Fit After Seventy: Silver-haired Workout Queens
What immediately comes to mind when you envision yourself at 70? Are you a couch potato or preparing for a 10K?
While we have a multitude of fitness programs geared toward our children and ourselves, engaging our grandmother's generation has been an entirely different matter. Sure, there are fitness programs of some sort in retirement homes, but what about in "real" gyms?
Gym memberships are growing among senior citizens. According to Judy Yorio, head of the fitness programs at Willy's World Wellness, seniors are putting emphasis in strength and core training and health and fitness centers are embracing them, like The Workout Queens of Cape Cod.
My mother may not be a workout queen, but she can put a few 20-somethings to shame as she follows me along a 2-3 mile trail as part of her training for a 10K that she'll do to celebrate her 80th birthday next Spring. This weekend, a young Vietnamese gentleman commented on how strong and fit she looked (compared to what, we thought?). Staying fit physically also keeps mom fit mentally.
I just hope I'm as fit when I reach her age. How do you see yourself at 79?
Comments
How do I see myself at 79? I'd like to think that I'd maintain some level of fitness. Not sure if it would be up to your mother's amazing standards, but if not running, hopefully walking or swimming.
Here at EmpowHer.com, we have our own senior workout queen who is in her 60s and extremely proud of her downward dog and other yoga poses. She's a great role model. I am thrilled to learn that more seniors are taking their fitness levels more seriously and have boosted their standards for maintaining physical fitness.
You may also appreciate this story about a woman who has been dubbed by the media as the "Nun on the Run." She's a 70-plus runner who completed Ironman in Hawaii. Check it out.
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-293--12364-0,00.html
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