April 29th 2006
Mr Albert Parry a 75 yr old Body Builder from Mold North Wales enters
the 2006 Mr Wales competition.
I have not received the results of the competition but I saw the picture
of Mr Parry in the papers and thought it worthy of a story.
I hope to get a picture to post on the web soon.
Meanwhile I include an extract from a BBC.co.uk website from a few years
ago where Mr Parry won the competition.....
But you have to see his picture to believe it !
A 73-year-old grandfather with a physique that would shame many men half
his age has lifted another bodybuilding title.
Gym instructor Albert Parry, from north Wales, has become Mr Senior Wales
for over-55s, almost 50 years after he appeared in the first Mr Wales
competition.
He weighs the same now - 10st 8oz (63.5 kg)- as when he was a finalist
at that 1955 inaugural Mr Wales in Rhondda.
As well as working full-time at a fitness club, Mr Parry also works out
an extra hour every day.
I've known people who have gone, died, with big bellies who thought
they mustn't exercise because they've reached a certain age
Mr Parry, who works full-time at the Coaching Station club in his home
town of Mold, picked up the latest of his titles at the Mr Wales final
in Cardiff.
He first caught the bodybuilding bug when he saw its effects in a magazine.
"It was in 1948-49 when I first started - before there were such
things as gyms and we'd never heard of proteins," he said.
"I'm such a small chap - 5ft 5in (1.65 m) - and I just to took to
it. And I'm still not big by any means."
Carolyn Davies-Moore, fitness club
Albert, who has two sons and a daughter - who is also a gym instructor
- said he first trained with a friend, Jack Sneed, in his spare room in
Buckley.
"It was all a bit primitive and we were pioneers," he explained.
"People used to have to find a shed or garage to train in and I
remember Chester Weightlifting Club used to have their HQ at the bottom
of an old lady's garden.
"If we wanted to compete we had to go to south Wales where they
had their miners' institutes which was a big advantage for them".
Times have changed dramatically and Mr Parry says a huge increase in
the number of gyms and millions of people they attract, is a good thing.
'Chips and crisps'
"I'm still training at 73 and I've known people who have gone, died,
with big bellies who thought they mustn't exercise because they've reached
a certain age," he said.
"I started off a couple in their 70s during the week with light exercises,
so it's never too late.
"I look down the high street today and the sight of some men, women
and children stuffing themselves with chips and crisps, well it's a national
crisis isn't it?"
Carolyn Davies-Moore, the Coaching Station's membership manager, said:
"Albert's great, he's funny, quirky and knowledgeable and older people
love the fact he's here, and nobody believes he's the age he is and they
feel comfortable with him.
"I was watching him doing chin-ups the other day and he is so dedicated
and lives by what he preaches."
