54 Yr Old Takes on Fitness Competition

**sassy69** · 03-30-2010, 04:56 PM

My personal commentary on this is that its awesome enough to have a bikini physique at the age of 54, and in Fargo, ND (where I know there's not exactly huge fitness / physique community), but to take FITNESS at that age. I won't even get involved in the sparring in my kickboxing class for fear of jacking my joints. Props to Kelle!

BTW I also find the comments below the article interesting --- omg the world is full of ignorant fucks. If this is manly, figure girls may as well be wearing lumberjack shirts, chewin' tabaccky and doing nose jets during the lineups.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article.../group/Sports/

Fitness guru Lease, 54, is no ordinary grandmother

Kelle Lease wanted to include more in her fitness routine at North Dakota State’s Festival Hall. By: Eric Peterson, INFORUM

Kelle Lease
Kelle Lease competes Saturday in the Upper Midwest Bodybuilding and Fitness/Figure Championship event at North Dakota State.Dave Wallis / The Forum
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Kelle Lease wanted to include more in her fitness routine at North Dakota State’s Festival Hall.
Lease, however, had to scale back as she has been battling sickness in the two weeks leading up to Saturday’s Upper Midwest Bodybuilding & Fitness/Figure Championship.
“I’m probably going to have to wait until the next show to show off those skills,” Lease said with a laugh.
For the 54-year-old – who has two grandkids – the event was her first as a fitness competitor. She has previously competed in bodybuilding and figure.
Lease started to compete in bodybuilding at age 46 before she tried figure for the last couple years.
“If I hear, ‘Is that your sister?’ one more time I’m going to puke,” joked Tawny Koltes in a phone interview.
Koltes, who is Lease’s daughter, lives in North Carolina and wasn’t at Saturday’s event.
“People always say, ‘You’re going to look like your mom when you’re older.’ ” said Koltes, who is 31. “So, I’m waiting.”
Lease has been dedicated to fitness as long as Koltes can remember. From when she was a child, Koltes recalls her mom having gym equipment around the house.
That’s why Koltes urged Lease to try bodybuilding.
Lease said she gained “a lot of weight” after she gave birth to her daughter and that’s when Lease was first introduced to weight lifting.
It didn’t get serious until years later.
“My daughter finally told me, ‘You better hurry up here. You are going to get too old,’ ” Lease said of her decision to start being a bodybuilder in her mid-40s.
While Lease enjoyed the challenge bodybuilding presented, her 5-foot-1 frame didn’t allow her to develop as much muscle mass as some bodybuilders on the national level.
Lease decided to switch to figure, where muscle tone is emphasized more than muscle mass.
Lease said “she just wasn’t feeling” figure and thought she was going to stop competing after last year.
“But I love the goal, something to keep you going,” Lease said. “It just seemed boring not to have a goal to work toward.”
So Lease decided to start competing in fitness, which typically includes a routine round and swimsuit round.
Lease started to take gymnastics lessons a few months ago to help develop moves for her routine round in fitness.
“If she puts her mind to something, you might as well chalk it up to being done,” Koltes said. “She is a big inspiration to anyone who comes into contact with her. She just loves what she does and she’s good at it.”
Koltes said her two daughters – Savannah Gunter, 9, and Skylan Koltes, 4 – are proud of their grandma’s success.
“My girls bring pictures of her to ‘Show and Tell’ of her competing,” Koltes said.
Lease hopes her story can inspire others to take a similar path.
“I like to do it for a lot of woman I meet,” Lease said. “They put up a barrier. Anyone can do it. I just think it’s fun because it’s good to inspire people to show them that you can do it at any age.”

**FindingMyWay** · 03-30-2010, 08:33 PM

She's a knockout!

Unbelievable that some are commenting, "she looks like a man"!

This link might work a bit better: Fitness guru Lease, 54, is no ordinary grandmother | INFORUM | Fargo, ND

**Curt James** · 03-30-2010, 08:53 PM

Someone said she looks like a man?

**Built** · 03-30-2010, 09:52 PM

She looks friggin' AMAZING!

