Month of May

For the month of May, Fit 4 Life will be honoring all of our “Fit Moms.” Most moms are known for doing everything and rarely taking time out for what we call “My Time”. Well, these moms truly do it all. Our Fit Mom of the month of May is the mother of all mothers, 80-year-old, Mrs. Ernestine Shepherd.

Fit 4 LIfe met “Momma E.” about 10 years ago at a 5K-run and we’ve never left her side, not for who she is, but for what she believes in: Dedicated, Determined, Disciplined to be fit. This has been Mrs. Shepherd’s mantra for years, her motivation for remaining healthy, and an example for all.

Mother Ernestine Shepherd (born June 16, 1936) is an American bodybuilder who is best known for being, at one point, the oldest competitive female bodybuilder in the world, as declared by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010 and 2011.

At age 56, Shepard and her sister Mildred Blackwell went to try on swimsuits and found their bodies were out of shape; they then started taking aerobics classes. Her sister began competing in bodybuilding shows under the name Velvet, and Ernestine followed under the name Ernie. However, her sister died in the early 1990s following a brain aneurysm.

Ernie carries on her bodybuilding career in part to remember her sister. Since the age of 56, she has won two bodybuilding titles, as well as run nine marathons. She also leads exercise classes for seniors at the Union Memorial United Methodist Church in Baltimore, and works as a personal trainer. She published a book, Determined, Dedicated, Disciplined To Be Fit, in 2016.

If that is not enough, you can find her in Beyoncé’s video, Black Is King.

Now, you can see why we dedicate the month of May to Momma E!