Tag Exercise

Wellness Wednesday: Why Every Day is a Trophy

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I expected to have the community pool to myself one early Saturday morning, but as I was pulling on my cap and goggles, a family showed up. Two parents and a boy who looked to be about 7.

If you are a swimmer, you will understand my concern: kids splashing happily can get in the way of a swimmer intent on doing her laps. If you’re not a swimmer, you may have witnessed one of us having a meltdown because someone or something tried to get between us and pursuing our bliss.

So, I figured I’d secure a territorial agreement between me and the boy. “So, which side do you want to be on?”

“He’ll stay in the shallow end,” his mother said. Oh, no, that would not do at all. I do not have a poker face. She quickly continued. “Oh, of course, you are going to use the full length of the pool. Honey, you stay on this side.”

Satisfied with the agreement, I made a little more conversation with the boy. “Do you like to swim?”

“Sort of,” he said, leaning back on the edge of the pool with a ball in his hand. His parents had brought along a variety of pool toys for their son to play with in the water.

Spying an opportunity to be instructive — others might call it being bossy—I said, “You know, swimming is something you can do your whole life, even when you’re old like me.”

The boy assessed me for a moment, doing some sort of calculus about swimming and this goggled alien of a lady. Then, he laid the question on me. “Do you have any trophies?”

Huh. Great comeback, kid. So whaddaya got to show for all these years of swimming, lady?

“A few ribbons from when I was in junior high,” I said, thinking back to the suburban neighborhood pool in Maryland when my father was stationed at the State Department. “Everyone swam. We all got ribbons.” Yeah, it was a pretty lame answer.

But what I thought about as I pushed off the wall and into my swim was this: being here today, swimming in this pool today, is my trophy.

Four years ago in May—after a two-week Atlantic crossing on a cruise ship that an hour later departed Amsterdam for Norway—my heart stopped beating as I was wheeled into an Amsterdam ER. The emergency team revived me and sealed an undiagnosed burst aneurysm, but my body fought to stay alive for six long weeks in the ICU and left me atrophied, scarcely 100 pounds and unable to move. Six more weeks in the hospital’s recovery unit got me up on shaky legs to walk onto a plane home to Florida where I stayed under medical care for months of slow progress. It took me two years to fully recover.

That Saturday, I ran a mile with our rescue Lab Kumba. I can run two miles. Then, sharing the pool with the boy, I swam 1,500 yards. Then, I biked 5 miles with my husband. My daughter and her husband called me Iron Woman.

So, there you have it, kid. Every day since May 2019 is a trophy.

Thanks for the reminder.

Wellness Wednesday: How to Jump Start Your New Year

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We all know that eating less and moving more are part of a healthy lifestyle. This time of year, many of us are looking for ways to “make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.” Here’s what’s helping me get back on track after the holidays.

Cookies, cookies, everywhere

Last year—well, just three weeks ago—I found myself downing spoonfuls of sweetened condensed milk right out of the can as I binge-watched yet another holiday movie. Shocked? Not me.

This didn’t just happen. It followed a month of baking/eating Christmas cookies/etc., hobbling around on a broken toe (no running, barely walking), a long cold-weather snap that knocked out the community pool heater (no swimming or water exercise), and buying the super-sweet milk to make flan for Christmas Eve then opting for a lighter dessert. The holi-DAY had morphed into a holy-MESS of too much indulgence, too little exercise, and a whole lot of excuses.

Weight Watchers support

I am fortunate in having an ally with a perpetually extended hand of rescue—Weight Watchers. Two weeks ago, I went to my WW meeting. I weighed in—acknowledging the scale is the price of admission—sat my butt in a chair, listened, learned, laughed, and shared these cookies. Sharing cookies at Weight Watchers?!?! Yes. They are built on a base of black beans! Here’s the WW recipe for Chocolate Mint Bars.

