Five years ago, Sandra Foli suffered from septic chock — a lethal condition resulting from severe infection and sepsis. Today, she’s set to break her own powerlifting record.

"I said I just need to get fit after my illness," said Foli, speaking to NBC News Chicago. "It was touch and go for awhile, but I fought it and I recovered."

Powerlifting —the strength sport where competitors square off in squats, bench press, and deadlift — may sound like a young man’s game. However, the 73-year-old Bloomington grandmother recently proved the opposite by completing a 181.5-pound clean deadlift at the 100% Raw Powerlifting Competition.

"She went out there and put up a pretty serious weight for a woman of her age," Foli's trainer, Chad Hobbs, said. "It's an inspiration to a lot of people, where so many people become sedentary later on in life, she's doing something about it."

“Chad was so excited,” she told reporters.

Hobbs has coached Foli’s CrossFit-influenced workout routine for the past five years. What started out as a way of maintaining good heath has now become a passion.

"I see people one or two years older than me in a wheelchair, and I don't ever want to be there," Foli says.