Oldest female bodybuilder shares exercise message
Date: 15-07-2011
Posted by: Anabolic Info TeamUnited States |
|
Ernestine Shepherd's morning routine is a scene straight out of "Rocky." She wakes up at 4 a.m. daily, downs four egg whites and precisely 16 ounces of water, then runs 10 miles.
Then she drinks 10 liquid egg whites for her second meal of the day.
Shepherd is a far cry from Sylvester Stallone, though. At age 75, the Baltimore native is the Guinness world record holder for the oldest female bodybuilder. Now a motivational speaker, she told a crowd of about 50 Thursday at the Benjamin Harrison YMCA her story of how exercise turned her life around.
"If ever there were an anti-aging pill, you would have to name it exercise," she said at the Indiana Black Expo-sponsored event.
Shepherd wasn't always so conscientious about her health. At age 56, she was wearing a bathing suit at a church picnic with her older sister, Velvet, when they decided they weren't happy with their bodies. They went to a gym and started doing aerobics. Then they began lifting weights to tone their bodies. Soon, Velvet proposed that she and her sister could travel the country and share their story, inspiring people to get into shape.
It wasn't meant to be. Velvet died of a brain aneurysm in 2003, and Ernestine was left to carry on her sister's legacy.
"I think she inspires you to do more," said Joann Marasco, 66, Indianapolis. "Could I run 10 miles a day? No. But to get out and exercise more, sure, I can do that. To eat better and make wiser food choices, definitely."
Before Shepherd began exercising regularly, she was diagnosed with acid reflux, was on medication for high blood pressure and suffered panic attacks. Now, all those ailments are gone, and she's medication-free. She's even trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon.
Shepherd has started exercise classes for older women, telling her audience about an 81-year-old whom she had helped to do pushups. To the amazement of the crowd, Shepherd laid down on the floor and started doing push-ups. Then, she lifted one leg in the air behind her and continued doing push-ups with one foot on the floor.
"If you keep doing something, you get better and better and better," she said.
Shepherd is listed by Guinness as having competed in a bodybuilding event in Italy in March 2010, when she was 73, making her the oldest competitive female bodybuilder.
Getting started can present a challenge for an entire demographic of women, though, said Diane Seifert, 69, Indianapolis. Seifert said 20 years ago, women all across the country didn't have the education available today about what it takes to stay healthy.
"We're victims of our generation is what it amounts to," Seifert said.
Shepherd is hoping to change that. With her story as testimony and her body as a piece of evidence, she's telling people what it takes, speech by speech, pushup by pushup.
"I'm not asking anyone to be a bodybuilder, but to be fit," she said.
