You may not have heard of Laura Bruzzone from Stamford, Connecticut, but if you have the goal of staying fit forever, you should. Bruzzone is a 72 year old athlete making some major headlines for viral videos of her impressive CrossFit® training.
Bruzzone has sparked a wave of inspiration in the fitness community at large. Here is the video shared on Good Morning America‘s Facebook page, that has nearly 7.3 million views at the time of this article, via the hashtag ChasingLaurenB on Instagram:
https://www.facebook.com/GoodMorningAmerica/videos/513566816180130/
According to her interview with Good Morning America (GMA), Bruzzone got into CrossFit unexpectedly five years ago after a friend talked her into trying it out.
If you watch the video, you’ll see that it kicks off asking the question, “What’s your excuse?”. In the GMA video, Bruzzone says:
“You certainly shouldn’t let age or anything else hold you back. So long as you don’t give up and you do something, you’re going to get payback, definitely.”
The “What’s your excuse?” theme continues in this post of Bruzzone knocking out some solid bench press, bodyweight dips, and diamond push-ups via Carozza Fitness Masters’ Instagram page:
“Forgive me if I embarrass you, but I have a long range plan. When I’m 90, I want to get to the bathroom by myself.”
Something special about Bruzzone’s attitude is that the only person she is competing against is herself. And rest assured, the younger athletes training alongside Bruzzone are just as much inspiration for her as she is for them. She states as much in her GMA interview:
“I see the younger people doing heavier weights and I want to get closer to what they’re doing. It’s more motivation for me to push harder.”
[Related:Watch the insane CrossFit workout Jacinto Bonilla did on his 80th birthday]
Bruzzone trains at 6am most days, only taking a rest day when she feels it’s needed. From her point of view, “When you’re older your body kind of forgets. It’s just easier to be there.”
So “What’s your excuse?” It doesn’t matter.
Bruzzone’s advice is:
“Never give up and to pace yourself with exercise.”
Feature image via Wesley James Instagram page: @mrjames_cpt