Then, I got back to the program that helped me lose 30 pounds a decade ago—and keep it off ever since—through an active, supportive community, both online and in person. It’s an essential component of my health. Weekly meetings give me laughter and face-to-face accountability. The WW online community gives me 24/7 support, tips and tricks, and friendship.

You might want to check out Weight Watchers for yourself if you, too, need a healthy jump start into the New Year.

WECOACH support

My exercise ally this New Year is Laurie Denomme at WECOACH Workouts. Laurie was my mentor when I taught in South Florida active senior communities, and she has now developed an online exercise program (both water and land classes) that helps her students rediscover the joy of movement. I have shared WECOACH Workouts with my South Florida neighbors—aka The Mermaids—who gave their Top Ten Reasons we love this program.

Laurie has just launched her new 28-day program, Everyday Cardio 1.0 which helps us understand how our bodies work in this way:

Knowing what we should be feeling in our bodies helps us to get dialed in to the intensity we need to get the results we want.

Laurie Denomme, WECOACH Workouts

This week, I had the privilege of having the warm pool to myself, with my toe nearly healed and the day cool but sunny, and I pressed play on the new “Cardio Jump Intervals.” Before I knew it 50 minutes were gone, 300 calories were burned, and my entire body was humming with wellness. Check out the timeliness of Laurie’s coaching tips (knowing what we should be feeling in our bodies) in this brief excerpt from the class!

Jump started!

Back on my lifestyle track of eating well and moving often, with half the cookie weight behind me, I’m feeling confident that 2023 will be the best year yet. As Laurie says at the end of each class:

Well done!

Laurie Denomme, WECOACH Workouts

The morning WECOACH Workouts class in my community pool

Wellness Wednesday: We Show Up Because It’s Fun!

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I’ve been blogging as a subscriber to Laurie Denomme’s WECOACH Workouts for five months now.

WECOACH Workouts has helped me reach a new fitness level. Laurie’s shoulder, back, and hip exercises allow me to twist to look behind me more easily when I’m backing out the car. I keep my workouts interesting by incorporating Laurie’s 7 foot positions, and my knees and hips are much happier. My stamina has increased, along with my energy level. I’m a little more lean. I can run further, swim longer, walk faster. When I got back into the pool after my 2019 illness, I was simply grateful to be in the water. Laurie has brought me a long way.

I’ve been exploring Laurie’s WECOACH Workouts with a group of my South Florida neighbors in our HOA community pool. Three mornings a week, two to seven of us show up about 8 o’clock and hop in the water for a 50 minute online class with Laurie. Some of us work. Some of us have kids. Some of us could sleep until 10 very happily. But we get to the pool. We even call ourselves The Mermaids. Now and then, a Merman joins us.

The morning WECOACH Workouts class in my community pool
The morning WECOACH Workouts class in my community pool (that’s me in the hat)

What really keeps me showing up at the pool is this amazing group. They are kind, supportive, and funny. And as each one has grown in confidence and skill in the water, she shares what she’s learned with others.

Today’s blog is about WHY? What has made this experience something we make time for? I asked this morning’s class participants to consider the question, and here is what they said.

Taking care of ourselves

C and me in the pool
C and me in the pool. Or is it ET and friend?

It is great to have fun while we work out to take care of ourselves. It is easier to do it when you are with caring friends.

Connie

What Connie doesn’t take credit for is instigating the entire effort. She learned to swim last year, overcoming a lifetime of fear of the water. She asked me to help her practice, and so my early morning schedule began including the pool.

Learning new things

I am learning English and French! “Very good!”

Rosa
Holding a plank position in the water is a great core exercise!

Rosa, who has lived most of her life in Colombia, is not only improving her language skills but also has made the most progress in her water skills. Look at the satisfied smile as she demonstrates a plank with a pool noodle during one of Laurie’s plank variation workouts!

Challenging ourselves

While the exercises are challenging, we are in a good mood, joking and helping one another, stress free.

