An L.A. gym for people over 40?

HERE'S WHAT MY 83-YEAR-OLD 'GERIATRIC JOCK' MOM THOUGHT OF GYM VENICE

- BY DEBORAH VANKIN

SANDRA Mazer Moss, left, mother of Times staff writer Deborah Vankin, works out with gym owner Kris Herbert and has an assessment.

Photographs by CATHERINE DZILENSKI For The Times

The sidewalk sign outside of the Gym Venice was promising: "Your 40+ Comeback Starts Here." "Well, how about an 80s-plus comeback," my mom quipped, as we headed inside. She'd just turned 83 a few days earlier and was visiting L.A. from the East Coast. She's a retired, but still feisty, judge who now works as a mediator. And while she wasn't much of an exerciser when I was growing up in Philadelphia, she now considers herself a "geriatric jock." "I do Silver Sneakers on Zoom almost every day," she boasted of her online fitness routine. "Let's see what they have to show me here." Turns out, a lot. The Gym Venice specializes in training bodies over 40-years-old, which have different needs, when it comes to strength training, than younger exercisers, says owner Kris Herbert.

For starters, older bodies — especially after years of a sedentary lifestyle — are more susceptible to injuries. Conditions such as osteoporosis and arthritis can lead to weakened muscles, fragile bones and unstable joints as well as balance issues.

Herbert's gym isn’t the only locale training adults in midlife and beyond. Still Got It Fitness, in Lomita, and Q4 Active, in Woodland Hills, both train exercisers over 50.

The niche approach is for good reason. As we age, we also lose muscle mass — as much as 3% to 5% per decade after age 30, according to the National Institutes of Health — and our metabolism slows, which can lead to weight gain. When strength training later in life, more attention must be paid to building strength around the joints, Herbert says, and strengthening the posterior, or back, chain of the body.