102-year-old grandma teaches fitness classes at nursing home in the US – Lifestyle

Jean Bailey, 102, is the gym teacher at the nursing home where she lives in the US state of Nebraska. Classes have been held four times a week for three years and are accompanied by dedicated students.

The centennial elderly woman does not believe in standing still. In an interview with The Washington Post, she said there’s no point in going on living if you don’t exercise your mind and body. “I don’t believe in just sitting and watching TV.”

Classes started during the pandemic, when the instructor was 99 years old, and it was all just an innocent idea to ease the tensions of social isolation.

Jean wanted to stay active and invited colleagues to do exercises that respected isolation and did not require so much effort.

The nursing home is back to offering regular physical activity, but Jean and her group like the way they’ve become accustomed to exercising.

The elderly began to gather in the corridor on the third floor, each with a chair, to do exercises that move the arms, legs, trunk and neck.

Currently, the group has six women who meet for 30 minutes on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Jean says that her students consider her a tough coach because she is always urging everyone to try to push boundaries.

“They tease me and say I’m mean, because when we exercise, I want them to do it right and use their muscles,” she says, “But I don’t think it’s that bad. People wouldn’t keep coming back if they weren’t enjoying it.”

The meetings also brought the elderly women closer together, who claim to be best friends now. They all try to stay active and alert and Jean assures her that she’ll stop when she ‘gets old’.

Born into the great depression, Jean has had a hard time in life. At the age of 3, her mother, at the time with 5 children, handed her over to another family, and the girl grew up the only child of a father who worked on a railroad.

Despite the adversities, she never stopped reinventing herself. She was a wife and mother, but has already lost one of her daughters and her husband, she worked for years as a florist and then as a volunteer at a hospital. Jean inspires her colleagues on a daily basis.

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