LI Woman, 95, Who Still Actively Works Out Shares Her Secrets

EAST NORTHPORT, NY —This 95-year-old is still moving and flowing with the best of them.

Jessie Krozer is mixing up with her trainer, Phil Sottile, of Intelligent Fitness, who is half her age. What’s the secret to her longevity?

"Activity. Movement. A balanced lifestyle of exercise, healthy food, and supportive friends and family," Krozer shared in a news release.

Long before it was mainstream for women to work out, Krozer was weight training, eating wholesome, unprocessed foods, and living a wellness lifestyle.

"I’ve exercised my whole life," Krozer said. "Since I was a young girl, I lifted weights and loved outdoor activities. I never smoked cigarettes — even though everyone smoked back in those days — and alcohol was never my thing."

Krozer started working out with a personal trainer around eight years ago.

The trainer emphasized the most important aspects of fitness for an aging population when training Krozer: postural exercise, balance, hand grip strength, functional activities like sitting to standing or ascending/descending steps, and progressive resistance training for bone density.

Her trainer of five years then left the personal training industry to pursue a career in electrical engineering. That's when Krozer began working out with Sottle, the trainer's colleague. Sottle is an eight-time Bethpage Best of Long Island personal trainer and exercise physiologist.

The two have been at it since.

"When Jessie comes in, I’ve got to be ready to bring it," Sottile said. "At 95, she has so much energy and will keep us moving nearly every minute of our 30-minute session. She’s a tough customer when the gloves are on and definitely when they come off."

Sottile explained what a typical workout session looks like in his gym with Krozer. He will have Krozer start the workout with a bout of hitting sparring mitts for three to five minutes. She will pursue Sottile 60 feet across the gym, swinging rights and lefts with power and precision.

As if plucked from the screen of Mighty Mick’s Gym from the "Rocky" movies, she will bite the velcro strap to take off her gloves, and the duo will move into a vigorous weight training session consisting of dumbells, bodybars, selectorized weight training equipment, and suspension trainers for approximately 20 minutes.

They then finish the workout with three to five more minutes of sparring to end on a "high note," Sottile explained.

Having just celebrated her 95th birthday, Krozer has no intention of stopping now, she said.

"I’m so very grateful and count my blessings every day that I feel good and can continue to do all the things I enjoy because of my exercise program," she said. "I live an active lifestyle. I could never imagine mindlessly watching a television all day. I work out a little each day to keep myself healthy. At 95, I feel really good! I am very blessed and so very thankful to be able to do all the things I can do."

Sottile said to "do as Jessie does."

"If you want to feel your best, you have to be willing to fight for it. Take it from Jessie. At 95, she has taken all of life’s punches and is not ready to throw in the towel. She didn’t hear no bell!"