8-May-2021 - Fitspiration Grandma can still lift heavy weights. No age can defy us from working out so it is part of our routine to keep our body strong and active. Many media organizations have featured Ernestine Shepherd who is an American bodybuilder who is best known for being, at one point, the oldest competitive female bodybuilder in the world, as declared by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010.
Here
is a summarized interview of World’s fittest Grandma with www.bbc.co.uk
I
get up at 2.30am every day. After my devotions and meditations, I have
breakfast then I’ll go for a run (with a bit of walking thrown in) in my
hometown of Baltimore. A typical day sees me usually exercising at the gym by
7.30am. Then I’ll teach a workout class with up to 45 people until around
11.30am before going home to eat, have a nap and see my husband, Colin. I’m
usually backed at the gym for 5.30pm; training people aged 20 to 86 until 7pm.
I make sure my weightlifting
workouts focus on all the key areas. I focus on my chest and biceps on Mondays,
shoulder and triceps on Wednesdays and back and legs on Fridays.
I’m 81 years old.
Despite how important it is to me
now I haven’t always enjoyed exercise. In fact, I didn’t set foot into a gym
until I was 56. I was always too prissy to work out – and you couldn’t get me
away from chocolate cake. But the year I turned 56, my sister Velvet and I went
shopping for swimsuits. Neither of us had worn one for years. We looked in the
changing room mirror, and made a pact to get in better shape.
We started off doing aerobics but
then we moved on to lifting weights and, eventually, we really got into
bodybuilding. One day, Velvet turned to me and said, “We should try and get
into the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest bodybuilding sisters in
the world!”
It became our goal.
Sadly, shortly after, Velvet got
sick and suffered a brain aneurysm. “I want you to continue what we’re doing even
though I won’t make it,” she told me, just before she passed away. “I want you to
inspire other senior ladies, and anyone who will listen, to exercise.”
I
fell to pieces when she died. I didn’t know what to do because she had always
been right there with me. After some years had passed, I decided I wanted
to honour our pledge, and contacted the former Mr. Universe, Yohnnie
Shambourger. We’d met a few times at his bodybuilding shows and when I asked
whether he could help me get into the Guinness Book of World Records, he said,
“Yes, but you have to go on a long journey: do you plan to hang in there?”
That’s exactly what I planned -
but I also told him I didn’t want to bulk-up and look too muscular. He said
that I didn’t have the testosterone for that to happen and reassured me that I
would only look ‘toned’.
Seven months later, aged 71, I
entered my first bodybuilding contest – and won first place. The Guinness Book
of World Records found out and called Yohnnie to confirm that I was the world's
oldest performing female bodybuilder. They also invited us to Rome so I could
be given the official title on a TV show. I’ll never forget standing on that
stage as I collected my medal and certificate. “I’ve done what you wanted,
Velvet”, I remember saying as tears filled my eyes. I had carried some of her
ashes with me, and when no one was around; I went outside and spread them as
far as I could.
That was in 2010 I remained the
oldest female competitive bodybuilder in the world until 2012, when another
woman, Edith Wilma Connor broke my record. But, in a way, receiving my
title was just the start: I ended up in the annual Ripley's Believe it or Not!
book in 2011 as Granny's Six-pack – another dream my sister had talked
about – and I’ve made lots of TV appearances, including Steve Harvey’s NBC
show, and met famous bodybuilders like Lee Haney who has won Mr. Olympian eight
times. I’ve performed in seven more bodybuilding competitions and run nine
marathons. Oprah Skyp'd me once to talk about my health.
When
I look back at 56-year-old me, I can’t believe how much life has changed. I’m
not that shy lady anymore. I am 5ft 4, I weigh between 118-120lb, and I can go
anywhere and not feel intimated by anyone. Bodybuilding has given me an amazing
sense of confidence. It’s my joy, and 25 years on, I’m still having the time of
my life with it.
I have a doctor keeping an eye on
me and at my annual checkups, he tells me to continue what I’m doing - and I will,
for as long as I can. My next goal? To meet Sylvester Stallone. I learnt so
much about motivation through the Rocky movies – it’s why anyone who calls me
will hear the hear the usual dial tone, but then before I answer it they'll
hear the Rocky theme tune. I want to be able to touch his hand and tell him how
much he has inspired me.
I often wonder how Velvet would
feel knowing that I have done all the things that she wanted. I like to think
she is looking down on me with pride. Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/bb27dc63-acda-4bb8-981f-988866ace2fd
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