‘Without strength training I wouldn’t survive’: the woman who joined a CrossFit gym in her 80s

Jean Stewart: ‘I like to do things for myself.’ Photograph: Nolwen Cifuentes/The Guardian

I see people 30 years younger than me and they’ve given up,” Jean Stewart, 96, says. It’s not an attitude she relates to. “I like to do things for myself.”

Stewart was very active in her youth: she played hockey and softball at school and worked for the Girl Scouts for years. As she got older, however, everyday tasks became harder.