Similar to the way we gain unwanted pounds over months and years, we can accumulate strength over months and years when we engage in focused fitness activities. I train older adults in physical fitness using running, strength, and Zumba Gold group classes. It is always a delight to hear from these folks during and after their weeks of training that they are able to complete activities of daily living (lifting, shoveling, pulling weeds, walking, etc) with greater ease and no muscle strains or joint aches as a result of their improved physical fitness. They seem amazed that they are now able to do tasks that require a measure of strength and endurance which their younger selves could not perform only a few months or years ago. I assure them that their improvements will continue for as long as they maintain their fitness programs, yes, even into their 7th, 8th and 9th decades. How is this possible? Because it is an immutable law of nature. A body in motion, stays in motion. When once the habit to stay physically active is engrained onto the hard drive of our psyche, it is possible to delay, maybe even stall, the aging process with regular bouts of  moderately intense exercise. Many elders have gone before us and proved this true; and many more 70, 80 and 90+ year old athletes continue to complete in competitive athletic events and break records every time they show up. For myself, and I think it may be true for most adults who are not sporting competitors, the most alluring reason to stay strong and fit into our later decades is to become the best that we can be (in body, mind and spirit) when we cross our final finish line. Whether you are 50 or 70 or 90 years old, it is never too late to become more active than you were in your youth. If you have even the slightest inclination to get moving, then take that as your inspiration and move it! Walk, run, dance, hop, skip, jump…don’t wait another day…just move it. Strength begets (gives birth to) strength, not by thinking about being physically active, but by being physically active…every day.

It is my prayer that none of us will allow where we start to determine how we finish. T.D. Jakes

I have always had the initial faith that if God put something on my mind and in my heart, it could and should be done, but both elements must work together-mind to initiate it and the heart to propel it.
Sister Madonna Buder ~ 85 year old tri-athlete