EXCLUSIVE I never stepped foot in a gym until age 62... but now people are stunned by my physique

Daily Mail​

21-04-2025

A woman who had never stepped foot in a gym has revealed how she got in shape at age 62... and went on to become the oldest American Ninja Warrior competitor in history.
While actor and former dancer Ginny MacColl, now 73, from Southport, North Carolina, has 'always' been active, for the first 62 years of her life, she had no interest in weight training or working out.
But all of that changed in 2015, when she decided she wanted to get stronger after becoming inspired by her daughter, Jessie Graff, who had participated on the popular sports competition show America Ninja Warrior.
At first, Ginny, who had 'no upper body strength,' said her goal was to do five pull-ups.
She worked tirelessly with a personal trainer and it took a full year for her to achieve her first pull-up.
But now, a decade on, not only can Ginny do numerous pull-ups, but she also works out six days a week and became the oldest competitor in American Ninja Warrior history in 2022.
While chatting with DailyMail.com, Ginny explained, 'I've always done some sort of exercise.
'Mostly dance from age eight to adult when I moved to NYC to become a professional dancer.
But all of that changed in 2015, when she decided she wanted to get stronger after becoming inspired by her daughter, Jessie Graff, who had participated on the show America Ninja Warrior
'In New York, I danced on scholarship and with a modern dance company and then onto Broadway with the hit show, Pippin, in 1974.'
She continued to dance professionally until she got married and welcomed two kids, when she decided to turn her focus to acting and modeling.
She starred in 'over 100 national TV commercials,' but being a busy working mom with two young children meant she had little time to focus on staying active.
'My exercising was limited to what I did with the kids,' she explained.
After undergoing a divorce, she started teaching dance and worked in radio.
She eventually remarried and moved to North Carolina to 'rekindle her acting career,' but at age 62, she discovered a new passion thanks to her daughter: weight lifting.
'My daughter competed on ANW and she was showing young girls how cool it was to be strong,' recalled Ginny.
'I thought she was strong, healthy, confident and graceful and I wanted to get strong too.
'I didn't have the upper body strength and eventually went to a personal trainer with a goal of five pull-ups.'
Ginny admitted that weight training was extremely 'hard' and so 'different from anything she'd ever done before.'
She knew that starting out at that age meant she would have to take it 'slow' and focus on her entire 'body' as to not injure herself.
And while there were times she felt 'discouraged,' she never gave up.
'I'd never been in a gym, never been in sports. So I essentially started from scratch,' she continued.
'It took nine months to see definition and toning. It took a year to get one pull-up.
'[There was] plenty of discouragement because I saw how so many women accomplished a pull-up and why couldn't I?
'But it made me more determined. If they could do it then I could too.'
In 2016, she decided to participate in ANW with her daughter during a mother-daughter segment.
'It's never too late and you're never too old,' she told DailyMail.com. 'Let's get rid of old stereotypes, like: you can't get stronger as you age, or: it's all downhill after 50'
Now, she has been on ANW three times, and in 2022, at age 71, she broke the record as the oldest female competitor on the show.
She has documented much of her fitness journey online, and has seen a resurgence in her acting career in recent years.
She worked as a stunt actor in Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell's movie You're Cordially Invited, and had a small role as a tennis player in the Sex and the City prequel show And Just Like That.
'It's never too late and you're never too old,' she concluded. 'That's why I post my progress on Instagram, so I can show people that you can do a lot more than you think you can.
'Let's get rid of old stereotypes, like: you can't get stronger as you age, or: you'll get too bulky and you won't look feminine, or: it's all downhill after 50.