TURNING BACK THE CLOCK

We talk to a woman in her seventies about becoming a first-time gym junkie and how exercise has enhanced her life

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Alexa: 'You're never too old to start'

At 73, Alexa Lawrence is fitter than she's ever been. She goes to the gym every weekday and walks, cycles or swims at the weekend. She's done several of New Zealand's notable cycle trails, like the Alps to Ocean in the South Island, which takes five days.

Yet until she was 65, she'd never done any kind of regular exercise.

"I've always turned my nose up at things like the Jane Fonda exercise craze and I've never played sports," says Alexa. "I was one of those girls at school who used having my period as an excuse for getting out of games.

I just wasn't interested.