Markku, 74, loses weight with wild tricks – “It’s no fun”

74 years old Markku Kemppainen turns heads at the gym in Forssa.

The fit pensioner enjoys powerlifting and moves heavy weights – to the great surprise of his fellow trainers.

Kemppainen’s best results in last year’s equipment powerlifting competitions were 135 kilograms in the squat, 115 kilograms in the bench and 170 kilograms in the deadlift. In the classic bench press, he squatted 97.5 kilograms.

The man himself weighs just under 70 kilos and competes in the Masters 4 class in the 66 kilo series.

Need to make sure?

At Forssa’s gym, the bar is loaded with heavy weights right in the morning. Between six and nine o’clock, the hall is Kemppainen’s kingdom.

Other trainers already know the seasoned muscle bundle, but there are always some people who are surprised.

– Yes, sometimes they wonder a little that what a 74-year-old guy like that is doing there. Weights attract attention, Kemppainen laughs.

– The bench is probably the most interesting to people. They monitor whether those irons come up or not. It’s pretty funny.

A couple of times the weights have been left side by side, but Kemppainen always uses safety bars in his bench training, which prevent the lifter from slipping.

– I’m really careful that I don’t get any anxiety down there.

Body dry

Kemppainen has won six World Championship golds, five European Championship golds and no less than 27 Championship golds in various powerlifting sports. Last year, he swept the table in prestigious competitions by winning three world championships and three European championships.

There are typically 1–3 competitors in different series.

You don’t get prize money from the games, but your Finnish carp takes it seriously. Before the games, he even does weightlifting, that is, he drops his weight in order to fit into the 66-kilogram category.

– You can drop a couple of kilos pretty quickly, but it’s no fun. It requires firmness and strength of character, says the powerlifter.

Kemppainen loses weight with the help of diet and sauna. In addition, he takes advantage of the infrared bag.

– We stay there in the bag for a couple of hours and then we still have a sauna on top. You can do it a couple of times a day if necessary.

– It’s pretty tough. Sometimes it’s quite strict to get under the bar.

Brutal arts

Kemppainen had to resort to extreme measures in the value races organized in South Africa at the time, when the pounder showed surprisingly rough readings.

– A couple of days before the race, I saw that it’s okay, I’m a little overweight. Or actually quite a lot.

– I put on a sweat suit and top clothes and went pole walking. I let go of the monstrous tamales in the middle of the city. People wondered where he had run away from. It was probably around 30 degrees.

It would be healthiest to lose weight in the long term, and not as a short wrinkle. However, some use that tactic as well.

– I’ve seen guys who do life-threatening things. They start to lose many kilos in two days, for example. That can’t be healthy on any level. It’s already moving in very dangerous waters, Kemppainen is horrified.

Doctors praise

Doctors like Kemppainen’s powerlifting hobby, because it has kept him in shape, and there have been no injuries.

– They encourage that it is a healthy thing. Better to do something than stay on the couch, he says.

Kemppainen trains 4–5 times a week and conjures up his own training programs.

– I try to train with varied programs, because you can’t do the same thing all the time. I always look for new stimuli and change the program after the prescribed periods. It has worked well.

Inspiration for training programs can be found, among other things, on the Internet.

– In addition, I talk a lot with colleagues. Over the years, many friends have become friends in the lifting circles. Yes, I follow quite closely if a guy is successful. Then it’s interesting what kind of methods he trains with.

Development is still coming

The training has worked. Kemppainen managed to improve his results from last year at the age of 74.

– For example, the bench seems to be in better condition than last year. It depends on the training activity. The condition has remained constant for ten years. There have been no significant moments.

Aging happens at different rates for all people.

– In international competitions, I have seen guys whose level of performance has dropped significantly in a couple of years, Kemppainen says.

The most ruthless lifters try to fight aging with banned substances. The phenomenon is not common, but some cases can be found around the world.

– Has there been a harakiri company there in the past few years. Someone tried to increase fitness with substances. However, it happens very little because we have a very comprehensive doping control.

Chaos in Mongolia

Thanks to competing, Kemppainen has been able to travel around the world during his retirement days. In addition to South Africa, value competitions have been held in Mongolia and Japan, among others.

– Mongolia was quite an exotic place. You should hardly go there as a tourist. I was surprised that in one way or another there had already been development there. The capital, Ulan Bator, was big, but quite polluted, the world champion describes.

– Well-being had already taken over the industry when everyone had cars. Every place was full of cars. There were almost no grass fields in the city area. It was quite a chaos: constant traffic jams and following traffic rules was a bit so and so.

The sports side in Mongolia also left much to be desired.

– It was one of the most basic competition venues I’ve seen. For example, the equipment in the warm-up rooms was quite narrow and dreary. We managed, but it wasn’t in very modern conditions there.

The information and media side of the Games had practically been completely forgotten.

– The World Championships have also been managed in the most modern way, Kemppainen sums up.

Kemppainen traveled with his wife for a long time in the games Pirjon with. He has also achieved two World Championship golds, six European Championship golds and 12 Championship golds. Today, however, the wife is no longer able to compete due to her health situation.