Tennis, touch football, swimming, sailing, horse-back riding . . . if it involved action, the Kennedy clan, including our 35th President, were at it! Though President Kennedy suffered from severe back pain, he was often photographed participating in sports.
Through Kennedy’s Council on Physical Fitness, Americans in the 1960s were challenged to become more active and physically fit. In these days of remembrance of President Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963, this post pays tribute to that part of his legacy, a call to shape up!
Decades later, I’m still at it, trying to avoid canes, walkers, and wheelchairs in the near future. And so, fitness classes at the gym have become a metaphor for my life in general: Pilates / PowerPump = hard / harder.
Lift it up!
Step it up!
Roll it up!
Getting ready to roll . . .
Instructor Ananda doing perfect roll-ups.
My roll-ups are not perfect, but I try!
As I said, “It’s a gym, not a spa!”
Your comments welcome. I will always reply.
Plain and Fancy 
“… trying to avoid canes, walkers, and wheelchairs in the near future.”
yes, Yes, YES — prevention is the name of the game!
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Preach it, Laurie! And I know you can add a thing or two about the mental & emotional aspects of fending off decrepitude.
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I have to admire you. I was swimming every day last year, and then I got adhesive capsulitis in my left shoulder in April. Then 12 weeks of PT in the gym. So no swimming this past summer. Pain at every turn. Sleepless nights. Misery. Finally, after 7 months, I can move and sleep without pain, Already, I have gained back 20 pounds of the 48 I had lost the previous year with the swimming.
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Adhesive capsulitis — It sounds ominous. I’m glad you are finally pain-free though. Have you ever heard of aqua-size? Here in Jacksonville, the Y offers some classes. I sounds like you love the water, and this may be a way back into an environment you love with low impact.
As always, thanks for stopping by and offering your thoughts, Susan!
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What are you doing up so late…same as me? Can’t sleep. Only time alone with the computer?
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I have, and thanks for the suggestion. I should look into something like that.
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I don’t frequent the gym, but I push the vacuum, swing the mop, and lift the trash. Can’t let you get into those senior contraptions before me!
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Yes, I know: You are a can-do woman . . . no grass growing under your feet, that’s for sure!
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Excellent, Marian. You may not know I was a nutritionist and personal trainer until 2011, focusing on bone health. I worked in various settings, but preferred small classes and one on one work. My body took a huge hit this year with a Meniere’s Disease diagnosis (tinnitus, hearing loss, and vertigo). I’m slowly getting it under control with medical and alternative help, although the hearing doesn’t return. I manage decently with hearing aids. So important to protect our health. I managed to keep walking throughout this time and doing some stretching and tai chi, but for now no strength training (it makes me dizzy). I look forward to regaining that sense of empowerment in the body. Go Marian!
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My first thought, Elaine: You can’t keep a good woman down! Thanks for commenting today and for being a wonderful inspiration to others on your own website.
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I also go to the gym almost every day–spin, Zumba, boot camp, etc. As well as keeping me from being enormous and making me much stronger, it’s also a nice break from sitting at the computer. 🙂
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That’s the idea. In fact, yesterday there was a specific exercise will light weights specifically designed to avoid that awful “hunched over” posture. Thanks for stopping by, Merril!
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I’ve “hit the gym” for almost two decades now, but until I had back difficulties, I had never heard a doctor say how important flexibility is to maintaining health. As with most areas of life, balance is crucial.
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I skipped a week in Pilates–went back today. Boy, did I feel it. The abs muscles are the first to notice when a gal procrastinates.
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