95-year-old fitness instructor leads twice weekly exercise classes

From arm stretches to gentle Pilates, a group of pensioners in Croatia are keeping active well into their later years. At the heart of it all is 95-year-old fitness trainer Djurdja Vukovic—still leading the way, and showing no signs of slowing down. Twice a week, she guides elderly women through a mix of light aerobics, stretching and Pilates—movements she’s honed herself over more than five decades. A former pharmaceutical engineer, Vukovic’s passion for movement began in 1964. She says she has made friendships that have endured beyond the gym. “For me, I found a haven here. … Because it’s not just about physical exercise, it’s just as much about talking to people and mingling. There are invitations to go to the theater, there are book recommendations for this author or that one. … Outside of very close friends, you can’t share your problems with anyone else, like you can here. So, it works as an emotional outlet, which helped me a great deal in my private life,” she says. For Vukovic, these sessions are more than fitness. They’re a lifeline, weaving together community, healing, and resilience. “This is also great because it allows people to stare at TV screens much less, and spend less time with this disastrous daily news, which actually makes you ask yourself what’s living about. But life is merely a blink of an eye. We get born, we live through some period, one way or another—and then you disappear from the world, like you were never here in the first place.” The classes are small, but the impact is large. For many here, it’s a space to care for their bodies, and their spirits. Bozica Birin, a class attendee, says, “I decided to do this because of health problems, that was my number one reason. But also, spending time together is also important. After our training, we like to go have coffee, hang out together, we sometimes go on day trips together. So, this kind of continues outside of the gym, and it allows us to have an active lifestyle.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.