Confessions of a Senior Gym Exerciser-Taking That Nervous Anxious First Step Is Important
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I have just returned from my first session at the gym.
Three years into my retirement
I eased into a relaxed life.
A little bit of cooking, some cleaning, lots of reading, and quite a lot of
TV & movies. Some writing and going out on occasion. That summed up my
post-retirement routine
The kilos kept adding on and
soon I was at my heaviest ever.
I started walking indoors.
I have to confess that with age
came an enhanced fear of walking outside, on the streets.
I had fallen on two occasions, one when I was in my early sixties and
the other a few months later. The latter was an embarrassing one, in front of
many people! Worse, due to the impact of the fall, my pants tore at
the kneecap. .. Ugh.
My gym was located 3 streets away from my home.
They were crowded streets. Milling with pedestrians and roadside
vendors. Add to that speeding, motorbikes and scooters, cars, huge buses, small
motored rickshaws and the occasional stray dog
The gym was too close to take a cab or even a rickshaw.
And I don't drive. So walk I
must
After I bought the Annual Membership plan, the next step was to find
the right attire. Track pants and loose T-shirts
After trying out the tracks and T-shirts that I had at home I was
aghast and depressed!
None of the tracks or the T-shirts I
had bought 4 years ago were suitable. Too tight in all the wrong places!
I was two sizes bigger I realized, in the Trial Room, where I was
shopping for new ones.
Hmmm. depressing but all the more
reason to go ahead with my plan to enroll at the gym.
That first step ….it has to be taken
Hesitant and nervous I left home at about quarter to eight for my
first 8 am gym session.
Never good with directions, despite the help from Google Maps I lost my way.
Taking help from a passer-by I managed to reach the gym at 8.08 am.
After the preliminary introductions, it was on to the workout for the
day.
“Warm-up exercises followed by 15 minutes on the stationary cycle and
15 minutes on the treadmill,” said my instructor.
“Let's go”- he said with enthusiasm
The warm up itself tired me out
and I was glad to sit on the exercise cycle.
"In about 10 to 15 days
we'll move to floor exercises and weights," said the instructor with a
confidence I didn’t share.
I wondered
what he would say if I told him that I could not get down by myself onto the
floor. And if I go on to say that even if I manage to plonk down clumsily,
I may not be able to get up unaided!!
Lifting Weights is another sorry story. I cannot move a bucket of
water even a few feet in my bathroom.
Seeing my uncertain look he said with
reassuringly –“We’ll move only at the pace that suits you.”
There…it was not so bad. The gym instructor was so understanding
I looked
around the gym and was more than pleased to note there were quite a few
grey-haired, pot-bellied men and women. My
senior peers working out with determination writ on their faces
It was not so bad after all. As the session progressed, I said hello to a
few of my peers.
I felt good that I had taken
that first step to exercising at the gym at 63!
