Gene Jones: Power in Motion
by BEN CALLOWAY

As a young man, Gene Jones was always active. He served as a radio operator in the U.S. Marine Corps’ 1st Marine Air Wing in Northern China and after completion of military service drove a tractor trailer for three years. But from the time he was 25 until he was 68, he describes himself as “pretty much of a couch potato.”

No one who knows him would use that description now. At 77, Jones is the holder of two world records in his age and weight group for the bench press and has competed in 24 state and local weightlifting competitions in the last eight years. In separate matches, Jones bench pressed 305 and 310 pounds. The lifts brought records in the 75-79 age group and the 220-242 lb. weight group.

A self-educated electrical engineer, the Princeton, N.J., native shares a home in Vinton with Doris, his wife of 53 years, and both exercise regularly at the Lancerlot gym. Jones retired from ConAgra in 1992 and moved to the Roanoke area in 1993.

His family history suggests a natural ability for lifting heavy weights. “My dad was very strong and hauled household furniture for a living. My grandfather on my mothers’s side also was a strong man and dug ditches for a living. I’m bigboned, too, and I compete at about 230-235 pounds,” Jones says.

By the time he reached 68, Jones was tired of the decline in his physical condition and decided to make a change. He discussed the matter with Doris and both decided to check out Lancerlot.

“We felt it was a good place to be and the trainers there became interested in my lifting ability. They told me I had the strength to bench press competitively,” Jones says. “They began to help out with my training regimen and later I started teaching weight-bearing classes.”

Jones, a certified personal trainer and a certified senior fitness specialist, now teaches nine classes a week.

Despite a bout with colon cancer in 2004 that took 14 inches of his colon, Jones continued to teach his classes, much to the surprise of Lancerlot staff. In March 2005, he completed the last of his post-surgical chemotherapy, a process that left him tired but determined to compete. He works on his bench press on Thursdays and on Sundays before church. Saturdays are for leg strengthening exercises.

“I have seen what physical activity has done for me and I want to use it to help other seniors,” Jones says. Doris attends his class three times a week. She also walks and shoots the basketball while he does his lifting. The couple has five children, the nearest being J Alan Jones in Eagle Rock and Jeff Jones in Elkton, W. Va. The other children live in Florida and California.

Jones plans to return to competition soon with a goal of 335 to 350 pounds in the bench press, but is having trouble finding a sponsor to help pay for travel expenses to competition venues. Brabham Oil pays for his entry fees but Jones needs assistance with hotel and travel costs.

In the meantime, he pursues a modified New Mayo Clinic diet that includes plenty of green vegetables, sweet potatoes, and beef to provide the protein needed for hard muscle work. Lifting burns enough calories that he has no concern about portion size and he enjoys bacon and eggs for breakfast.

Ben Calloway is a Roanoke-based freelance writer.