STRENGTH TRAINING and STRETCHING

 If a gym is not possible, stretching and weight training at home is also good. 

Eric and I learned the benefits of strength training from the book, “Body for Life,” by Bill Phillips. Early in the morning, before we thought about a gym membership, we began weight training at home.

For years we had jogged, (learning the process from Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s book, Aerobics). Now we learned that upper and lower muscle strength was important.

We began in our late forties. Our three sons were now in their twenties. Joshua was an Engineer at Lockheed Martin; Josiah was an Air Warfare Systems Operator on a P3 airplane. Zach was finishing Junior College, working, and living with Josh. My husband and I began to realize the importance of building our physical bodies with weight training. We began at home then bought a gym membership at the YMCA. And began traveling thirteen miles three times a week to the gym, again early in the morning.

A STEP AT A TIME

A privately owned gym moved near us. I began to attend the aerobics classes…and really liked the music and dance moves that motivated the class. For months I made it to the class, then worked toward becoming a Trainer. After months of getting my courage up, I began instructing a class in the same gym. The weights were two pounds in the beginning. By the time I stopped teaching, I was lifting ten pounds, which is still my habit. I was in my forties. Now at eighty, I am lifting ten pounds, running in place 200 steps, bicycle riding and doing exercises on the floor.