Tucson powerlifters to showcase their strength at National Powerlifting League Nationals | News

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) – A group of Tucson powerlifters is getting stronger with age.

The athletes will showcase that on the national stage this weekend, competing at the National Powerlifting League (NPL) Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

“Each competition is going out and breaking my own records,” Tamara Mack said.

Tamara Mack knows all about breaking records. The 57-year-old is currently ranked number one in the world in her class.

“Right now I have a 402 deadlift and a 275 bench press,” she said.

Mack is hoping to top those numbers at the NPL Nationals, with coach and fiancé Jon Marshall by her side.

“I’ve been competing for 42 years and I’ve been coaching for 35,” Marshall said.

Marshall will coach more than a dozen competitors at the event, four of them from Tucson.

“At this meet, I’ll have a nine-year-old up to a 70-year-old,” Marshall said.

“We’re all different levels,” Mack said. “We’ve all been doing it for different amounts of years. We all come to train together and work out together. It’s a great group.”

61-year-old Carol Hemersbach has trained with Marshall for two years. 

“He has helped me believe in myself and helped me believe I’m capable of lifting heavy,” she said.

Hemersbach has her sights set on breaking two national records in Tucson. Preparing for that isn’t easy.

“The last couple months are intense,” she said. “They’re tiring.”

“Every morning I’m a little bit stiffer,” Mack said. “For me, that’s one more push to try harder and beat the challenge.”

Mack and Hemersbach said it’ll be worth it when they take the platform. 

“When you come in the gym, the work you put in is the results you get out,” Mack said. “This is somewhere I can take control, beat goals. If I can tackle it here, I can tackle it somewhere else.”

“Just the knowledge that you can be that strong regardless of age or gender,” Hemersbach said. “Doing strong things is empowering.”

The NPL Nationals begin Friday in Tulsa and run through the weekend.