"Exercise is a must" : Oldest Bodybuilder Ernestine Shepherd

 Oldest Bodybuilder Ernestine Shepherd

The oldest female bodybuilder Ernestine Shepherd 71 said, exercise is a must  for everybody."Everyone needs exercise in their life" .Shepherd is in better shape than most people, decades her junior.She spends her days running, lifting weights and working out every morning.Without it she also works as a certified personal trainer at her gym and is a role model not just for senior women everywhere, but for everyone of us .at 40 she was a ,”Bodybuilding champion Ernestine Shepherd shows us that ”being out of shape” as we age truly is merely an option.

Training grub: She drinks 16 ounces of water and eats a light snack that includes a bagel with peanut butter or two hard-boiled eggs before starting her workout.

Other acclaim: Has appeared in Essence (1991 and 2003); The Baltimore Times (2002); and the book Self Seduction, Ultimate Path to Inner and Outer Beauty (2003); has appeared on The View (2001); in a Carmax commercial (2004); and in the Miss America Senior Pageant (2004). She models for Nova Models in Baltimore.

 She doesn't overdo it. Shepherd said she bench presses about 150 pounds, but her trainer is careful not to push her and cause an injury. "I have old things in my body," she said.
She had an inspiration. Shepherd's quest to become buff was launched alongside her sister, Mildred Blackwell.
But when Blackwell died in 1992, a year into the sisters' training, Shepherd vowed to continue on in her memory.
She gives back. Shepherd said she wants other people, especially those who are older, to know it's not too late to get healthy.
In addition to working as a personal trainer, Shepherd leads exercise classes for seniors at the Union Memorial United Methodist Church in Baltimore.