet “natural nude food” (food served without condiments or sauces) and is composed mostly of unprocessed food, salads, and a small serving of microwaved sweet potato.
Protein intake comes from grilled chicken, grilled fish, or eye fillet steak.
Lorraine limits her treats to one biscuit and a single square of 90-percent sugar-free chocolate each day.
Takeaway meals are strictly a no-no though she takes her evening meal with a glass of wine.
However, Lorraine’s actual workout is no walk in the park, either. Her routine sees her training six days a week with Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays dedicated to major muscle groups. Alternate days (Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays) sees her doing 8 km walks, 30 full push-ups, 30 tricep push-ups, 30 back leg raises (10 on each leg then 10 together) with two minutes of ab work.
Being the oldest person in a competition doesn’t faze Lorraine. In fact, she uses it as an opportunity to break the traditional views of age and aging.
“My aim is not to rival those younger than me. My aim is to show what’s possible and to motivate and encourage women of any age,” she explained.
And Lorraine also shows what’s possible even beyond bodybuilding. She says that she has an “amazing” relationship with her partner of 27 years, who is 24 years younger than her.
And she says that she will continue to “make a statement.”
“When I compete in competitions in Australia and abroad, people say that they’re amazed to see a woman over 50 wearing a bikini. I don’t know when I’ll stop bodybuilding,” Lorraine said in an interview with Daily Mail Australia.
“I’ll keep going until I no longer want to. I’m out to make a statement. I’m trying to change people’s perception of what a 70-something-year-old should be. I think my bodybuilding is a great message to put out there.”