Allegheny Township weightlifter overcomes odds

Allegheny Township weightlifter Larry Shaffer has a personalized license plate on his car that reads “W8-LFTER.” But maybe “PRE-VAIL” would be more fitting.

Shaffer, 60, broke state bench-press records in June and now has his eyes set on an Anti-Drug Athletes United world record. What might be his greatest accomplishment, however, is doing so while battling fibromyalgia and elbow tendinitis, only eight years removed from quadruple-bypass surgery.

“Doctors told me I'd never be able to lift more than 40 pounds,” Shaffer said. “Never let anyone tell you that you can't do something.”

In June, Shaffer competed in his first competitive event since 2012, taking a year off because of elbow tendinitis. His lift of 276 pounds broke the previous state record for the 60-64 age group/181-pound class, while his second lift of 282 broke the state and national mark. In his third and final lift, Shaffer went for the world record: 308 pounds.

With 310 pounds on the bar, Shaffer just came up short — “I had it about three-fourths of the way and just couldn't finish it,” he said.

His next attempt at the world mark will be in December at the Clearfield Coal County Bench Press Classic.

In 2012, Shaffer set records in the 55-59 age group, about the same time he began dealing with fibromyalgia, an illness that causes long-term pain in elbows, shoulders and legs.

“With fibromyalgia, if you let it overcome you, it will wreak havoc on your body,” Shaffer said.

But Shaffer hasn't let that happen. He said weightlifting saved his life in 2006, the same time doctors told him he wouldn't lift again.

“Weightlifting has been something in life I've been fortunate enough to excel at, but it is something anyone can do at any age,” he said.

Though Shaffer was a lifter in his late teens, he didn't begin lifting competitively until he was in his 40s when his wife signed the couple up for a gym membership. Shaffer trains at USA Fitness, located inside the Trib Total Media Pittsburgh Ice Arena in New Kensington.

Though most of his former training partners have quit competing, Shaffer has no plans to slow down.

“Hopefully, I can continue into my 70s,” he said. “I don't see any end in sight.”

Alex Novickoff is a freelance writer.