NEW YORK (Reuters) - As an active 77 year old, Edith Wilma Connor enjoys doing step aerobics with her great-granddaughter. But pumping iron is the real passion of the oldest female competitive bodybuilder.

"When I'm getting ready for competition, I go as heavy as I can," said Connor, who was awarded the title by Guinness World Records. "To me it's fun to add another 25 pounds (11.3 kilograms) and do it."

Connor, who is based in Denver, Colorado, is a late bloomer who began to pursue fitness in her 60s, to counterbalance the sedentary work the data entry company she owned with her husband demanded.

"It was something I could do by myself, for myself," Connor explained. "It was a tension releaser. I sit at a computer all day, so it was one way for me to take it out on the weights instead of the employees."

On her 65th birthday she entered her first competition, the Grand Masters in Las Vegas, and won first place.

"At that point, I was hooked," said Connor who went on to become a certified personal trainer specializing in the mature body.

Her day starts with an aerobic or other warm up exercise followed by weight training. Typically for bodybuilders, all body parts are not trained during each session.

She works out at least three times a week and does not diet, preferring to follow the nutritional guidelines she developed over time for her body type.

"I allow myself a few pounds, until my clothes don't fit right, then it's got to come off," Connor said. "It's a mindset."

She lost her husband of 57 years two weeks after her last competition, in 2011.

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Oldest female bodybuilder loves pumping iron