The Associated Press
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - Traverse City Police Chief Ralph Soffredine is showing his muscle off the force.
Soffredine, who will retire from the department early next year, won his age class at the U.S.A. Powerlifting Bench Press Nationals in Bedford Heights, Ohio on Sunday.
Soffredine, 65, said it’s a myth that older folks can’t develop muscle.
“That’s not true, in fact, I lift more than I was lifting back when I was in my 30s,” he told the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Soffredine won the national title for lifting 365 pounds. That’s just 20 pounds short of the national record for his age class of 65- to 70-year-olds.
Soffredine said he hopes to set a national record when he competes at a state weightlifting competition in December.
And a victory this weekend in Cleveland would earn him an invitation to the International Powerlifting Competition in Prague, Czech Republic, this spring.
Soffredine participated in weightlifting when he finished college at Central Michigan University, but gave up the sport about 15 years ago. He took it up again last year after his son-in-law urged him to get back into competition.