David and Gioia Berry aren’t your typical octogenarians.
Rather than travelling the world, the 81-year-olds have opted to spend their retirement years breaking world records in fitness competitions.
“Our prime function is to try and stay as fit and healthy as we can for as long as we can,” Mr Berry said.
The pair already have an impressive list of achievements between them.
David currently holds three world records for various indoor rowing events in the men’s 75-to-79-year age category and another for the 100-metre sprint for his 80-84 age group, with a time of 17.9 seconds.
Gioia, on the other hand, recently broke the world record on the SkiErg – short for skiing exercise machine – in the 80-to-84-year age category for 100 metres, clocking 25.5 seconds.
The Gold Coast couple, who have been married for more than 60 years, have no plans of slowing down either.
Mr and Mrs Berry have been training for the Pan Pacific Masters Games on the Gold Coast. (ABC Gold Coast: Danielle Mahe)
They’ve spent the past few months training at their local gym and pool for the indoor rowing event at the Pan Pacific Masters Games on the Gold Coast this week.
“I do a split body routine: chest and triceps on a Monday; back and biceps on Wednesdays; and we do legs and arms as well as shoulders on Fridays — so that keeps us pretty busy,” Mr Berry said.
On alternate days, they swim about a kilometre, followed by an ice bath for recovery.
“I used to do yoga and pilates but I can’t fit that in anymore because I’m trying to train for the Pan Pac games,” Mrs Berry said.
Bodybuilding after having kids
Despite their lifelong love for health and fitness, it wasn’t until they were in their late 30s that they decided to take it more seriously by opening a gym and entering body building competitions.
“I was training with weights in the backyard when I was 16 years of age, but I was pretty skinny then,” Mr Berry said.
“I trained reasonably hard up until I met Gioia [at 17 years], and then we got married [three years later in 1964], and we had kids, and everything went on hold for a few years, and we started again probably 10 years after we were married.”
Mr and Mrs Berry on their wedding day in 1964. (Supplied: David Berry)
At 37, Mrs Berry entered the very first Miss Australia bodybuilding competition in 1990.
But Mr Berry said convincing his wife to compete was “a real challenge”.
“She was horrified but like a true champion she bit the bullet and lined up for the comp and did very well,” he said.
“She placed fourth out of about 25 girls, most of them aged between 19 and 22 … but she got the Most Outstanding Achievement Award.”
Mr Berry entered his first bodybuilding competition about a year later at 39 and won the masters category for his age group in the Mr Australia contest.
He ended up going on to become the first person to also win the 50s, 60s and 70-year age categories.
Mrs and Mr Berry at the beach in their late 50s. (Supplied: David Berry)
Mr Berry says despite being prone to injuries these days, he hopes they’ll be able to continue doing what they love together.
“So far, the future is looking good as we both are still breaking records in our age categories and certainly hope we can continue for a while yet,” he said.
‘Never too late to start exercising’
Bond University academic Kieran Le Plastrier says the couple are proof that it’s never too late to start exercising.
Kieran Le Plastrier says people should not be deterred from exercising as they age. (Supplied: Bond University)
“It turns out the literature is pretty good in that it reminds us that even if we don’t make changes till our 30s, 40s or 50s … the things we do in our 40s can make a huge difference into our older age and even into advanced age, which is anybody over 80 years of age,” Dr Le Plastrier said.
He encourages older people to prioritise resistance training, like lifting weights, because it reduces the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and falls.
“Now, you don’t necessarily need to enter a competition and become a bodybuilder, but we know that resistance training actually leads to long-term health benefits,” he said.
“So what I would encourage us to all take away from this story is that no matter when we start, as long as we get started, we can improve our health outcomes into old age.”