Carol

Carol joined us recently, and she has made great progress in understanding how to use the water’s resistance and buoyancy. In fact, she’s taking the plunge and has started swim classes! Confidence abounds in this group.

Having attended the class this morning is undoubtedly why I find myself in a happier mood than usual. I appreciate the positive effect.

Carol

Feeling energized

I’ve noticed that I have more energy now that I’m doing these classes.

April

April—who missed “class picture day” in the pool😊—is also a recent addition to our class. The pool noodles she contributed to the class give everyone a chance to play with different buoyancy and resistance.

Finding our limits

One of Laurie’s trademark phrases is “your feel- good range,” as she encourages each participant to explore the movement within what feels good to our bodies. Evelyn, who also subscribes to WECOACH Workouts, has taken to using the phrase independently during our pool time.

You’ll know from my face when I’m in my “feel good range.”

Evelyn

Having fun

In a word, fun!

Carol

We laugh and talk and have fun, I just enjoy the time with you all.

Rosa

I enjoy the laughter and fun as well as getting to know my neighbors.

April

My kids have their play dates, now I have my own fun time, I love playing with friends at the pool. And the best part is that I am still able to proudly say to my doctor “yes I do“ when the uncomfortable question comes up: Do you work out? 😊

Olga

So subscribe today and discover the fun that awaits in WECOACH Workouts!

Get my next post in your email.

Laurie Denomme coaching WECOACH Workouts

Wellness Wednesday: Top Ten Reasons to Do WECOACH [Water] Workouts

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Founder Laurie Denomme’s WECOACH Workouts draws on 30 years of water exercise teaching experience to create member-exclusive programs that include: water workouts, land workouts, tips to help us feel our way to better results, and success trackers to help us recognize our progress. Here are my top ten reasons to subscribe to this unique, results-focused exercise program.

10. Using a pool is like going to the gym (only without the dreaded mirrors)!

Buoyancy and resistance combine to make the water a place we can move with total ease. Water workouts can also improve heart health, make muscles stronger, and even improve bone health. Pool stairs are great for stretches and pushups, pool walls help with resistance and balance work, and shallow to deep water depths target specific fitness results. All you need is a coach.

Laurie Denomme, founder of WECOACH Workouts

9. There’s loads to choose from!

Subscribers to WECOACH Workouts can choose to follow the schedule of classes organized within each monthly program—Move Better 2.0, Everyday Strong 1.0, and Everyday Mobility 1.0 are all available now, and Laurie is always at work on the next program. You can also pick and choose your classes a la carte to suit how your body is feeling—whether you want to work on your core, back, shoulders, hips, or knees, you are sure to find the experience you’re looking for.

8. When you jiggle, no one sees it!

Water gives you the freedom to move without being scrutinized. Our submerged bodies can wiggle and jiggle happily out of sight. Luckily, our WECOACH Workouts coach Laurie demonstrates the class with underwater and above water video that makes the classes easy to follow.

7. You get to know your classmates!

Water promotes relaxation, laughter, and friendship, sometimes in unexpected ways. As our newest recruit, R, was learning how to use a pool noddle, she suddenly found herself belly up and flailing. I quickly came to her rescue, leading to a moment of togetherness. You can’t hug a person for dear life without becoming MUCH better acquainted. Our Spanish-language friendship instantly jumped from usted to tu, and we are now amigas sirenas—mermaid friends—for life!

6. Your confidence gets a boost!

The smiles that bloom on the faces of people who have just learned a new skill are contagious! When R mastered bicycling on a pool noodle, there was no stopping her. And when E realized she was doing a side plank, wow, a complete Cheshire Cat, ear-to-ear grin!

5. You can talk back to the teacher.

During a WECOACH Workout, we feel as if Laurie is talking to each of us individually via the screen of my iPad, and we act as if she can hear us, too.

