‘Without strength training I wouldn’t survive’: the woman who joined a CrossFit gym in her 80s | Fitness

I see people 30 years younger than me and they’ve given up,” says Jean Stewart, 96. It’s not an attitude she identifies with. “I like to do things for myself.”

Stewart was very active growing up: she played hockey and softball in school and worked for the Girl Scouts for years. But as she grew older, daily tasks became more difficult.

“I got to the point where I no longer had the strength to prune my rose bushes,” she says.

Becoming more fragile was frustrating. Worse still, she was tired of being treated like an incompetent by those around her. Aged 81, she heard about a local CrossFit gym and asked for help. It was the beginning of what would become 15 years of on-and-off training with his owner, Cheryl Cohen. At the time, Stewart was his only client over the age of 60. Today, she specializes in classes for seniors, helping them remain independent.

Stewart was nervous and excited during her first session. The training focused on movements that would help him in his daily life, including getting up and down from the ground and walking while carrying 4kg kettlebells. With each session, the weights gradually increased.

Soon she was doing full-body push-ups, keeping pace with women 10 years younger. She could hold a board long enough for another member of the senior group to tell a two-minute story. At 83 years old, she could lift 70 kg. “I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I thought it was light.”

As she reached 90, her progress was interrupted by a bout of MRSA and “a bad car accident – ​​I was almost demolished”. Stewart lost all feeling in his feet and lower legs and spent two months in rehabilitation. Shortly after, she fell again while walking her dog: “Her leash got twisted in my legs. » At 91, she had to have surgery for a hip fracture. “I continued to exercise and got my strength back,” Stewart says. What made it last? “I’m stubborn.”

These days, she can no longer deadlift due to spinal stenosis, but she still trains twice a week. Her sessions include elevated push-ups, kettlebell squats, and pushing a weight-laden sled. “The older I get, the more I tell myself I have to keep going,” Stewart says. Cohen recalls a story where she was carrying a heavy bucket of kitty litter to the store. “They say, ‘Ma’am, would you like some help with this?’ And she said: “No!” » and leaves.

Stewart can now bend down to prune her plants, get up from a chair easily and is strong enough to get back up if she falls. “Without strength training, I wouldn’t be alive,” she says. She is evangelical about exercise to her friends who think they are too old to start. To younger people who say they are too busy, his advice is simple: “Take time. Do what you need to do to live longer.”