The oldest bodybuilder. The oldest bodybuilder in the world: her advice. The oldest female bodybuilder photo

“In old age everything will sag,” bodybuilders often hear addressed to them. However, the example of many athletes who have lived to old age shows that even at retirement age you can maintain a muscular body that will be the envy of young people.

Frank Zane

Three-time Mr. Olympia Frank Zane, due to his ideal proportions and muscle quality, defeated even the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1968. The most successful period in Zane’s career was the end of the 1970s. In 1983, Zane retired from the scene, but still periodically continues to appear in bodybuilding magazines, demonstrating phenomenal shape for his 73 years.

Serge Nubret

Vice-champion of the 1975 Mr. Olympia tournament, Frenchman Serge Nubret enjoyed incredible popularity in his homeland. Like many bodybuilders of that time, Serge exchanged his sports career for an acting one, but nevertheless, until his death (he died in 2011 at the age of 72), he maintained ideal physical shape and was practically the same in weight as he was in his best years.

The very first winner of the Mr. Olympia tournament, Larry Scott, began bodybuilding at the age of 16, and by the age of 28 he had twice become the world's best athlete on the planet. At his peak, Scott ended his sports career and went into business, but until his death in 2014, he retained his impressive muscles.

Robbie Robinson

Known as the Black Prince, American bodybuilder Robbie Robinson won more than 50 titles during his 27-year career. Moreover, he continued to perform in the professional arena until he was 56 years old. Robbie will turn 70 this year, but he still continues to visit the gym every day, not only training his players, but also working out himself.

Andreas Kahling

The Swedish bodybuilder, born in 1952, turned professional in 1980, winning the Mr. International tournament. But having never achieved success in the pro arena, he quit competing in 1993. However, he did not give up the sport and in 2011, at the age of 59, he again entered the stage, already with the rank of a veteran, impressing everyone with his volume and quality of muscle mass. Most notably, Kahling has been a vegetarian for many years, proving that you don't have to eat meat to get big muscles.

American Bill Grant was born in 1946 and won many titles during his career, including Mr. America and Mr. World. He tried to conquer Olympia 5 times, but never got into the prizes. Bill retired from competitive racing in 1994, but judging by recent photographs of him in his 60s, he hasn't lost much of his form since then. By the way, Grant is the organizer of his own bodybuilding tournament, the Bill Grant Classic, and the creator of a leg trainer, thanks to which even people with injured backs and knees can squat.

Ernestine Shepard

The oldest competing female bodybuilder is American Ernestine Shepard. It's hard to believe that the lady in the photo is 74 years old! Even more incredible is that the American decided to take up bodybuilding only in 2007, when she was already 70 years old. Under the guidance of 1995 world champion Yonny Shamburger, after just 7 months of training, she wins the East Coast Championship, beating many younger competitors. At the moment, Ernestina no longer performs on stage, but is a fitness trainer and trains herself at least two hours a day.

