Boomers finding new ways to stay fit
By Shan Li, Los Angeles Times
Greta Goplen stood in position with a cane at the ready, like a ninja warding off invisible foes.
As an instructor yelled out directions to the class — “left, left, jab, jab, nose! right, right, jab, jab, nose!” — the 59-year-old raised her walking stick and nimbly thrust it out kung-fu style, swinging it to either side before jabbing it backward.
Half an hour later, the class ended. A dozen women quickly sat down to rest artificial hips and arthritic knees.
“But I’m not done killing yet,” Goplen said, bashing an imaginary mugger on the ground. “We got ’em! Yeah! Yahoo!”
Exercise for baby boomers has gone trendy.
As the oldest baby boomers turn 67 this year, the same generation that sent crib sales zooming in the 1950s and ’60s and snapped up cars in the 1980s is now changing the fitness market in the same way it influenced music, fashion and politics.
Gone are the days when seniors could only stroll around the park or do low-impact aerobics. Now, a slew of new gyms and exercise programs are catering exclusively to the gray-haired set.