“How I got fit in my 60s”: Meet 3 seniors who are fitter than ever
Taylor Harrison is an author, seniors health expert and Director of Active Seniors Health Centre. Here, he speaks to three of his clients, who reveal how they’re staying active in retirement.
Married coupled Fiona and Paul are two of my favourite members at Active Seniors. Here are their stories.
Fiona’s story
I heard about you first from a friend downstairs who said she had just been at the gym and when I came up to enquire, I was only really half-hearted as I didn’t fancy myself as a gym person. My image of gyms was Lycra and Olivia Newton John and ‘let’s get physical’. My knee was giving me problems and when I saw the surgeon, he said, ‘Just come back when you can’t stand the pain and we’ll operate then.’ But he didn’t give me any advice or guidance. That’s when I spoke to you and you said I needed to strengthen my leg and that was seven years ago, so I started then and I have not had the pain since then.
Not long after, we went on a big holiday through Europe, including walking up some really steep hills and walking up a tower with 320 steps in Prague and my knee was great.
It’s interesting now when I meet up with friends for birthdays and they are hobbling and I’m the only one who is not. They all have knee problems and some have to use walkers and their posture is terrible. It’s so sad, but I’m so glad I’ve done these exercises.
I also love how attentive the staff are here, constantly correcting my technique to make sure I am doing the exercises properly. If you are not an exercise person like myself this is so important. This was a real fear for me when I started coming to a gym where everyone knows what they are doing and I won’t and I’ll look like a fool. That’s not the case here, the staff take care of you and it’s not scary like some of those other gyms. It’s very welcoming and friendly. It’s not just the exercise, it’s the people we have met here. We have made so many friends and a lot have coffee after which is great. You see all the people outside of the gym in the shops and say hello as well. It’s a real community.
All of my family, I’m one of eight children, plus my parents, all have heart problems. I had all these tests done and I have the genetic marker for the same issues as my family. But when they checked my heart, I had zero calcium build up, which is amazing, and when the doctor asked about what I did with the exercise and diet, he said to keep it up as you are doing great for your age.
Paul’s story
It’s great that I get to do this as a couple with my wife. We encourage each other to keep going and if one of us doesn’t feel like getting out of bed in the morning, the other will say, ‘we must.’ It’s also good to do it in the morning as it freshens you up for the day and you feel so alive. I am an avid golfer and it actually has improved my game as I get older and I have statistics to show it. My game has actually got better, not worse. My handicap average has gone down from 7 to 3.5. That’s because I’m more flexible, but also because I have more energy. Golf is such a mental game and when you are tired you make mistakes. I can concentrate now better through a full game because I am fitter and stronger. My goal is always to beat my age in a round. Even though I have had some medical issues, I have still been able to keep at it. My favourite exercise is the interval training on the bike.
Jean’s story
One of our real success stories is Jean. Here is her story, in her own words, of the journey she has had at Active Seniors over the past 10 years.
I started at Active Seniors, because I saw the future for me involved long-term exercise and that meant that I would either have to go to a gym or to exercise classes.
I had bone density tests done at the time and I was 54 and the writing was on the wall (for osteoporosis), but I wanted exercise firstly for health reason, I didn’t know then it could affect the bones. I had a history in my family of bone issues and I think genetics plays a part in it all. So then I started exercising and what I found really quickly was an overall sense of wellbeing. I felt more vibrant and more alive. To put in context, I had already been walking 3–4 km every morning, even though I didn’t like getting out of bed, I did it every day. All of that combined, plus my stretches and it makes an almighty difference to my mobility as well. As you get older it gets harder to get things off the floor and the desire to get them off the floor, but the exercises help to keep you supple.
Each year I had a bone density test, and it was great to see the change each year. It started with a halting of my bone density decline, then we started to see a slight rise and I can’t remember the exact numbers (20 per cent in some areas), but over the years it has continue to rise slightly. All of the doctors had said to me that this wasn’t possible, including the endocrinologists, who are the specialists. Now I do the tests biannually because I’m stable.
Another factor was I’m not a happy drug taker and didn’t want to take the osteoporotic medication. I was horrified when I did the research, nobody wants to have a reaction to the drug, but I had to make that decision for myself. My Doctor was not happy and told me, ‘You will be back in three years hardly being able to walk if you don’t take the drugs.’ But I had to accept the risk and decided not to take them and when I saw the results coming through, I knew I would be okay. Hopefully I will never have to take it. To me, it just made sense to do it with exercise instead of a drug.
I understood this was a life decision and that I would have to commit to it. It’s a job, coming three days a week, looking after your health. It’s my job to keep myself healthy. Everything just works better and you feel more vibrant. It has proven so much over the last decade. My experience in this place is extraordinary, watching people who come in with shuffling feet and shoulders and head down and within weeks, you see them transform, their shoulders are back, they are walking more proudly and you see their faces lighter and brighter. That’s what exercise does.
This is an edited extract from Taylor Harrison’s Active Seniors – Staying Healthy and Having Fun in Retirement. Copies of the book are available online.