Cessation of activity always leads to lethargy, and after lethargy comes decrepitude. But there are a huge number of people who continue sports activities in old age, and you can never say about them that they are decrepit old men. Playing sports has no age limits and this post is proof of that.
Rusty Jeffers (50 years old in photo)
Professional bodybuilder. Rusty began bodybuilding at age 12 and began competing at age 14. At the age of 17, the young man won his first tournament. It was the "Arizona Championship" among teenagers (Teenage Arizona). He subsequently won it three years in a row. Rusty Jeffers is now a fitness instructor. He still goes to the gym and keeps himself in excellent physical shape.
Bill Grant (59 years old in photo)
The athlete is outstanding, despite the fact that he did not become Mr. Olympia. The track record is quite long, as is his competitive career.
Svetozar Nikocevic (60 years old in the photo)
Montenegrin giant athlete nicknamed “Kika”. He, as he himself claims, has the largest arm volume on the Old Continent, which is quite comparable to a model female waist - 55 centimeters. Kika came to strength sports at the age of 30, when, after an injury, he had to say goodbye to football.
Andreas Kahling (62 years old in photo)
Andreas Kahling is a living monument to the passing “Golden Era” of bodybuilding. For several decades now, he has not missed a single workout, and if it is not possible to visit the gym, he conducts it at home using the static tension method. It is curious that Andreas Kahling has been a convinced vegetarian for many years, refuting the myth that without eating huge doses of animal protein it is impossible to achieve serious success in bodybuilding.
Robbie Robinson (64 years old in photo)
Since childhood, I have been interested in sports. The competitive career is one of the most impressive. Winner of the title Master Olympia 1994. One of the few bodybuilders, contemporaries of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who remain in good shape to this day. And not only good for her age. Many of the young people would envy such prominent and voluminous muscles. A true fan of bodybuilding, who considers it an art, just like painting and architecture.
Serge Nubret (pictured, left, 70 years old)
Legendary French bodybuilder nicknamed "Black Panther", actor and writer. He is most famous for his participation in the film “Pumping Iron,” which describes the events surrounding the 1975 Mr. Olympia tournament, where the prizes were distributed among Arnold Schwarzenegger, Serge Nubret and Lou Ferrigno. Nubre also outlined his thoughts regarding this tournament, where literally three bodybuilding legends competed, in his book “Me...Me and God.” By the way, unlike most bodybuilders, Nubre always continued hard training right up to the performance, without giving himself any rest.
Sam Bryant (70 years old in photo).
At 70, Sam Bryant looks no more than forty. However, the secret of his youth is his remarkable hard work, thanks to which he has pumped up excellent muscle mass and can easily give a head start to men who are 30-40 years younger than him. Sam Bryant is a bodybuilder with 27 years of experience, who has managed to take part in competitions in this field more than once type of activity. He began training to “let off steam” when his family heart began to crack.
Chet Yorton (71 years old in photo).
As a young man, Yorton was involved in a car accident. The injuries were quite serious: damage to the eyeball, tears in the muscles of the forearm from the elbow to the wrist, a dislocated hip, fractures of the hip bones. Doctors even seriously discussed amputating his right leg. He ended up in a cast from hip to toe, with a rod inside his left femur and a steel sheet wrapped around his right hip bone. Moreover, when he began to walk on crutches, he lost his balance and fell down the stairs, again injuring his hip. He spent 4 months in a wheelchair before resuming his attempts to walk on crutches.
As a natural bodybuilder, Chet Yorton doesn't have a clear distinction between competition form and off-season form. He was constantly in excellent shape and participated in many competitions. Chet is also known as a bodybuilder with good strength.
Jeffrey Life (72 years old in the photo).
60-year-old Jeffrey decided to step into the fitness center for the first time, where after just three months of continuous exercise he managed to lose 25 kilograms of excess weight. Inspired by such results, the doctor decided not to stop there and began working out diligently in the gym and, it must be said, achieved tangible progress - the diseases began to recede, the “beer belly” evaporated, and the body began to acquire athletic features. Bodybuilding became a kind of drug for Life - he worked out in the “rocking chair” for several hours every day, ran, swam and even became interested in martial arts. Today, 72-year-old Jeffrey Life is very famous in the USA. Having given up medical practice several years ago, the doctor devoted himself entirely to the fight against old age and promoting a healthy lifestyle. His book "The Life Plan", in which he shares his life experiences, became a bestseller and has been translated into several languages. The doctor also has his own website, where he advises people who decide to defy old age.
In 1997, Jeffrey Life was a marriage and family therapist. He was 59 years old, overweight, short of breath and in rapidly deteriorating health. He couldn't even tie his own shoelaces without starting to choke. He is now 76 years old and, according to Jeffrey, he is in the best shape of his entire life. He trains at the gym five days a week, has a black belt in taekwondo and practices Muay Thai.
Ernestine Shepherd (74 years old in the photo).
The oldest female bodybuilder is Ernestine Shepherd, who is currently 74 years old. She works as a fitness trainer at the Baltimore Fitness Center. The owner of the club speaks enthusiastically about her, calling her a local landmark and noting that most clients come to the club precisely to meet the stunning Ernestina in person.
Ms. Shepherd spends at least two hours a day in the gym and believes that her mission is to set an example for others, to prove that old age is not a death sentence. Ernestina has been demonstrating for many years that you can remain attractive to men even in retirement.
Spencer Churchill (74 years old in the photo).
Wrestler and bodybuilder (1951 NABBA Mr. Universe - 4th place). Before achieving worldwide fame as a professional wrestler, Spencer Churchill achieved great success and popularity in bodybuilding in the late 40s. He made his first wrestling appearance at the age of 20. He was known by the nickname "Mr. Muscle Unlimited."
Tsutomu Tohsaka (77 years old in the photo).
Japanese bodybuilder Tsutomu Tosaka was born in 1935. His height is 160 centimeters and his weight is 62 kilograms. The champion himself claims that it was not difficult at all, you just need to keep your body in good shape. According to the bodybuilder himself, he began to actively work on his body only at the age of 70! Tsutomu Tohsaka is now 77 years old.
Ray Moon (83 years old in the photo).
Ray Moon is an 83-year-old Australian bodybuilder who continues to amaze fans with his athletic form, and, most importantly, his love of life and positive attitude. In May 2013, he failed to win the bodybuilding competition, but he became the owner of a very remarkable certificate - Ray Moon was recognized as the oldest bodybuilder on the planet. Ray Moon is a pensioner from Australia, who is already 83 years old. He was recently recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest bodybuilder, according to the results of the World Fitness Championships in Melbourne. You might think that bodybuilding is Ray’s passion in life, but it’s not like that: he only started training at the age of 74. Many years ago, the bodybuilder underwent open heart surgery and now has a pacemaker. But this does not prevent him from starting every day with an active jog.
Manohar Aich (100 years old in the photo).
The oldest living bodybuilder on the planet is 100 years old. This bodybuilder with extensive experience is called Manohar Aich. Manohar was given the nickname “pocket Hercules” for his small height, 1.54 cm, and if you look at the photo in his youth, it is well deserved. Manohar began bodybuilding while serving in the Royal Air Force under the command of the British colonial government. These activities became more serious when he was imprisoned for participating in anti-British demonstrations. Manohar continued to train and achieved great success. In 1952, he won the Mr. Universe title. Manohar's life was eventful and quite interesting. Manohar regrets only one thing - that he did not meet Arnold Schwarzenegger personally.