**Built** · 03-30-2010, 09:58 PM

Really? Where?

**Built** · 03-30-2010, 10:11 PM

She's just really lean.

Now, she MAY have had a tad bit of help but if she has, it wasn't much. She's got good genes and she trains well and eats well. At 54, she'd have to, to look like that.

**sassy69** · 03-30-2010, 11:41 PM

Originally Posted by Richard Gears

She seems a tad bit virilized to me.

Competition leanness produces the sharper lines.

**Built** · 03-31-2010, 12:28 AM

I've never even gotten competition lean and I was stunned at how skinny my face got when I took my avatar shot.

Keep in mind, I was 100% natural in that pic. I just got really lean.

**Perdido** · 03-31-2010, 04:07 AM

Originally Posted by Richard Gears

well, im not saying shes unttractive, but her chin/jaw structure seems a bit too chizled...maybe its just giving that illusion from the angle of that pic, id have to look at a few others to speak fair i suppose.

I think it has to do with the angle the picture was taken and how the shadowing is giving that too chiseled illusion.

**Hoglander** · 04-01-2010, 09:20 PM

She looks dehydrated. She would look better with more water weight. That dehydrated her head looks to big for her body. 54 or 24 it's a bit to much of a depleted look, IMHO.

**twarrior** · 04-02-2010, 06:20 AM

Holy Smokes!! She looks unbelievable for a 54 year old grandmother. There needs to be more out there with her attitude towards fitness. Sorry to be crass but for me GMILF alert

**Curt James** · 04-02-2010, 07:54 AM

Originally Posted by Hoglander

She looks dehydrated. She would look better with more water weight.

She probably is at least slightly dehydrated. She's a Fitness competitor not Bikini.

The NPC & IFBB currently hold Bodybuilding, Figure, Fitness, and Bikini competitions, although I didn't see that the reporter noted anywhere in the article what federation or organization Lease competed in.

Regardless, I suspect Bikini would appeal to you most. (Some detective I am, eh?)

Originally Posted by Hoglander

That dehydrated her head looks to big for her body. 54 or 24 it's a bit to much of a depleted look, IMHO.

If you think her head looks big then I hope we never meet. My coconut is some 23 inches around. Those "one-size fits all" hats? They don't.

**Curt James** · 04-02-2010, 08:39 AM

Originally Posted by Richard Gears

well, im not saying shes unttractive, but her chin/jaw structure seems a bit too chizled...maybe its just giving that illusion from the angle of that pic, id have to look at a few others to speak fair i suppose.

Bodybuilding.com featured Kelle Lease a few years back:

Bodybuilders.com - Over 40 Bodybuilder Of The Week: Kelle Lease! Pics and info and more!

2009 Masters Nationals Figure: Class A 45+, Lease placed 7th.

Lease's Competition History

2002 Muscle Mania 1st Lightweight Novice
2002 Muscle Mania 2nd Women's Elite
2002 Muscle Mania 2nd Women's Lightweight Open
2002 Upper Midwest Woman's Overall Champion
2003 Ms Minnesota 2nd Masters 40 +
2003 Ms Minnesota 2nd Women's Lightweight
2004 Ms Minnesota 2nd Masters 40+
2004 Ms Minnesota 2nd Women's Lightweight
2004 Upper Midwest Championship 2nd Masters
2007 Upper Midwest Women's Overall Champion
2007 Masters Nationals Bodybuilding 5th Women's Lightweight 35+
2007 Masters Nationals Bodybuilding 1st Women's Lightweight 50+
2009 Masters Nationals Figure 7th Class A 45+

Lease is also a certified personal trainer.

Her jaw is prominent, a characteristic shared by many people including the first woman in Oscar history to win the Best Director award (for "The Hurt Locker"), Kathryn Bigelow.

Kathryn Bigelow, age 58

Uh, okay, sidetracked there. Regardless, there are a few more pictures of this amazing athlete. Lease is inspiration to anyone who would use their age as an excuse not to get in the gym.

