A 73-year-old bodybuilder who cares for his wife with Alzheimer's between competitions has revealed the secret to his success - seven meals a day. Lindsay Wain started his bodybuilding career when he was 57 and has won 26 trophies.
He has since competed several times in California’s famous Muscle Beach Venice competition - a former Arnold Schwarzenegger favourite - placing in the top five. He used to run a gym - but gave it up to be a full time carer for wife Jean, 71, who diagnosed with Alzheimer’s eight years ago.
Ripped Lindsay is in training to compete in Mr World - where he would be decades older than most of his competitors. He has revealed some of his secrets to his super strength, washboard abs and healthy body - which mean he is fully able to take care of Jean.
They include seven meals a day - including three dinners - pineapple, lots of eggs and no cakes. Lindsay from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, said: "I think everyone after 50 everyone should do weight lifting.
“People start falling after 60, which means bones become brittle and take a long tie to repair. If you fall your muscle will take a long time to repair
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“That’s why I do advocate that 50 year olds do some exercise The amount of people who are on Zimmer frames and riddled with diseases, exercise does help a hell of a lot.
"You can’t stop aging, but from the age of 70 onwards you can see the body deteriorating - complexion changing, shrivelling up, malnutrition, all of that because of lifestyle. If you can exercise the energy levels are there, you can adapt your body to take on a certain amount of weight, and you’ll halve the medical problems you have now
“You don’t have to do strenuous exercise like I do - if you have an active body you also have an active mind. It gives you great self-esteem - mentally you’re on cloud 9.
“I’ll still be looking after Jean every single day of my life. I’ll keep on going until I can’t any more.”
Lindsay started bodybuilding after his parents died aged 65 and 64. His first competition - in his late 50s - saw him come third, despite being up against men ages 22 and 23.
He started to bulk up, and compete in over 50s competitions. “As you get older it’s very hard to sustain a certain weight - so you have to do it in very slow processes, with quite a few small meals," he said.
“After that I started competing in the 60s classes and the I decided to go to LA and competed in the Muscle Beach competition at the age of 63. I came first in the over 60s, then two years after came third, and the last time I competed I was 68 and I came 2nd."
Meanwhile, his wife of 40 years, Jean, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Lindsay said he would not put her in a home but decided instead to care for her at home, now with the help of two carers, and left the gym he has run since 2000.
“As long as I’ve got my health then I’ve got everything," he said. “If I’m not fit there’s no way I can look after Jean.
“When she was in hospital for two months after a fall, she didn’t walk at all. I used some of my knowledge as a fitness instructor to help her to walk again.
“Now she’s walking, it’s remarkable. She can get out of bed with assistance - she knows what her surroundings are. She likes listening to music, so I’ll play Abba and move her arms around like she is dancing."
Lindsay said his fitness allows him to carry on looking after Jean. He said: “100% I am more able to look after Jean because of it.
"If I wasn’t healthy enough to look after Jean I’d have to put her in a home - it’s nice to have your partner in your own home." His training regime is as fierce as ever and he works out with former Mr World competitor Jason Corrick - nicknamed 'The Mass Monster' - twice a week.
Lindsay will compete in Muscle Beach in LA in September, and if he wins, will compete in Mr World. "For a 73-year-old bloke, looking the way I do, I think it’s possible," he said.
“I would put Jean in respite care and it would be a great ambition for me.” He currently aims to consume 200g of protein a day.
He added: “There’s no preservatives, no cakes, no sugar, no biscuits, no chocolate. If everyone stuck to that they wouldn’t have to go to the gym because they’d all look good already.