Ernestine Shepard is the oldest female bodybuilder in the world. Lives in the USA. In 2016, Ernestina turned 80 years old, but at the same time she does not give up playing sports, and looks much younger than her age.

While most other 80-year-old grandmothers are doing housework, babysitting grandchildren and great-grandchildren, spending time in the country, and so on, Ernestine Shepard still goes to the gym. At eighty, she looks 40-50 years old. Even young people can envy her slender, fit and muscular body. Using his example, Ernestine proves that sport is really useful and can give a person almost eternal youth and excellent health.

To this day, Ernestine Shepard gets up early in the morning to go on a scheduled 16-kilometer run. After a run, she goes to the gym, where she “pumps iron” and gets in shape. Today Shepard is considered the oldest female bodybuilder in the world.

Ernestine began bodybuilding at the age of 56, which, you see, is quite late, however, as we can see, it is never too late to play sports. For the first time, she began going to the gym with her sister to improve her figure. Ernestine herself admits that at first she did not want to go to the gym regularly, and she did it only out of solidarity with her sister’s aspirations. After the death of her sister, Ernestine abandoned her studies for a couple of years, but after her late sister dreamed of her and asked her to continue her studies, Ernestine decided that this was a sign from above and even found herself a coach for more effective training. Whether it was really an indication from above of Shepard’s unusual fate or just a dream, at the age of 71 she took part in bodybuilding competitions for the first time. In 2010, Shepard was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest female bodybuilder in the world. In the 20 years that Shepard has been involved in sports, she has run 9 marathons and won two bodybuilding competitions.

