“That 70s Show” has been off the air for years now, but Waco’s Randy Reid continues to regularly put on his own entertaining, long-running show at the age of 70. Reid has been a mainstay on the national weightlifting scene for more than a decade. Last week he won his seventh consecutive title at the […]
“That 70s Show” has been off the air for years now, but Waco’s Randy Reid continues to regularly put on his own entertaining, long-running show at the age of 70.
Reid has been a mainstay on the national weightlifting scene for more than a decade. Last week he won his seventh consecutive title at the USA Masters Weightlifting National Championships in Boise, Idaho. It also marked his ninth national championship overall.
Waco real estate broker Randy Reid won his seventh consecutive national weightlifting title last week in Idaho and his ninth national title overall.
It’s always a grind, but Reid had to dig deep for this one. In May of 2024, he had rotator cuff surgery, and admitted to being a little rusty when he lined up to compete last week.
“I started this when I was 60 years old and had my first rotator cuff biceps surgery in 2018 and it knocked me out for a year before I came back,” Reid said. “But I had a really strong recovery. In fact, I ended up winning the world championships four years later. It just took a long time. So, I kind of knew what to expect coming back from this surgery — different shoulder, different biceps, but basically the same type of surgery. Same doctor, Brad Gilliam.
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“So, the recovery has been interesting, and it’s worked out well. I’m probably 95% of where I need to be, but that’s pretty good right now.”
Next up for Waco’s Randy Reid will be the Pan-American Masters in Baton Rouge, La., next month.
Last year when Reid competed at the USA Masters he set a national record for the 70-74 age division when he snatched 165 pounds (75 kg). He didn’t quite reach that record this year, snatching 154 pounds, but a gold medal still shines brightly, record or no record.
“This year, a year older, after surgery, I did 70 (kilograms), so I was a little behind my record, but I wasn’t expecting to approach that this time around,” Reid said.
Reid feels like his chief advantage is his flexibility, as he hasn’t spotted many competitors in his age division that can squat low enough to catch the type of weight he’s pulling.
He loves the challenge of it all. Olympic-style weightlifting differs greatly from powerlifting. It demands both strength and speed, as lifters almost violently yank large amounts of weight in the air in both the snatch and the clean-and-jerk disciplines.
“If you think about it, it’s really kind of funny, the sports are misnamed,” Reid said. “Powerlifting is actually strength lifting. And weightlifting, or Olympic weightlifting, is actually power. Because power means the amount of force that you can push, but also the velocity.”
Waco’s Randy Reid lifted a total of 333 pounds in the snatch and clean and jerk at last week’s USA Masters Weightlifting Championships.
Reid continues to work as a real estate broker, but his schedule is flexible enough to allow him to travel to several big weightlifting meets each year. He competes in the world championships every fall, an event that has taken him to the likes of New Zealand, Denmark, Finland and Germany over the years.
Next up will be a shorter trip to Baton Rouge, La., where he’ll compete in the Pan American Masters in May. Then he’ll take a much-deserved break before the world championships arrive in Las Vegas in September.
Reid hasn’t set any type of expiration date for his weightlifting side hustle. He still gets a kick out of training, out of challenging himself. He is close to earning enough points to land automatic qualification into the Masters Weightlifting Hall of Fame, and that’s a goal, for sure. But even when he reaches that benchmark, he may still keep going.
“I think the trick is, first of all, you have to enjoy it, and I’ve always enjoyed training,” he said. “Competition is different, because you have to produce at a particular moment. It’s different than just working out all the time. … Though I like the process, it’s really hard on your body.
“But what I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older is every year, I reduce the volume of my training. My nutrition is pretty good and making sure you get enough sleep and protein and all those kinds of things. I’ve got every little box checked off, so that I can continue to be pretty good at it.”
As he gets older, Waco’s Randy Reid, 70, says he tries to get smarter about his training.
