There you are, chugging along, a little walking, maybe pushing yourself on hills, some bike riding, swimming, a few at-home exercises then — BOOM — out of left field a diagnosis. It could have been your blood pressure, or bones, or prostate. Diabetes anyone? Something in your body is aging faster than you are. 

What are you going to do about it? There’s medication but also choices. You have heard the guideline that the older you get the more you need to exercise, just to hold your own. It will keep you alive longer, and give you more options in that life, more fun, maybe less pain. You don’t have to look hard to see the direct line to your diagnosis.

In my case it was weakening bones, getting brittle, actually corroding. A broken wrist skiing, okay that was a fluke. Then a broken hip walking dogs, hmmm, that looked suspicious, and a bone scan sealed the deal.  Osteoporosis. How did this happen? I thought I was already active. How do I up my game? My GP and I struck a deal: two years to prove I could turn that around with diet and exercise without the medication. Then he will test again. 

A friend gifted me a three-month membership to the Kamloops Y and I live three blocks away. Groan. I spent my life avoiding being part of a class, following a leader chirping “…and now arms up, and to the right, knees high…” I couldn’t stand it. Squats? You’ve got to be kidding. But I couldn’t insult the gift-giver by saying “Umm, no thanks, don’t fancy that.”

So, I dragged myself to a three-times-a-week class called “PBS Gold” – Posture, Balance and Strength for seniors. I spent the first week and a half clock watching. How much longer? Will this ever end? How am I going to get through three months of this? Then something shifted. I noticed that my classmates were nice. Friendly. Helpful. 

I got to like them, looked forward to them. We were a community. All of us with our sore knees, challenging backs, replaced hips, all of them cheerfully turning up because they too had heard the news: you want to feel good? be able to play with your grandchildren? then move the body. The class clown announced to a substitute instructor as she walked in: “Oh, they didn’t tell you? We don’t actually do exercises here. We are a social club.” And we are. 

Next thing I knew I was looking forward to those three mornings a week. And shock, shock, within a few months, a classmate talked me into signing up for additional classes, harder classes, and starting this week a brand-new class – heavy-duty weight-lifting for seniors. I’m in.

It’s been just over a year and the benefits show up in my daily life, things like walking up stairs. I can now do squats holding a 50-pound weight. I know. Astonishing. But will I make it into the healthy-bones zone when re-tested in another year? We’ll find out. 

I am an average person, small-to-medium build, some strong parts, some shockingly weak parts, sore knees, tender joints, weak hands, tummy that sticks out, unattractive dowager’s hump at the top of my spine, just your average senior. But I’m on a journey and I’m hoping mine can encourage you to give exercise and eating habits a larger place in your life. We’ll explore fitness ideas and find out what other seniors say about their fitness journeys. 

Let’s explore how to protect what we’ve got, build on it and improve life by looking after ourselves. One year in, I can say “Thank goodness for that diagnosis.” I’m determined to pass the bone-density test one year from now. I hope you too will up your own fitness journey, build your own health, because seniors deserve it. Let’s put fun into being little old ladies.

Margaret Archibald is a 79-year-old Kamloops retiree, who is neither medically nor fitness trained. She is not qualified to diagnose nor recommend health or fitness. She is simply learning how to develop her own fitness, bound and determined to keep on loving aging.