E retired from a robust career as an educator in the Palm Beach County Schools, where, she says, she was known for silencing rowdy students with a powerful look. Oh, how those students would enjoy hearing their teacher laughingly talking back to Laurie as she leads us through a class. Laurie: “You got this!” E: “I don’t think so! Is it nine o’clock yet?”

In fact, Laurie DOES encourage comments and questions from WECOACH Workouts subscribers, and she answers them personally.

4. It feels good!

Water supports the joints while pushing back against the muscles, providing a near-perfect workout environment.

I can feel every muscle moving! If I were in the gym, I’d be feeling pain all over. But here, I am taking care of myself while I exercise.

C, who has returned to water exercise after being away for several months

3. You can learn another language.

Oops, that’s just my neighborhood pool class! E doesn’t speak much Spanish, and R doesn’t speak much English, but as they work out with Laurie they are each picking up a word here and there.

Muy bien! Very good!

E and R encouraging each other during WECOACH Workouts

2. It’s fun!

When I tell the people at the senior center that I’m having fun in a pool, they just kind of look at me. They know what fun is and what a pool is, but they can’t see how they go together!

My neighbor E, a retired Palm Beach County Schools educator

E has taken the initiative of talking to the center about getting a water exercise class going in their underused pool. She may just show up in her suit and do a demonstration of the ease with which you can move in the pool, especially for seniors who are mobility-impaired.

And you’re never too old to play in a pool.

1. The time flies by!

A couple of days a week, I get some laps in while E and R take a WECOACH Workouts class. It reminds me of when I would put on a Barney tape to keep my toddler busy while I did some household chore. My daughter was in good hands back then, and so are E and R now. The time moves quickly by, and then we’re doing the last few minutes of the class together.

Great workout!

Laurie Denomme

Amen!

Retired Palm Beach County educator E

Swimming under the palms

Wellness Wednesday: How WECOACH Workouts Prevent Swimming Injuries

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Water keeps saving my life. I turned to the pool when plantar fasciitis curtailed my running fifteen years ago, discovering that resistance and buoyancy build body-wide strength. I was a personal trainer and water exercise coach when a ruptured aneurysm landed me in a Dutch hospital halfway through a cruise in 2019, with the muscle mass to support my comatose body for six weeks in the ICU. Muscle memory and determination to drove my ability to move during the subsequent years-long recovery.

The day I was able to lift my arms out of the water was the beginning of returning to swimming.

Swimming under the palms
Swimming under the palms

Swimming taxes the body

As I renewed my commitment to swimming, I experienced the soreness that comes with re-connecting with unused muscles and ligaments. My neck hurt from turning my head and my shoulders were tender as they drove my arms through heavy water. My lower back ached as I ventured into dolphin kicks. My knees felt the strain of the breaststroke frog kick.

Swimming is non-impact, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy on the body. The repetitive nature of swimming strokes puts us at risk for injury. Swimmer’s shoulder is the most common, with rotator cuff injuries, tendonitis, and bursitis resulting from the shoulder moving in multiple positions as the arm pulls the swimmer forward. Swimmer’s knee is a close second, deriving from the position of the feet, knees, and hips in the breaststroke kick. Neck pain and lower back pain are also frequent in swimmers.

Many of us think we can power through pain, that it’s just a matter of getting stronger. So, we double down on our laps, seeking those endorphin highs, the magic moment when the air and the water vanish and we’re just moving through space with the sound of our breath as our only company.

We’re half right. It is about getting stronger, but not by doing the same thing that got us hurt in the first place.

WECOACH Workouts

Last month, I shared the first of my new series of First Wednesday fitness posts about WECOACH Workouts, a comprehensive new water workout subscription from my mentor Laurie Denomme.

This month, Laurie has helped me understand how better biomechanics can help us swimmers avoid being kicked out of the pool by our own bodies.

Meet your scapula

The scapula—the shoulder blade—is the core of the upper body. It’s the locus through which upper body force is distributed.

