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Muncie boasts 90-year-old weightlifter

MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) – Three times a week, you’ll see him stroll into the Muncie YMCA right by the treadmills, the stair-climbers, the elliptical, the bikes and right to the free weights.

Carl Miller doesn’t mess around because he prefers the 45 pound plates. Carl is 90 years old.

“The other day I did 150 reps with 135 pounds and I felt real cocky. I felt really good all the way around. It’s a builder you know, when you workout and do something for yourself it makes you feel good,” said Miller.

Carl doesn’t have any problem doing neck lifts up to 300 pounds. What do his friends say about him lifting all those pounds?

“‘You’re a freak of nature. You’re a freak of nature,’ that’s what the doctor told me the other day,” said Miller.

A freak of nature that just underwent open heart surgery less than three years ago. That couldn’t slow him down and it seems nothing can.

“Because you get to working out with a guy and he says, ‘What are you going to do today?’ and I said, ‘Let’s start putting the weight on,’ and he says, ‘When are we going to stop?’” said Miller.

Miller has no intention of stopping anytime soon. He’s been lifting weights for almost his entire life. He won the Indiana state weightlifting title back in 1953. When asked what his secret is, he said that he had been raised on a farm and had eaten oatmeal everyday for 30 years.

“If it (could) move a 2,000 pound horse, I figured it could do something for me,” said Miller.

It’s certainly done something for Carl and he hopes to pass his passion along.

“When you work out and do something for yourself it makes you feel good and your spirits are better. Because through life you have a lot of ups and downs. But if you work out you can handle it better,” said Carl.