I encourage people to treat female competitors as they would the men, less attention to their attractiveness and more respect paid to their dedication, conditioning, and shape. Lease has competed in Bodybuilding, Figure, and Fitness. She deserves recognition for her achievements in the sport.

**Curt James** · 04-02-2010, 05:30 PM

Hear ye, hear ye! I introduce to you Curt James, moderator and...

thread killer.

**FindingMyWay** · 04-02-2010, 05:41 PM

For what it's worth, I think Kelle rocks. She's accomplished a lot. It goes without saying that competing takes a lot of hard work and determination (at any age) -- I give her props for that.

Feel better, Curt?

**Curt James** · 04-02-2010, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by FindingMyWay

For what it's worth, I think Kelle rocks. She's accomplished a lot. It goes without saying that competing takes a lot of hard work and determination (at any age) -- I give her props for that.

Feel better, Curt?

A little.

Okay, a lot. ---->

**Perdido** · 04-02-2010, 06:13 PM

Originally Posted by Curt James

Hear ye, hear ye! I introduce to you Curt James, moderator and...

thread killer.

I gave you reps for the crickets

**Curt James** · 04-02-2010, 06:24 PM

^Cricket reps. Huzzah! And thank you.

(Wonder if I'll get hijack reps, too.)

ON topic Kelle Lease: She has a BodySpace profile for anyone registered on that site: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/klease/

**MsGuns** · 04-02-2010, 09:20 PM

She looks AMAZING but doesnt she favor Kelly Ryan a lil in the eyes/nose area.

**Curt James** · 04-02-2010, 10:49 PM

^You're right. She does a bit. Not a comparison I'd want, though. What a nightmare Ryan's life became.

**Hoglander** · 04-03-2010, 12:11 AM

Originally Posted by Curt James

^You're right. She does a bit. Not a comparison I'd want, though. What a nightmare Ryan's life became.

Yeah, her picture (non-contest, I guess) on the left looks more healthy. Her form between belly button and thigh looks way better as well. She does look good in both but better in the picture on the left.

**T_man** · 04-08-2010, 09:21 PM

she... looks.... really fuckable on her contest picture, and even moreso on her non contest one. 6 years older and she would be tripple my age. damn

**sassy69** · 04-08-2010, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by T_man

she... looks.... really fuckable on her contest picture, and even moreso on her non contest one. 6 years older and she would be tripple my age. damn

Fitness is an amazing anti-aging agent.

**T_man** · 04-09-2010, 08:14 AM

She looks better than the average 35 year old

**sassy69** · 04-09-2010, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by T_man

she... looks.... really fuckable on her contest picture, and even moreso on her non contest one. 6 years older and she would be tripple my age. damn

And she's now a fitness competitor .. she's probably incredibly flexible as well as strong

**unclem** · 06-29-2010, 03:26 AM

yeah fitness keeps you young except in the morning when you cant walk for a 1/2 hr. but the rest of the day is great. i feel 60 but look 35. ahhh she looks incredible, no shes a knockout. in a compliment way. i hope to keep looking young but the grays r coming in bad. might have to die the old rug. good luck to mrs lease.

**AKIRA** · 06-29-2010, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by sassy69

Fitness is an amazing anti-aging agent.

I know you dont like us judging people on "fuckability" and you havent a clue on how that has affected me personally in my daily life, but as far as this woman goes, her physique is top notch. What stops me from finding her attractive is her tan skin. Or should I say leather skin..

I like the tanning bed as much as the next person, but after a certain age, I will stay the fuck away.

**NeilPearson** · 06-29-2010, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by AKIRA

I know you dont like us judging people on "fuckability" and you havent a clue on how that has affected me personally in my daily life, but as far as this woman goes, her physique is top notch. What stops me from finding her attractive is her tan skin. Or should I say leather skin..

I like the tanning bed as much as the next person, but after a certain age, I will stay the fuck away.

By then the damage is done. To not look all leathery, you have to avoid tanning like that between the ages of 1-40. You can't just stop at 40 and expect to not have leathery skin

**Perdido** · 06-29-2010, 02:51 PM

How do you know she uses a tanning bed? Don't most competitors use a spray on tan?

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