Laurie Denomme, Founder of WECOACH Workouts

No fewer than 17 muscles attach to the scapula, making these shoulder blades the core of upper body strength. And if those muscles are weak, the results are felt in the shoulder, including the rotator cuff.

Scapular stability = less shoulder/neck pain

When the scapula is both free to move and stabilized by strong upper body muscles, that’s the key to avoiding swimmer’s shoulder and neck pain. 

Laurie Denomme, Founder of WECOACH Workouts

Our shoulders tend to get stuck in a rounded, forward position due to weakness in our back muscles. The muscles in the front of our shoulders and our chest become tight and short.

The beauty of the water is that buoyancy and resistance provide an excellent environment in which to strengthen our back muscles and stabilize our scapula.

Think about squeezing your shoulder blades together each time you reach your hands away from your body.

Laurie Denomme, Founder of WECOACH Workouts

Try this WECOACH Workouts drill to work on keeping your scapula DOWN and IN as you swim: Move Better Drill #1. Strengthen Abs and Back with Swimming Strokes.

Core stability = less back pain

And whenever the shoulders are stacked over the hips, the core muscles are engaged, supporting lower back muscles.

See how to stabilize the scapula and strengthen the core in Laurie Denomme’s Upper Body Interval Workout #1 Preview:

Seven foot positions = less knee pain

The external rotation of the leg in the breaststroke kick can inflame the knee ligaments. Prevent overuse damage by incorporating external and internal leg rotations into your warmup and cool down.

By consciously using different foot positions, we train our feet, ankles, knees, and hips to move through a wider range, building flexibility and strength. It’s a simple and very effective way of beginning to expand your range of motion.

Here is Laurie Denomme demonstrating how WECOACH Workouts strategically uses seven foot positions: normal stance; right foot forward; left foot forward; feet wide; feet narrow; feet turned out; and feet turned in.

Cross-training = fewer injuries

As much as I love the endorphin high that swimming generates, I do laps only twice a week, usually Mondays and Fridays. On Wednesdays, I am back in the pool with friends for WECOACH Workouts like this:

Three days a week, I do a land-based workout that includes jogging or biking, lifting weights, and stretching. And Sundays I take one whole day off, sometimes in my pjs! And, of course, there are walks every day with our dear rescue Lab, Kumba.

How to prevent swim injuries

  • Scapular stability: watch your shoulders!
  • Multidirectional training: work your legs in all directions!
  • Vary your workouts: keep it fun!

Next month: How WECOACH Workouts Improve …. [stay tuned!]

Laurie Denomme coaching WECOACH Workouts

Wellness Wednesday: Rediscover the Joy of Moving with WECOACH Workouts!

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I’ve done water exercise for two decades. It gave me the muscle mass body used for fuel during my six-weeks in an Amsterdam ICU in 2019. Water exercise helped rehabilitate my body during a long year of rehabilitation. And water has expanded and deepened my friendships in my South Florida neighborhood as I celebrate full recovery with water workouts in our community pool.

After all these years of life-affirming experiences, I figured I’d pretty much done what there was to do in the water. Nope, it was about to get even better.

My new discovery

I am thrilled to have discovered a new approach to water exercise that is making my brain and body even more resilient. Laurie Denomme’s Wavemakers® and WECOACH Workouts are transforming teachers into coaches, class members into partners, and routine exercise into a full-body preparation for life.

We are a community on a mission to help people feel, move, and live better.

Laurie Denomme, WECOACH Workouts and Wavemakers®

What if YOU were in charge of how you move during an exercise class instead of struggling to keep up with an instructor? What if you could FEEL the difference in your body, energy level, and confidence almost immediately? What if LAUGHING were encouraged? (Hint: It’s a good way to know you’re breathing!)

Laurie Denomme WECOACH Workouts Overview Video

I’m having so much fun that I don’t realize I’m exercising. I just know that I feel better, but my daughter has already noticed that my posture has improved.

