A 67-year-old bodybuilder who started exercising in her 50s shares four things she’s learned about staying fit at any age

• Marlene Flowers didn’t start bodybuilding until she was 60.

• Now, at age 67, she’s a fitness influencer and can do 140 push-ups in a row.

• She says that patience and the right attitude helped her get fit later in life.

At the age of 57, Marlene Flowers had pain in her knees when she walked up the hills. Now, almost 10 years later, he can bench press over 200 pounds.

Flowers told Business Insider that life was difficult: she was in difficult relationships and struggled with an eating disorder.

In 2015, she underwent colon surgery due to problems related to eating disorders. “Then I realized I had to turn it around and change because I was destroying my body,” she said.

At the age of 58, she began exercising at home by listening to fitness DVDs. As she got stronger, she started incorporating weights into her home workouts and fell in love with weightlifting.

The DVDs quickly became too easy, so Flowers began bodybuilding at home to continue her progress.

Flowers wanted to join a gym to take her workouts to the next level, but she was afraid that people would judge a woman her age. With the encouragement of her son, she overcame her fear and, at the age of 63, worked out in a gym for the first time.

Now, nearly four years after she first stepped foot in a gym, she can do 140 push-ups, 25 pull-ups or 100 sit-ups in one sitting. She does ab exercises first thing in the morning, goes to the gym seven days a week and follows a carb-heavy diet that she hopes will improve her results.

Flowers said she would continue lifting weights as long as it made her feel good.

“I feel much more confident and better about myself. I can look in the mirror and be happy with what I see, which is something I haven’t been able to do my whole life,” she said.

Flowers believes that everyone should do something to stay in shape. “If you can stay physically fit, you will be healthier in the long run, you will live longer and it will be good for your mind,” she said.

A 2023 study found that older adults often believe they can’t do resistance training because they have mobility issues or are afraid of hurting themselves. However, building and maintaining muscle mass is beneficial for people of all ages because it combats the muscle loss that occurs over time, known as sarcopenia. In the long term, sarcopenia may make it difficult to perform daily activities and increase the likelihood of falls.

A 2022 study found that resistance training was associated with a 9% lower mortality rate; mortality rates dropped by 41% when participants also did cardio exercise.

Flowers shared four things she’s learned about staying fit at any age.

Mentality is the most important element of keeping fit

Flowers said the biggest help in achieving this goal was her determination to be physically fit.

“You have to have the desire and motivation in your head and heart,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what you do or what your goals are, but you have to start to make a habit.”

Experts agree that building a habit takes a lot of repetition, and BI’s Rachel Hosie previously wrote that for a habit to stick, you need to incorporate fitness into your lifestyle.

Diet is important for muscle growth

Flowers noticed that what she ate had the greatest impact on her body.

She said that even if you get the “perfect” workout, “you won’t develop muscle if you’re not eating what you need to achieve your goals.”

Jamie Wright, a registered dietitian, previously told BI that eating plenty of protein is important for building muscle and losing belly fat, while adding carbohydrates to your meals can provide more energy for exercise.

Do not rush

Progress comes slowly, Flowers learned.

“You don’t want to overdo it because you can hurt yourself and then you’ll just go backwards,” she said. “It took me a long time to get to where I am, but with time, persistence and discipline, you can achieve anything you put your mind to.”

Kristin Haraldsdottir, director of exercise research and innovation at Hydrow, previously told BI that it takes 12 weeks to see the effects of strength training to build muscle. She recommended training three times a week and increasing the weight for faster progress – but with a full day of rest between workouts.

Embrace community

In addition to helping her stay in shape, lifting weights has helped Flowers meet friends she calls her “fit family” at the gym. Now she’s a fitness influencer who goes by the name “Granny Guns.”

“These are friends I haven’t had my whole life because I was isolated with my husbands and work,” she said. “I love being part of this group. It’s a community. It makes me feel good and gives me the confidence to keep going. They are very, very supportive.”

Exercising with friends is a great way to motivate yourself because it provides a sense of responsibility and the pleasure of socializing, Daniel Lieberman, a Harvard paleoanthropologist and author of a book on exercise, previously told BI.

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