Currently, the bodybuilder grandmother works as a trainer at the Baltimore Fitness Center and is also raising her 14-year-old grandson. Her husband Colin Shepard complains that “men just stick to her and I have to literally drive them away from my beautiful wife.”

The oldest female bodybuilder photo

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“Man, when you get old this will all sag and you’ll look like a freak!” - this is what envious people usually say, haters of bodybuilding (and any sport in general), but who adore pizza, TV and a sofa. Is this so?

People love contrasting “before” and “after” photos. Now on the Internet there is a very popular combination of a couple of photographs of Arnold Schwarzenegger, where in the “before” photo he is a handsome and young bodybuilder, and in the “after” photo he is a stooped Arnold with a sagging belly.

I wonder why people love to contemplate dirty laundry? After all, everyone understands perfectly well that Arnold has no time for sports now, he has completely switched to politics, but gossiping and gloating is so pleasant and fun! But Arnold is a truly successful and legendary person, and he certainly deserves a decent and respectful attitude towards his person.

Let's stand up for bodybuilding and find out whether this sport contributes to longevity. Or is this still the path to premature, painful and ugly old age?

A French bodybuilder I know told me that around 1997 he had the opportunity to train in the same gym with the no longer young Schwarzenegger. Arnold appeared accompanied by two bodyguards, and one of them served as a “safety trainer” during the lesson. It soon became noticeable that the best bodybuilder in the world was performing exercises overcoming severe pain in the shoulder joint. While performing presses, he bit his lips, his eyes were watery, and his face was distorted by a painful grimace. Between sets, he held his shoulder, unable to bear the extreme discomfort.
The question arises: does a person, like a biomechanical structure, wear out his joints with exercise, and in old age turn into a disabled person?

First of all, I would like to express my personal opinion on sports, health and longevity. Bodybuilding is hard work in the gym and, working purely mechanically, with your persistence you can really wear out your body, cause irreparable harm to your joints, and ultimately lose the ability to train and maintain your muscles in a beautiful and powerful state.

However, it is the “long-living bodybuilders” who retain excellent muscles at 50, 60 and even 70 years old who prove by their example that with the help of bodybuilding you can not only not suffer, but also benefit yourself.

But for this it is not enough to demonstrate willpower and maintain consistency in training. Such people treat bodybuilding as a complex scientific and sports process.

Maintaining the ability to exercise and maintain your muscles in good shape for as long as possible in your life is a real art. It requires knowledge and the ability to analyze and apply accumulated information in practice. A bodybuilder’s program should be composed of exercises that are comfortable for his joints and the whole body from the point of view of biomechanics and physiology.
Nutritional supplements, proper diet, and mainly sports pharmacology also play a huge role in this matter. For modern medicine, the need to use hormonal therapy for the benefit of youth and longevity is already a fact, so it is not surprising that for older bodybuilders, therapeutic doses of certain drugs are no longer doping, but a reasonable necessity.

But let’s return to our sheep and consider the most famous bodybuilders who managed to decently pump up their muscles at an advanced age.

Frank Zane

Frank Zane was born on June 28, 1942 in Kingston, Pennsylvania. He started bodybuilding at the age of fourteen. Zane attended Wilkes University in Wilkes-Bain and graduated in 1964, becoming a chemical engineer (surely useful in the future).

Frank is the winner of the famous Mr. Olympia competition in 1977, 1978, 1979. Although Frank did not have impressive parameters, he showed what harmony should be in the body, the relationships and proportions between all muscle groups.

Anthropometric parameters of Frank Zane: height 175 cm, weight 93 kg, chest circumference - 132 cm, arms - 48.5 cm, waist - 76 cm, hips - 67 cm, legs - 44 cm.