My neighbor E after a few weeks of WECOACH Workouts

Movement made easy

Laurie Denomme’s WECOACH Workouts is new subscription exercise program that packages Laurie’s 30 years of experience into on-demand workouts video and audio pool workouts, plus land workouts to keep you moving. WECOACH Workouts uses distinctive arm, leg, and whole body movements that engage all of your muscles, and Laurie’s coaching will engage your brain in feeling your way to better fitness. With WECOACH Workouts, you take care of yourself, tailoring movements to fit your body, making every exercise right for you.

It feels like dancing.

My neighbor O after a few weeks of WECOACH Workouts

Results you can feel

When you listen to your body, it will tell you how to feel your way to better results.

Laurie Denomme, WECOACH Workouts and Wavemakers®

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to pick up your grandchildren, carry your groceries, or even stow your own carryon in the overhead compartment? Wish you could enjoy a walk without needing to rest so often? Here is what Laurie’s clients say about how WECOACH Workouts has changed their life.

I’m steadier on my feet.

I can do stairs again.

I’m back to playing golf without hurting.

I used to be reluctant to go out to dinner with friends because it took me so long to stand up. No more!

Rediscover the joy of movement

Want to exercise without feeling like you’re exercising? Get a workout without noticing the sweat? Build your confidence while you strengthen your body? Tailor movement to suit just you?

Get the exercise your body needs with WECOACH Workouts. Here’s a sample:

Laurie Denomme WECOACH Workouts Demonstration Video

Excited? Want to know more?

Every month, Laurie and I will share how WECOACH Workouts—through video and audio workouts, mobility and walking tests, exercise tips, and live Q&A sessions—can help you rediscover the joy of moving.

Ready to try it out for yourself? Click here!

Kumba and the ball take a break

Wellness Wednesday: Know Your Breed, Find Their Bliss

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When we met our rescue Lab in early 2020, a tick-borne illness had worn him down to barely 50 pounds. The folks at Labrador Retriever Rescue of Florida weren’t sure how Kumba was still standing. I, too, was thin and weak, just seven months into my recovery from a near-fatal illness in 2019 that had depleted my body of the ability to move. 

Kumba and me on a long walk in 2020
Kumba and me on a walk in 2020

We became each other’s support system on the road to full recovery. Morning strolls became long walks that improved our strength and confidence with each step, and now we run two miles several times a week.

Finding what we are meant to do

Thanks to steady exercise over the past three years, I’m back to swimming, an activity that floods my brain with endorphins that float my entire day. Submerged with the bubbles of my breath as my soundtrack for thirty minutes of rhythmical movement, it’s as if I’ve found what I was meant to do.

Kumba, too, has found what he was meant to do. Those frail 50 pounds are now a robust 80 pounds of bounding joy for whom catching and retrieving has become the highlight of each day. And there’s a big lesson in this. 

Biological fulfillment

As a Labrador retriever, it’s in Kumba’s DNA to feel incomplete without holding something in his mouth. Initially, chewing was his way of releasing anxiety when we left him alone. Over time, however, Kumba’s separation anxiety lessened, and his confidence in us and in himself grew. As dog trainer Alison Chambers recently helped me to understand, a huge piece of this change is the result of my husband’s daily catch session with Kumba. 

It’s called biological fulfillment.

Dog behavior expert Alison Chambers, owner of Complete Canine Training in Boca Raton, FL

At first, Kumba would run after the ball but not bring it back. Gradually, Kumba discovered the joy in the game, and today he runs fast and far and returns the ball at Ray’s feet over and over. When he’s had enough, he holds onto the ball and turns toward home, tail high and wagging. Labs retrieve. That’s their job. 

Kumba and the ball take a break
Kumba and the ball take a break

Find your dog’s bliss

We forget that dogs used to have jobs.

