HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Bill Prince, a 71-year-old Pahrump resident, recently won the national bench-press age group title at Las Vegas. Advertisement ');

Actually, Bill Prince didn't throw his weight around to become a national champion.

He does the bench press. You know ... lay on a bench, have a spotter standing by as you lift whatever weight you can handle without worrying about it falling on your head, take the bar to a maximum height, hold it, then place it in the rack before leaving.

The 71-year-old Pahrump resident competes in various bench press tournaments across the country. His latest adventure was to compete in the National Championships at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

For the third consecutive year, Prince won the title in his age group, benching 303 pounds, beating his own national record of 282-1/2 pounds, set in 2007.

Amazingly, Prince had to recover from shoulder surgery he underwent in January to return to defend his title. In 2006, he benched 275-1/2 pounds -- not bad for a 5-foot-9, 196-1/4-pound competitor.

"I started lifting when I was 14 years old ... my goal was to compete in the Olympics," said Prince, as he sat a bench outside of the Times building Monday. "One of my heroes was Paul Anderson (who was a world champion in 1955, an Olympic winner in 1956 and for years, was billed as the world's strongest man).

"But I quit when I was 27 ... I was feeling burned out and besides, my knees were going bad," said Prince, who resumed weight lifting "when I was in my 50s ... I am a competitive person and missed the competition."

"I played a lot of handball to help keep in shape," said Prince, a native of western New York and a retired health and human services employee for the county of San Diego. "I work out six days a week, primarily at First Move. My workout partner is Gary Miller, a champion lifter himself. And Phil and Lynn Hibdon are involved in weightlifting with me, as well."

There is no secret program that enables Prince to compete at at an age when most people like to sit around and watch TV.

"I eat right ... a high protein diet that includes a lot of fruits and vegetables. My workouts include aerobics, as well as weightlifting," said Prince, who has won six other major bench press championships.

(Pahrump valley residents will get a chance to see Prince and more than 100 other lifters compete in a Nevada state meet at the Nugget in August 2009).