Alberta grandma muscles way to podium in Canadian National Arm Wrestling Championships
Airdrie’s Stacey Foster wins four trophies in a sport she took up 10 months ago
Stacey Foster only took up arm wrestling last fall, but she recently won big at Canada's battle of the biceps.
"It's been 10 months and I love it. I don't see me slowing down anytime soon," said the grandmother of four from Airdrie, just north of Calgary.
"My husband has been involved in the sport for 36 years. We went to a couple of tournaments and I was sitting there watching and I'm like, 'OK, I want to try that.'"
Foster, 44, muscled her way to the podium at the Canadian National Arm Wrestling Championships earlier this month, and she did it using both of her arms — winning silver and bronze trophies with her right, and a gold and silver with her left.
"I'm actually stronger on my left than my right, and I am right-handed. It's just the mechanics on my left side seem to work well."
Former bodybuilder
Foster credits her strength to years of training and competing in bodybuilding.
She says the trick to being a good arm wrestler is to "control your opponent's hand" and use all of your body strength.
"When you're at the table everything is tensed up — your arm, your shoulder, your back, your chest, your abs," she said.
"You even use your legs against the table, your hips — everything that gets engaged."
With files from the Calgary Eyeopener