American Ernestine Shepherd went to the gym at age 56. Today, she is an icon for millions of bodybuilders and she will turn 84 years old (!).
For decades, every day of Ernestine Shepherd begins at 2.30. She wakes up and goes for a 10 miles walk, at 7.30 she begins classes with a fitness instructor, which ends at 11.30. Ernestine is 83 years old, and several years ago she was inscribed in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest of the competing bodybuilders.
Ernestine Shepherd’s workout
She works as an instructor at the Baltimore Fitness Center and usually conducts two group classes per day. If she is preparing for a marathon, she runs longer and overcomes a distance of 90 miles in a week.
A woman tries not to miss running competitions, participating in shorter runs at distances of 8 and 16 miles. Marathons are her passion. Over the past few years, she has run many marathons, and as a bodybuilder, Ernestine Shepherd has become the absolute champion in two competitions.
When she turned 71 years old, she turned Johnny Schamberger and asked him to prepare her for the competition. At the first championship, she managed to win. At the same time, she won the younger competitors, some of whom were 10 years younger than her.
She devotes strength training 3-4 days a week. She comes to the gym early, at 6:00 a.m. – 7:00 a.m. and works with clients. The first training is for the top of the body, the second is for the bottom.
At the end of the strength training, she performs a set of exercises for stretching and conducts a 7-10 minutes meditation. According to her, several minutes spent in complete immobility allow her to normalize the work of the heart, relax and prepare for group exercises.
Ernestine Shepherd Diet
Ernestine Shepherd ‘s food is quite simple, but at the same time, it is perfectly balanced.
An important factor in the success of Ernestine is the full support of her bodybuilding classes from her spouse. He took upon himself housework and watch if there are always fresh foods in the refrigerator.
The calorie diet of the oldest bodybuilder woman is 1700-1800 kcal per day. It includes boiled egg whites, steamed chicken breasts, grilled vegetables, brown (unpolished) rice, sweet potato yam, it is usually baked with vegetables. Sources of fat are nuts, avocados, and olive oil. From sports nutrition – one or two portions per day of complex organic protein without additives.
Ernestine Shepherd ‘s nutritional scheme is as follows – she eats in small portions, but often, she has 7 meals a day. Ernestine goes to bed at 10 p.m. and dines no later than 7 p.m. As a rule, this is a portion of cottage cheese or yogurt with fruits or a vegetable salad with the addition of some protein (eggs, fish).
At first, for 4 hours before sleep time, she managed to get hungry and fall asleep was a problem, but she found a way out. It consists in the use of fiber-rich fruits and vegetables. Dietary fibers are digested for a long time, fill a large volume of the stomach and cause a feeling of satiety for a long time. Also, fiber improves the functioning of the stomach and improves the quality of digestion of food.
• Fiber-rich fruits: bananas, raspberries, avocados, apples, pears;
• Vegetables are rich in fiber: broccoli, pumpkin, potatoes, carrots.
Ernestine pays much attention to vitamins and minerals. She takes supplements containing zinc, selenium, and magnesium. As well as a complex of vitamins B, vitamins C and A. To support the normal state of the musculoskeletal system, she uses an additive from shark cartilage.Every 10-12 days, Ernestine Shepherd arranges a one-day fast. She began to practice fasting when she learned more about the research results of Professor Yoshinori Osumi, who received the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize in Medicine. As the professor proved, one-day fasting stimulates the process of autophagy (a natural process of cell regeneration). It is quite possibly, over the years, the beautiful appearance of Ernestine is the result of short-term and regular refusals of food.
