Exercise is important whatever your age as our resident fitness expert MARY SHEPPARD explains.

I HAVE a client called Ivy. She is dressed in her everyday blouse, skirt and sensible shoes. She is 81 - and she is also my mother.

Today she is working out in her living room with her personal trainer - me.

We sit facing each other on two antique chairs. "Heel, toe, heel toe," I say, urging her to mirror the small movements she is making with her ankle. "Now side twists." Mum asks to skip this one but is met with a firm assurance that it will help look after her back and lessen the stiffness. She complies, and starts to chat about the history of the chairs. She is able to do much more than her physical condition suggested.

Sometimes I bring along a step for a low-impact version of step aerobics, but today I wanted Ivy to use bands to improve her muscle tone.

She produces a long, stretchy band in bright purple, to provide resistance and support for the exercises.

Personal trainers are being asked to provide workouts for an increasing number of clients in their 70s and 80s.

Once the preserve of the young and the relatively affluent, personal trainers are now expanding their client base to older people, many of whom understand the benefits of keeping fit and active and have the disposable income to pay £20-£25 for a one-to-one session with a trainer.

I started to get asked by my clients in the health club about what they could do to help their parents. So I thought I'd start at home and see if my mum was interested in being a guinea pig.

She's always been active and full of life, but since living on her own, doesn't go for the long walks she used to.

The older generation haven't grown up with messages about the importance of formal exercise the way we have.

Even if they can afford to pay for a personal trainer, a lot of them don't like the idea of spending that sort of money on themselves.

The benefits of exercise have been broadcast from every loudhailer in the land, but less well publicised are some very specific health benefits of exercise for older people.

Exercise prolongs length and quality of life, reduces the risk of coronary heart disease, hypertension, non-insulin-dependent diabetes, colon cancer and depression. And the really good news is that even for 80somethings who have never done a press-up or squat in their lives, it isn't too late to start.

Taking joints through their full range of movement and improving balance (to prevent falls) is really important.

A trainer can demonstrate the safest, most effective way to do these exercises and can motivate older people to keep going once they feel the benefits.

The good thing about a personal trainer is you get a programme tailored to your needs.

If you put a class full of two-year-olds together for a baby gym session, they will more or less be able to do the same sort of things because they haven't been alive for long enough for much to have happened to their bodies.

By the time someone is in their 60s, 70s or 80s an awful lot has happened and they are more in need of a programme that is personalised to their particular body.

If older clients are encouraged by their sons or daughters, they may be reluctant to start with. The best thing is seeing the improvements that clients make and how their attitude can change.

Whereas once Ivy would see a bus coming at the stop down the road and think "I'll wait for the next one rather than hurry", she now strides purposely forward to catch the early one - while her friends say "I could never do that".

FITNESS WALES was set up nearly 40 years ago to encourage more people to get active.

Working closely with the Sports Council for Wales, Fitness Wales also trains people who want to work in the industry as instructors in a whole range of disciplines.

Contact Fitness Wales on 029 2057 5155 or email on: enquiries@fitnesswales.co.uk