It's never too late to go to start exercising

This week, I want to tell you about one of the smartest things I’ve done in a very long time.

I’ve started going to a fitness center every week!

I probably wouldn’t have done it except for the surgery I had on my knee last year. Part of the recovery process includes several weeks of physical therapy at home; they want to make sure you can bend your knee at least 90 degrees. After I could do that I was still having some issues with my balance. I’d been walking in a gimpy sort of way for so long prior to that, my body had adjusted to an altered gate and a different sense of old balance. I found myself holding on to more railings than I used to. So, after talking to my doctor, I decided to sign up a local fitness center.

After a couple of months of going three times per week for an hour each time with a personal trainer, I cannot tell you how much better I feel. And, the hour I spend just flies by! Most importantly, my balance has improved dramatically. Put another way, I no longer feel like I might fall over at any moment. As a matter of fact, I called the place where I had the knee surgery done and talked to one of the surgical nurses who are there just to answer people’s questions.

I said something like, “This is probably a really stupid question, but do people who’ve had knee surgery ever have balance problems?” Her answer was, “Oh, all the time. That’s very common.” I asked why. “Well, just think how long it took your knee to get in that condition. Your body’s now readjusting to the way you used to walk and how you kept your balance before the surgery. It took your knee years to get in the shape if was before we fixed it. It’s going to take some time for your body to readjust back.” That all made perfectly good sense.

So did signing up for fitness training. When I explained what I was trying to accomplish, they designed a program to address the problem. I would hate for anyone to have seen my first session at the fitness place. I couldn’t even walk a straight line without losing my balance. There has been such an improvement in my overall physical condition it’s really amazing.

The program isn’t about becoming a body-builder (I’m too old for that), but it is about improving my strength so my balance improves. There are side benefits that can’t be overlooked in terms of stamina, flexibility, and general fitness.

So, aside from all the foregoing stuff about me, the point of this week’s column is to make the point that starting a physical fitness program, particularly as one gets older, is a fabulous idea. How many times have you heard about people falling and maybe breaking a hip? Part of falling may be due to tripping on something and not being strong enough to catch yourself or even being able to avoid hitting the ground like a lump of clay. Getting older doesn’t have to include getting weaker, I’m convinced. Another way of saying it is you’re never too old to improve your physical condition.

The reason I recommend a personal training, at least for a while, is having somebody show you how to do the various exercises and standing there to see if you’re doing them correctly. A personal trainer is also there if you do lose your balance to keep you from falling. For instance, I’ve reached the point where one exercise is standing on a foam square. The first stage is learning to stand on the pad because it’s soft and it takes some work to be able to just stand on the thing without losing your balance. Gradually, I’ve gotten to the place where I can stand on that foam pad with my eyes closed. It doesn’t always work, but I’m getting better at it and my trainer is right there to stabilize me if I do happen to start to lose my balance. I’ve also started using a weight when standing on the foam pad and lifting it over my head with one hand. It’s not all that heavy, but it takes a fair amount of physical coordination to do both things at the same time â€" keep my balance on the foam pad and lift the weight with one hand 10 or 12 times over my head.

If I can do that sort of stuff, anybody can, but there’s also another point.

At my last check up, my doctor said I was in great cardiovascular shape. Imagine how good that made me feel. So, my point with all this is to encourage all of you who have reached the age of 50 ought to consider starting a regular physical training program. The membership to belong to a fitness club isn’t that expensive and they typically have all the equipment you’ll ever need.

The truth of the matter is that if you’re in reasonably good health starting a regular fitness program will help you live longer and live a better quality of life. It’s never too late to start a training program that a fitness club can help you design so you’re doing the type of exercises you need to be doing. They will give you a workout program designed to help you reach whatever goal you want to reach, even if it’s just regaining some strength.

Even if you’ve never exercised regular in your life, it’s not too late to start. Based on my own experience, your health will improve and you’ll feel better and live longer. Whether you use a trainer or not is up to you. In my situation, I had somebody initially guiding my workouts to make sure I was doing them correctly and getting the maximum benefit from them.

That’s â€" 30 â€" for this week.

Paul W. Barada, a retired Rush County businessman, may be contacted via this publication at news@greesnburgdailynews.com.