A previous version of this reflection appeared on Maria’s Mind, my previous blog. I have updated it to reflect where I am now in terms of my age and fitness level.
Why I Began Exercising at the Gym
One of the best decisions I have ever made, for my physical AND mental health, is to begin exercising regularly. Approximately ten years ago, I somewhat impulsively took advantage of an opportunity to begin properly and consistently working out with a recently graduated trainer, Adam Camara, who was eager to overcome my age-induced doubts about the benefits of focussed, appropriately challenging exercise for me. With professionalism, humour and confidence in my ability to improve, he works to help me achieve and sustain my goals of maintaining bone strength and a reasonable, healthy weight. Of course, it has been hard work, but it has also been immensely rewarding; at 64, I am satisfyingly fit, with more energy, strength and flexibility than I’ve had for much of my adult life. I accept, and my yearly physicals support, that I am at a reasonable weight for my height and age.
As I approached 50, I gradually became aware, and increasingly appalled, at my decreasing strength. Being able to move furniture, rotate my mattress and shift 10 kg. bags of flour from the grocery cart to the trunk of my car to my house had always been prideful feats of strength, but I realized that I was progressively needing more and more help.
At pivotal moments in my life, I read for pleasure and to inform and prepare myself. I expected to gain weight at 50 – but 30 lbs.! I was not happy about it. Yes, I needed to acknowledge that I was getting older, and that inevitably my body would change, but I also was unwilling to give in without a fight. Repeated and varied efforts to motivate myself to exercise on my own, and then, equally if not more difficult, to follow through in a habit-forming way, were more than my willpower could handle.
After much prompting and support, I tried but ultimately failed to sustain an effective routine at one of the chain gyms. I didn’t know how to properly use the many resistance machines – I especially wanted to keep my stomach and waist muscles under control – but I was afraid to use them in case I hurt myself. The treadmill, the elliptical machine and sometimes the stationary bike, were the only machines I used, but ineffectively, because I was unsure how hard I could push myself. I lack coordination, and I really didn’t want to sweat! Finally, vertigo, combined with an increasingly frozen shoulder and left arm that would not obey my orders, gave me the excuses I wanted to quit.
When I joined the gym, which is a small, local one with ambitious goals for expansion by treating its clients attentively and supportively, I was initially sceptical about training’s effectiveness; I am stiff as a board – I blame genetics – and I thought I was too old for much improvement in strength and flexibility.
How I’ve Improved: Lunges, Runs, Planks
Although it took me a long time to properly, and therefore effectively, learn to do some of the exercises, I slowly improved, gaining stamina and flexibility. For example, it took me weeks to learn the proper form of a squat: pretend to be lowering myself onto a chair. Surprising myself most of all, I have even begun completing 5 and 10 km. runs. For example, in 2023 for the fourth time, I participated in the Sporting Life Run in Toronto, which takes place on Mother’s Day and raises money for a camp for children with cancer. My trainer incorporates training for these runs in the preceding weeks, but of course the best training is the weekly regular exercise I do throughout the year. Unbelievably, I can now also, reasonably consistently, hold a five-minute plank, an exercise whose benefits consolidate all the reasons why exercise is beneficial. It made me smile and feel proud of my progress when the boys in the weight room of the high school where I taught were awed that I can hold myself up that long.
There are many reasons why I like my local gym. First of all, it has a “Cheers” atmosphere. For those of you old enough to remember that sitcom set in a Boston bar, it’s the kind of place “where everybody knows your name.” I really like that, within the context of an often-impersonal big city, the gym has the friendliness and familiarity of a small community. The staff smiles and knows my name. It reminds me a little of “Rocky” with its punching bags, which I have used periodically: a great, fun way to release stress and frustration. Speaking of stress, like most of us, my days are busy; I balance two part-time jobs and helping to take care of my mother and her house. I’m often tired, but I go to the gym because I have made a commitment to be there and because I am aware that I will feel calmer and better able to put my worries in perspective after an hour of movement and physically challenging exercise.
My Exercise Goals
My main goals are to stay healthy, maintain a reasonable weight and level of energy – I still have so much that I want to accomplish in my life – and continue to fit into my clothes and keep up with my children. I also want to keep my osteopenia – the stage before osteoporosis – under control. Working out regularly, especially the weight-bearing exercises, is the best way to maintain my strength and bone density. I am old enough to understand and accept that staying in healthy shape will not happen without sustained effort by me, despite the enticing, deceptive promises made by the checkout magazines. Consistent, professionally informed exercise has positively transformed the way I think about myself, my life, and my plans for it. I have surprised myself in ways I never expected.
i loveThe Muffs :]
Thank you! Yes, great song.