Scoggins: Meet Brenda Dockendorf, a ‘sick and tired’ 348-pounder at 58, now setting powerlifting records at 64

WAITE PARK, MINN. – Brenda Dockendorf showed no emotion when her trainer put 190 pounds on the bench press bar. No fear. No surprise. Nothing.

This 64-year-old grandmother doesn’t get rattled easily.

Besides, benching that much weight isn’t anything new for her.

She had a clean rep at 185 pounds a few minutes earlier, which, it should be noted, would have set an American record for her age group had this been an official powerlifting competition and not a random weekday workout at her home away from home, Anytime Fitness.

“Here we go,” trainer Trent Baird said, lifting the bar into position.

Dockendorf brought it down, touched her chest and slowly began to lift it back up. She came close but needed Baird’s assistance getting the bar safely secured. The two high-fived as she stood up. Her warmup was complete. On to the next exercise.

“I didn’t realize that I had strength,” she had said earlier, smiling shyly.

Never in a million years would Dockendorf have predicted that she would one day own five state records in powerlifting. She didn’t play sports growing up. She had never been to a fitness gym. She wasn’t a competitive person. She rarely exercised beyond occasional walks.

She was 58 years old, weighed 348 pounds and took multiple medications as a Type 2 diabetic when she came across a Facebook ad offering a 21-day challenge at Anytime Fitness.

Something told her to sign up.

“I wanted to lose weight,” she said. “Just sick and tired of trying to get around like that.”

Baird set modest goals at their initial meeting.

“My No. 1 priority was: How can I make her comfortable so she will want to come back?” he said.

In those initial 21 days and subsequent six years, Dockendorf discovered strength that she never knew existed, and a partnership blossomed into something much deeper.

Baird’s mother had died not long before Dockendorf walked through the door. He was in his early 20s. She was a grandma desperate to get in shape. In a way, they both needed guidance and support.

“Perfect timing, call it divine,” Baird said.

“We feel like a little family,” Dockendorf said.

Baird jokingly proposed a deal meant as an icebreaker: If he improved her health to a level where she wouldn’t need medication for her diabetes, she had to cook him dinner every night.

She lost 150 pounds and was cleared by her doctor to stop taking her diabetes medication.

Now Dockendorf brings Baird’s dinner to the facility five days a week. Likewise, her doctor is “tickled” by her life changes.

“He used to tell me how much weight I had to lose,” she said. “Now he goes, how much do you want to weigh for your competition?’”

Becoming a powerlifter was never the goal. She didn’t know anything about lifting weights at first. But she became fascinated watching a woman at the gym in her mid-20s who trained as a powerlifter.

I’d like to do that someday, she told Baird.

They started right away.

“We found out that she’s ridiculously strong,” he said.

The secret behind that strength?

“Holding kids,” she said. “I had 10- and 11-pound babies.”

She and husband Peter have six kids — five boys and a girl ranging in age from 25 to 42. All but one of them entered the world weighing at least 10 pounds.

Dockendorf’s dream was to be a stay-at-home mom with a large family, and that’s what she did for 40-something years. She also has provided daycare for her 10 grandkids and does so to this day.

“She did all the mom things so none of us really knew what she is capable of as far as weightlifting,” her daughter Amy said.

Neither did she until she gave it try. She kept increasing her weight total until Baird suggested entering a local powerlifting competition. She was 61. Other competitors were mostly in their 20s. Dockendorf brought home some first-place medals.

She entered the state meet for the first time in January. Competing in the Masters 3A division (60-64 years old), she set state records in bench press, squat, deadlift, bench press single lift and overall total.

She attempted to set the USA Powerlifting national mark in bench press at 182 pounds, which she appeared to accomplish, but her lift was flagged on a technicality.

“Everybody was cheering thinking I had it,” she said.

She still brought home a bundle of plaques and more belief that anything is possible. She has never lost sight of her original intent, to lose weight and become healthy.

“I feel great,” she said.

She trains six days a week for at least 90 minutes a session. She often stuck around and cleaned equipment for another two hours on her own, so Baird, whose father owns the gym, hired her as a part-time employee. She’s there so much that regulars refer to her as “Gym Mom.”

“There’s not many women you know who step into a gym that serious and hellbent on making a difference in their lives,” said close friend LeeAnn Erie. “Her determination doesn’t go unnoticed in my eyes.”

New gym members learn quickly about Dockendorf’s determination, and her strength.

“There have been many occasions where she will lay down on the bench press with giant plates on there and I’ll watch guys run to her, thinking she must be mistaken,” Baird said. “Right when they get to her, she’ll be like …”

He mimicked benching the weight. Their reaction? Whoa.

“She became the glue of the gym because she doesn’t look intimidating and she’s very sweet,” Baird said. “But she can also impress you.”

Her strength is matched only by her humility. She’s just a regular person who discovered a passion, she says.

Dockendorf is hard at work losing weight after gaining some back in recent years. Her goal is to set state records at a lower weight class. Nobody should doubt that outcome.

She also is excited about a new endeavor. She recently completed her personal training certification. She’s a trainer now. The Gym Mom had a new client starting this week.