NPR host Juana Summers after running the Baltimore 10-Miler.
Juana Summers/NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Juana Summers/NPR
I didn’t grow up as an athletic kid. In elementary school, my mother signed me up for soccer and basketball teams. But I was a better benchwarmer than anything else.
Gym class gave me hives. Annual fitness tests? I prefer to bury my head in a book. These feelings continued into early adulthood. I didn’t work voluntarily for years – and when I did, I found no joy in it.
As I got older, that changed. I started taking group fitness classes, experimenting with different types of workouts, and meeting people along the way. I was also looking for what was good for my body. I started lifting weights, perfecting good technique, and was delighted with my ability to lift a few more pounds or add a few more reps.
The race came later. I started on my own, then found community within a local running group. I love racing, but people make the miles go by.
My own journey made me think about how you can find your path to fitness or movement at any age. You don’t have to be an active child to be an active adult. And I want to make sure I can be as active as possible, for as long as possible.
Over the past month, I’ve spent a lot of time with active older adults learning about the benefits – and even happiness – they find in exercise. I also spoke to experts who focus on the fitness of an older population.
Even though I’m in my 30s, they’ve taught me a lot about what it means to be active as I age and live well.
NPR host Juana Summers didn’t grow up as a sports kid. But as she grew up, she found joy in movement.
Juana Summers/NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Juana Summers/NPR
Start simple
As part of our series on older athletes, we spoke to more than a dozen people over 50 about their fitness journeys. We asked many of them a question: What advice would you give to someone looking to start a new fitness activity?
DeEtte Sauer, 83, is a competitive swimmer who took up the sport in her 50s after getting sober. His advice? Don’t be afraid.
“You can’t let fear stop you from achieving anything,” Sauer said. “You have to use fear as something to energize and invigorate yourself to take the risk.”
She also encourages people to start small.
“Anyone who’s starting out has to take baby steps. I couldn’t have done it the first day I started. I couldn’t even get across half the pool,” she said. “But I trusted (the swimming coach) who told me, ‘You are strong and you can do this,’ rather than listening to the voice in my head that said, ‘Get out.’ here, my daughter, you have no place.’ “
Exercise can create – and strengthen – social bonds
We spent time early one morning at a mall in Annapolis, Maryland, with a group of women who have spent years walking side by side, five days a week. The walks took them out of their homes, but the community brought them back.
Anita Snyder, 81, has been walking at the mall for 20 years. She and the other women said it was the mall’s walkable community that kept them going.
“Knowing that we have people here waiting for us (is what) gets us here,” Snyder told me. “I don’t always want to get up and walk, but these two are waiting for me.”
And the community extends beyond the walls of the Annapolis Mall. Snyder and her friends, Evelyn Boock and Annette Smith, who are both in their 60s, are all on a group text. When they don’t see other walkers on their daily route, they rush to check in and make sure everyone is okay.
“If someone has a grandchild or someone has an illness or something, if you want to send them a card, they’ll get the address,” Snyder said.
She called the mall pedestrian community “a big family, an extended family.”
Mona Noyes, 86, trains with trainer Emily Socolinksy at Fivex3 Training in Baltimore.
Kyna Uwaeme for NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Kyna Uwaeme for NPR
Strength means independence
Mona Noyes is an 86-year-old woman we met at Fivex3 Training, a strength and conditioning gym in Baltimore. His advice for newcomers? It’s never too late to start.
Noyes worked in a large school district until his late 60s. After retiring, Noyes said she became less active and daily tasks became more difficult. Her body confidence and independence plummeted. Then his daughter suggested he try working out with a trainer.
“I’m doing things now that I never thought I’d do before,” she said.
Her trainer and owner of Fivex3, Emily Socolinsky, highlighted the benefits of staying active on quality of life.
“So many people, when they retire, they stop. They stop moving, they stop going out, they stop engaging with other people,” Socolinsky told me. “The worst thing you can do is quit. And strength training is very important because it gives you confidence in your body again.”
Noyes said she gained a lot of strength. Simple tasks that were once a challenge become easier again.
“I was crawling up the stairs, holding both hands,” she told me. “Carrying things, even a regular grocery bag, was a struggle for me.”
Now she can carry four liters of milk. A miracle, she said.
Matt Ozug and Sarah Handel contributed to this report.