Alison Chambers, Complete Canine Training

Work like minding the children, herding sheep, hunting kept dogs engaged. The transition to indoor pets — what Alison calls “cuddly at-home figurines” — removed the work dogs were bred to do, leading to behavior problems.

Alison has three dogs. She treats them to different activities that make their breed happiest. Ruka, her Belgian malinois — a breed Alison describes as “a German shepherd on crack” — is a ring sport dog, bred to excel at personal protection. Sundays are “biting days” at a local training facility. Jett, Alison’s terrier, is a fearless pursuer — “He is not afraid to die,” Alison says — and has become Number Two in the nation in barn hunting, a sport that mimics rat hunting. Otto, Alison’s pit bull mix, goes along for the fun but is happiest laying in the backyard.

Jett, Otto, and Ruka
Jett, Otto, and Ruka

It’s amazing to see a dog who is genetically predisposed to do something light up when you give him the chance to do it. It’s like he’s saying, ‘Wow! How did you know?’

Alison Chambers, Complete Canine Training

 So, folks, find a ball, go to the pool, or head out for a spring walk — find what lights you and/or your dog up, and do it!

September 8,, 2021

Wellness Wednesday: We Are in Training for Life

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Every day since I woke up an Amsterdam ICU in 2019, I’ve been in training, training for life. It’s no longer about one race. It’s about staying in this game of life, as well as I can, for as long as I can.

I used to train for running races

When I was in my 20s and living in New York City, I took up recreational running as it was just taking off. I put in the training miles on early-morning runs along the East River, and my husband joined me for weekend runs in Central Park. Soon, we were participating in races organized by the New York Road Runners under Fred Lebow, co-founder of the NYC Marathon. My husband and I both completed half-marathons, but my most notable running moment was shaking the hand of legendary Norwegian marathoner Grete Waitz’ on a Manhattan sidewalk. Her gracious manner and winning ways made her the completely approachable queen of New York City.

Grete Waitz, 9-time winner of the NYC Marathon, crossing the finish line with NYRR’s Fred Lebow in 1992. He was dying of cancer, and it took them more than 5 hours to complete the route.

I stopped running, stopped training

Plantar fasciitis put an end to running as my go-to activity fifteen years ago. Although I continued to exercise, mostly in the water, I stopped thinking of it as training. It was about looking better, or getting thinner, or feeling stronger. I took it for granted that I would simply keep going.

Illness stopped me in my tracks

All that changed on May 5, 2019, when I was stopped in my tracks in Amsterdam by a ruptured aneurysm. For six weeks, my body battled to survive. When I woke up, I was rail thin — okay, yes, my first thought was YIPEE! —and unable to move.

Muscle atrophy comes on fast when you are intubated, and if I hadn’t been strong to start with, it’s very likely I would not have made it.

Then, I was back in training

Everything — leaving the ICU, returning to the United States, living independently in our South Florida home, navigating the world again — everything depended on me recovering my ability to move.

Moving my tongue, my jaw, my neck to be able to chew and swallow, and strengthening my fingers to be able to feed myself. Getting my arms able to lift myself, my torso able to sit up, my hips able to roll me over. Standing up with help. Standing up alone. Walking with help. Striding alone.

I did it all. I got back to living my life.

Surprise return to running

In relearning how to stand and to walk, and through my daily 60-minute exercise routine of walking, stretching, swimming, biking and strength training — I’ve improved my body mechanics. As I recently wrote, I’ve built back better, with a mid-foot heel strike that is easier on the feet. As a result, I no longer have heel pain, and, a couple of times a week I’ve even been able to get back into jogging.

It might be an old-lady shuffle, but from where I was two years ago, this is running!

Physical activity as medicine

This week, I also came to understand physical activity as medicine, thanks to the legacy of my hero, Grete Waitz. I learned that she was just one year older than me, and that she died a decade ago of cancer, the same disease as took NYRR’s Fred Lebow in 1994.

