SA’s oldest resident and great grandma of 14 works out three times a week.

Soon-to-be aged 109, Catherina van der Linden says it’s not in her DNA to stay still. Check out her top tips for staying young as the years tick by.

South Australia’s oldest living resident – a ‘gym junkie’ who likes to give her muscles a triweekly workout – turns 109 on Thursday.

Catherina van der Linden says it’s not in her DNA to stay still.

“I like to move,” says the great-grandmother of 14.

The only thing that’s slowed her down so far is a broken left hip, sustained 18 months ago while hanging out the washing.

Right up until then she was living independently near her daughter’s Glenelg home.

It’s not her first broken hip either. In her 90s, Mrs van der Linden broke her right hip after road-testing her grandson’s skateboard while wearing heels.

Adelaide's oldest woman Catherina Van Der Linden is turning 109 next Thursday, August 26, 2021. Picture: Tom Huntley

“Some people can sit for hours – but I’m not a person who can sit still,” she says. For the past three years, Mrs van der Linden has participated in weekly group fitness classes.

The classes are run at ACH Group’s Health Studio 50+ at Glenelg and involve a 45 minute circuit of state-of-the-art fitness equipment designed to strengthen upper body, legs and core for older gym bodies.

Mrs van der Linden also flexes her muscles twice a week through seated exercises at home – now Southern Cross West Beach Residential Care. “I really think movement is something that is necessary to live a healthy life and is important for every person to do – don’t be sedentary,” she advises.

Catherina and John van der Linden on their wedding day – August 1940. Picture: supplied by family

Fitness leader Scott Attwood says Catherina is an inspiration for class members. “She is a great role model and encourages them to workout and keep fit … It’s very rare for her to miss a class,” he said.

Mrs van der Linden was born in the Netherlands in 1912 and migrated to Australia with her accountant husband looking for work post-World War II.

The couple had four children – among them Mariella Hocking, who says her mother wasn’t always a “gym junkie”.

“She has always walked and ridden a bike but the gym is something she has taken up later in her life,” says Mrs Hocking.

She says her mother’s ‘try anything once’ attitude motivated the entire family.

“I think she is quite inspiring – she inspires me,” she says.