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Elizabeth Rogers of Dallas, is 75 years old and she can still touch her toes. She has no trouble standing up and sitting down. She started practicing yoga 40 years ago and still does it regularly. Some days, she adds 20 or 30 minutes of walking to her exercise regime, and she recently took up Tai Chi.

People that meet me think I’m at least 10 years younger than I actually am. My face isn’t prune-face,” she says with a giggle.

Rogers was healthy when healthy wasn’t cool. She started exercising long before it was trendy, and now aging boomers can look to her an example of what a lifelong commitment to fitness can do.

But working out at 50-, 60-, or 80-years old is not the same as working out at 20 or 30 and that’s something the fitness industry is taking seriously. Not only is the core fitness market — baby boomers — aging, but today’s over-50 crowd is big news in fitness.

The changing face of health clubs Look around next time you’re at the health club. When you’re not distracted by 22-year-olds in thongs, you might notice a lot of faces that have lived a little. According to the Fitness Products Council, an industry group, the number of health club members age 55 and older more than doubled between 1988 and 1995. Thirty percent of health club members are 45 and older. In clubs that offer them, senior programs are generating more interest than personal training, swimming programs, step classes, or children’s after-school and summer programs.

“I’m seeing individuals in their 70s and 80s with limited mobility (starting fitness programs),” said Larry Monakes, director of seniors programs at the Cooper Aerobics Center. “I’ve seen a change within the last couple of years.”

Of course, the state of a person’s body has less to do with chronology than with attention paid to fitness.

“I’ve got some senior athletes that are healthier than 30-year-olds,” says Monakes.

New reasons to exercise Older adults who exercise usually are not in it for the hard-body look; they’re doing it to be healthy and improve their quality of life.

“With today’s medical technology, everything we do today has to be done with the idea of longevity,” says Katy Keiser, president of Keiser Sports Health Equipment, which sponsors an awards program for seniors programs. “I tell people if you’re not planning to live to be 100, you’re making a serious mistake. Medical technology will help us do that. It’s up to us to determine just how much of a quality of life it’s going to be.”

There are a couple of things you can count on with age: Your muscle tone decreases and you slow down. These things don’t preclude participation in a fitness program, but your approach might change.

Much of it has to do with education.

A more comprehensive approach to fitness For older adults in particular, “The educational aspect has to come in — just knowing the reason why you’re doing it, and how important it is,” says Cathy McNeil, public relations director for the Boston-based International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association.

Working with the over-50 set, health club employees need to do more than just look good in leotards. There are more risks involved for over-50s exercising than for 20- to 30-year olds, and health club personnel need to be able to assess the risks and needs of each individual.

“There will be more orientation, more personal training, and group personal training so you learn to do everything and you do it correctly,” says Gordon Beck, coordinator for the 55-plus program at the Tom Landry Sports Medicine and Research Center in Dallas.

At the Cooper Aerobics Center, mature adults get personal training in groups to allay any self-consciousness or intimidation as they learn their way around the weight room, says Monakes.

Lectures on topics such as aging, nutrition and the immune system are also helpful. Beck predicts that nutritional information and guidance will become standard in health club eateries.