81-year-old great-grandmother among first to return to gym as it reopens

As Israel’s exercise centers reopened to the vaccinated earlier today, 81-year-old Effie Hertzke was among the first to hit the gym — before hitting on the TV interviewer who asked her about it.

“I came straight from work. I really missed it,” Hertzke, a retired nurse who still volunteers at a hospital, tells Channel 12 in American-accented Hebrew.

In an interview with the station’s deadpan interviewer Rafi Reshef, she also rolls up her sleeves to show off her muscles, adding that she continued to work out at home during the pandemic.

תצפו בזה, ואחר כך נראה אתכם אומרים ש"אין לכם כוח" לעשות ספורט | מתוך #חמש עם @ReshefRafi pic.twitter.com/8uBhjmeadz

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) February 21, 2021

“Can you see something?” she says, flexing her arm.

“Of course. You can tell you haven’t worked out for a while, but you can get it back, it’s just a matter of time,” replies Reshef.

“Oh! That is disgusting — look at what a body I have,” she says indignantly.

Reshef says he meant it as a compliment, underlining her “potential.”

What else do you want to do before you go home?” he asks.

“Maybe I’ll meet a young man who will invite me for an orange juice or something like that,” she says, laughing.

“Are you married?” she asks Reshef, who replies that he is. “Aw, too bad,” she exclaims.