Article by the Drummond Team
The rise of the superfit sixties 
You see them at the gym every day – and not just swimming or doing yoga! 10 years ago we might have thought about hanging up our trainers in our fifties, let alone our sixties! But in 2019 it’s a very different story. Today’s sixtysomethings know that age is no barrier to even the most challenging athletic goals. A new group of hard-bodied sexagenarians is emerging!
Superfit 60-plus members put in longer hours at their gyms than any other age group, averaging eight visits per month, according to the healthcare charity Nuffield Health. More than one in ten members of David Lloyd gyms are 60-plus. And it’s not the more gentle classes on the timetable that are drawing them in, but high-intensity workouts and tough training regimens.
Sport England says that the biggest rise in sports participation in recent years has been in the 55-74 year old age bracket. Older people are getting more active, meeting the 150 minutes threshold increasing by 1.3%, to 58.3%. This is great news – and important given that we have an ageing population. Brisk walking, including hill and mountain walking, appears to be driving this increase.