Someone to Know: Jean Dougherty is 74 and she can deadlift 245 pounds

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL)

May 13-- May 13--ATHENS -- Jeanette "Jean" Barbee Dougherty, 74, is 5-feet-4 inches tall and weighs 123 pounds, but she can deadlift 245 pounds.

The deadlift is a weight-training exercise where the person lifts a loaded barbell or bar off the floor to hip level and then lowers to the floor. The deadlift is one of three exercises in the strength sport of powerlifting, the others being the squat and bench press.

Dougherty, who lives on seven acres west of Williamsville, has a personal record of 245 pounds in the deadlift. She set a record in her weight class and division by deadlifting 230 pounds last October at a national meet in Lombard. She bested her own record in April when she deadlifted 235 pounds in a national meet in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Because of her success at Myrtle Beach, Dougherty has been designated raw world record holder in the single lift deadlift in her weight class and division (women's master -- 70 to 74) through the Amateur World Powerlifting Congress.

Dougherty continues training for the World Powerlifting Congress' invitation-only world meet in August in Orlando, Florida. She has been training with Joe Tabit, who has owned Route 29 Fitness in Athens with his wife Anna Tabit, since 2006.

"She started training in 2006. Then I kind of realized, and she also realized (where) her potential -- as far as her genetics and her hard work ethic -- would take her. She was strong from the get-go, and I think probably 2008 (she) decided we should do a bench press competition, and she set a state record in her age and weight class," said Joe Tabit, who added that Dougherty's husband, Bob Hankley, supports her "110 percent."

"A lot of her accolades go to the powerlifting and the deadlift, ... but she is also, I'm going to say, a world-class bench presser for her age and weight class."

Dougherty, who rarely has muscle aches, said, "There just aren't very many women my age that do this. I don't have any competition."

Said Joe: "There's not many women half her age who could do what she does."

Dougherty trains Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings before she heads to work at Miller Insurance Agency in Athens.

"I train her like I would anybody else. I know she's got good genetics, and she's very strong, but I take a back seat. I've been with her 14 years. I know she's strong, and I work within her limits, and I know what she's capable of," Joe said.

Said Dougherty: "Except now that I'm a champion, he's really pushing me hard. I said, 'You don't have to kill me now. I'm good.' "

When you were growing up, were you athletic?

"Not a lot. We just lived in the country, and we always had chores to do -- a lot of chores, inside and outside.

"I played basketball, and that's probably all I did in high school, but it's just always been outside work. Mom had a big garden that we all had to work in. Just work. My dad always farmed, and he was very, very strong, and I attribute a lot of my strength to him. I think I got that gene from him."

How did you get to the point where you're a weightlifter?

"My late boss, Evan Miller, who was the owner of the insurance agency, and Evan just decided one day that Athens needed a fitness center, so he started it in the back of (a building that formerly housed the insurance business; the center opened in 2004, and Dougherty began training with Joe Tabit in 2006.).

"In 2008, was my first bench press competition, and that was at the fitness center. ...

"(Years later at another competition) female firefighters were down here from Tinley Park, and one of them came over to me, and she told me what an inspiration I was, and told me that they had heard about me, and they were deadlifting, so I'm watching them, and the next time I train with Joe, I told him I thought I would like to try a deadlift. He says, 'OK.' He puts weight on the bar, and I bend down and pick it up, and it was 185 pounds, without really knowing what I was doing."

What's the goal now?

"I got that 245 as my personal record. My goal is 250, deadlift.

"I'll get it. I don't care if I am getting older. Joe's keeping me stronger."

Do you cross-train?

"I lift in my son's (Shane Dougherty) woodworking shop.

"He came out to get me the other day, and said, 'Mom, I need your help.' Well, I had this long, huge cabinet that he needed to move from one room to the other, and so I get ahold of it ... the way I had to pick it up I had to grab it ... and lift it, and there was no place for my feet to go, so I'm taking baby steps. It was like, 'Are you kidding me?'

"So, I get down there, and I set it down, and I'm huffing and puffing, and he said, 'What's the matter with you?' He said, 'You need to tell Joe to have you lift some furniture once in awhile.' "

Contact Tamara Browning: tamara.browning@sj-r.com, 788-1534, twitter.com/tambrowningSJR.

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