Posted on 06/18/2012 8:43:50 AM PDT by trailhkr1
The world's oldest female bodybuilder wakes up every day at 02:30 to fit in a 10 mile (16km) run before hitting the gym.
But 75-year-old Ernestine Shepherd insists that "age is nothing but a number".
"Miss Ernie", as she is known in the world of competitive bodybuilding, began training at the tender age of 71.
She says her true calling in life, however, is helping others to follow a more healthy lifestyle.
The BBC caught up with her at an exercise class at her church in the US city of Baltimore, Maryland, to find out why she started bodybuilding
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
I’m not into muscular women, but God Bless her, that’s impressive.
How beautiful she is! And she speaks so sweetly. What an inspiration! I’m going to let her inspire me.
I’m inspired!! I think I too will start bodybuilding . . . at 71.
Remember that when she’s not deliberately flexing, she’s not going to look muscular.
I’m just trying to figure out why she doesn’t have any cellulite at 75. Hm...Thermage, perhaps?
Laz?
Good for her but no thanks...
Good genetics..+ it appears form hr old pics she was always in somewhat decent shape.
I was impressed with her able to do pullups....
There was a huge crowd around her at the Arnold all weekend.
75 is just a number.
An awfully big number.
And age is just a state of mind.
An awfully big number...
She says her mission is to inspire others, and she certainly does that! She doesn’t teach body building, but encourages others to be healthy, happy, disciplined, and prosperous. She sounds like she’s not only developed herself physically and mentally, but spiritually and in wisdom, as well.
If only we would listen to the truly wise among us, but we most often don’t. This woman is a walking, running “testament” to determination and positivity, and looks much better than most younger people do!
——I’m just trying to figure out why she doesn’t have any cellulite at 75. Hm...Thermage, perhaps?——
Could be, but I haven’t seen too many female runners with cellulite.
Running 10 miles per day at her age sounds like a bad idea, though. Too hard on the joints. She should use an elliptical, or something else low-impact.
I decided at the age of 61 to become an athlete. I walk about 30 miles a week in good weather. I need to get back to the gym though to get more upper body stuff and keep it up during the winter.
Good for you!!!. Women need to do more weight training with heavy weights-great for bone health and keeping muscular strength. Too many women think they will bulk up..which won't happen unless they are on let's say "supplements"
30 miles a week is great..
That’s relative to your own age. My uncle is in his late 80’s, and he still walks around his neighborhood every clement day. To him, a 75-year old woman could look like a babe. :-)
IMO, she most likely has good genes in her family and able to build on those genes.
Like the results of weight training but hate doing it. Boring.....forcing myself to do some physical activites here in mid 50’s. I like jogging but the body doesn’t cooperate anymore as in younger days—it prefers to be walked instead. Gotta keep that BP down so its a must.
I am 62 yrs young, up at 4:00 AM to have a cup or two of coffee before I hit the gym for an hour of crossfit training. At work I eat my lunch at my desk so that I can spend my lunch time walking (arthritis won’t let me run anymore). I plan on keeping this routine as long as I am still breathing and plan on that being well into my 90s/100s.
You’d like to get back to the gym, but after running 30 miles a week, you’re 600 miles away?
To each their own.
I’m inspired to go get a large Carmel Frappe at McDs.
Otherwise,I believe in staying active. Not ‘excercising’
Genetics and what you do with those good genes can be amazing.
One of our younger relatives is 13. She is a competitive dancer, cheerleader, soccer player and could out run any boy her age until this year.
We joke that she has a ten pack instead of a six pack. That is probably do to her doing sets of 30 military style push ups several times a day with a couple of clap push ups thrown in and maybe a one arm push up with each 30 pu set.
Her mother, in her fifties is a Jazzercise instructors, and a regular walker.
Her Dad runs a couple miles 3 times aweek and walks 6 miles 3 times a week with some moderate weight training a few times each day.
One grandmother in her 70’s still wears the same size clothes as she did when she was in her twenties and walks every day and does stuff all day.
The other granny is an overweight basket case, who hasn’t been in shape since her first baby, this girl’s mother.
A couple of years ago, this girl told me that she didn’t want to be like the basket case granny. I told her that was up to her. She had two great female role models and a great male role model and one crummy granny role model.
A couple of years later, she is in even better shape, has been a straight A student all her life and missed one day of school since pre school.
I really miss those early morning workouts. Loved to go in at 5:00 am... My gf starts work at 5 am now so we go in the evening....she is my workout partner.
We belong to a 24/7 gym...many times we go in at 12-2 am because can't sleep or bored..mostly weekends.. It's really a good time to workout but screws up our sleep schedule.
Yeah. If she keeps on running like that, she's going to be sore and broken-down when she's old. Oh, wait...
Actually not. It was just meant as humor.
Another one bites the dust.
Oh, okay... very old, relative to most everyone, and unfunny.
Gotcha!
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