Woman celebrates 100th birthday with 5-minute plank test: ‘An inspiration to everyone’
BAY SHORE, N.Y. (WABC) - A New York woman is celebrating a milestone in a remarkable way.
As she turned 100 years old, Geraldine “Jerry” Leo marked the occasion with an accomplishment some people who are much younger cannot do.
Leo’s 100th birthday was April 11.
It wasn’t just her high tempo, pristine hearing, or hand, eye and foot coordination that stands out during a fitness class at the Great South Bay YMCA in Bayshore on Long Island.
It was the moment and the ability of this great-grandmother to do a 5-minute plank.
The class quit at 2 minutes, but not Leo.
She comfortably held steady until 3 minutes.
“She definitely puts some of the class to shame, including me,” Marion Saturno, Leo’s friend, remarked.
Her impressive stamina and form were carried out just three days before her 100th birthday.
“She’s a strong woman,” Despina Tenedorio, health and wellness director at Great South Bay YMCA, said.
The centenarian says the YMCA has been a big part of her life. She joined because of her late husband Dominick, who encouraged her to go to the YMCA when it opened back in 1991.
Leo shared her secret to longevity.
“Be consistent, be positive and keep moving in whatever you do. That’s very important,” Leo said.
Leo also takes a weightlifting class on Fridays, but not this week. For her birthday, both the YMCA and the mayor of Babylon are celebrating Leo’s milestone.
“Jerry is an inspiration to everyone who meets her,” Leo’s group fitness instructor, Elizabeth Grant, said.
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