Mr. Universe 1966. This is another athlete from the “golden era of bodybuilding.”

He was born on April 16, 1942 in New Jersey, and was an actor and author. At first, he amazed the world with performances on the podium with the young Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Zane, Franco Colombo, becoming famous under the nickname “White Bomber”.

Interestingly, he took up bodybuilding at the age of 10. We present to your attention a photo shoot demonstrating the magnificence of his muscles at 62 years old.
In his articles, he emphasizes that he was able to continue training to this age by abandoning more traumatic exercises (for example, bench press and overhead press) in favor of more comfortable and safe ones for the joints (dumbbell presses at different angles).

There are quite a few such examples when a man of 50, 60 and even 70 years old maintains his muscles in excellent condition, and all of them could be cited in this article, but let’s pay a little attention to the fair sex!

Of course, women who engage in bodybuilding and maintain their body in good tone, regardless of age restrictions, are no less interesting than men.

Particularly famous is the duo of Colleen Fisher and Kali Nielson, both mother and daughter bodybuilding champions.
Kelly Nielson was 75 years old and Colleen Fisher was 46 years old when they won the National Grand Masters & Masters Bodybuilding Championship. Both became quite famous, promoting their method “for any age” on television and through their personal website on the Internet.

It becomes obvious that the level of muscle mass and relief, as well as “hardness”, “density” and “depth” are present only in those older athletes who brought this valuable baggage with them from the past, having a huge experience of training behind them.

Another prerequisite: these bodybuilders are able to analyze their training and adjust their training and nutrition program, adapting it to their own individual and age characteristics.

As a coach and a sincere fan of bodybuilding, I wish all readers longevity in sports and assure that for your health, spine and joints, the lack of load over time will become even more destructive than systematic incorrect training and traumatic, wear-out exercise techniques. Train smart!

A slow pace of exercises, a reduced range of motion, cycling of loads, periodization of training and other techniques from the arsenal of a competent athlete will allow you to find this golden mean and keep yourself in good shape for as long as possible.

For decades, Ernestine Shepard's day began at 2:30. She wakes up and goes for a 16-kilometer walk, then starts a class with a fitness instructor at 7:30 and ends at 11:30. Ernestina is 80 years old, and several years ago she was inscribed in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest competing bodybuilder.

A post shared by Ernestine Shepherd Dedication (@ernestine.shepherd) on Feb 1, 2017 at 6:53am PST

In addition to daily training and marches around her native Baltimore, Ernestina adheres to a strict diet. She eats 5-6 times a day in small portions. Breakfast: oatmeal, a handful of walnuts and pineapple; for lunch - chicken (or asparagus) with brown rice and baked potatoes; turkey meat, beans, spinach and tuna - in the evening. She also drinks about half a liter of egg whites every day, goes to bed at 10 pm and is back on her feet within 4 hours.

“I realized that this time is enough for me to get enough sleep and not think about sleep during the day. I thank God for giving me the energy, physical strength and willpower to live like this every day.".

Ernestina is sure that it is never too late to take up sports. For those who promise themselves every day to go to the gym tomorrow, she recommends going to the doctor today and, if you have no contraindications, begin to gradually enter the training process.

“If the doctor said that exercise is not contraindicated for you, start with long walks in the evening or in the morning. You don’t need to cover a distance of 16 kilometers all at once, start with at least a couple a day. After that, go to the gym, work out with the lightest weights and try to always have people nearby who understand fitness. They will be able to establish the correct technique for performing the exercises, otherwise you can easily get injured. Don’t forget about a balanced diet, and also drink a lot of clean water - from 8 glasses a day.”.

A post shared by Ernestine Shepherd Dedication (@ernestine.shepherd) on Jan 24, 2017 at 6:01am PST

Today, Ernestina teaches group classes and motivational workshops across America and is preparing to celebrate her 81st birthday in June.