Grete continued running as she was treated for cancer, and her belief in the therapeutic value of physical activity led her to found AKTIV Against Cancer, a foundation whose mission it is to have physical activity become part of cancer treatment, just as exercise is prescribed for people with Type 2 diabetes or heart disease.

We need to treat this as a medicine.

AKTIV Against Cancer funding recipient Lee Jones, Ph.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering

So get moving

None of us gets out of here alive, but let’s live well for as long as we can. We’re all in this training camp together.

Take a lap around the block, and call me in the morning.

A good doctor’s prescription.

C and me in the pool

Wellness Wednesday: Why Being a Friend is Good for your Health

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There’s a new bounce in my step. Part of the feeling comes from some good news: A cyst that cropped up on my pancreas has disappeared. Good. Moving on.

But most of the bounce in my step comes from a new energy. Maybe it’s that I’m swimming again. Or maybe it’s that I’m spending more time with a good friend.

Supporting my friend

My dear friend and neighbor C. took swimming classes this summer, taking the plunge at the urging of her husband to overcome a life-long fear of the water. In just three weeks, she progressed from a panicked doggie paddle to this, which I recorded when I got up earlier than usual to attend her graduation day swim. (Yes, I do testament to the 50’s with my exclamations of ”Holy mackerel!” Another one I seem to use a lot is “Phooey.”)

C swimming class graduation day!

C invited me to help her continue to practice her newfound skill by joining her at our community pool a few mornings a week before her work day.

It was a big ask: being fully retired, I’ve gotten very accustomed to sleeping in, waking slowly over breakfast and the newspaper, and doing some writing before getting out the door for a two-mile walk with our dog.

But C. had made so much progress — not just the crawl, but backstroke, breaststroke and sidestroke! — that I simply couldn’t say no. Swimming alone is not a good idea — although I usually do water exercise once or twice a week, it has been a long time since I’ve done any serious swimming for lack of company.

So, I set my alarm, organized breakfast and the dog, and started showing up.

Helping a friend got me healthier

That was a month ago. Three mornings a week, I am up early, knowing that C. is doing the same, and we meet at our community pool. We catch up and goggle up, and then we’re in the water.

I have watched C continue to develop her new skill. As her arms and legs settle into their rhythm, she is finding freedom in the water and emerges into the warming air with a huge smile on her face. Swimming is a joyful exploration.

My old swimming routine was just waiting for me. The slow ten lengths of freestyle, my body gradually releasing the night’s tension. The mix-up of breaststroke, freestyle, backstroke, and a sort-of butterfly, the variety entertaining my mind and challenging my body. The hypnotic burble of breath and bubble. The final laps bring me home, panting.

We stretch and talk, or talk and stretch. And talk some more on the walk back home. Then we each disappear into the requirements of the day, knowing that, in a day or two, we’ll do this all again.

My friend’s company was just the support I needed to reclaim an old habit. And swimming has become another vehicle though which our friendship blossoms.

Friendship and exercise, what a great combination

The happy buzz of endorphins percolates through my body all day long. I feel stronger, more connected, and more committed to my health. And grateful for a friend’s support.

I thought I was doing her a favor, when in fact it was I who received the blessing.

C and me in the pool
C and me in the pool

September 8,, 2021

Wellness Wednesday: How I Built Back Better

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Regular readers will know that I am a huge advocate of water exercise. Last month, I wrote about what water exercise can do for you. In May, I wrote about how water fitness helped me survive a 2019 ruptured aneurysm and to recover and rehabilitate as I celebrated my second anniversary of that trauma. At the end of 2019, when I was strong enough to resume taking classes and before the pandemic had shut down LA Fitness, I wrote that water keeps saving my life.

Heel pain prevented me from jogging

One of the reasons that I became such an advocate of water exercise years ago was that I had developed plantar fasciitis, heel pain that did not permit me to continue to jog as my cardiovascular routine. Although I purchased orthodic inserts for my sneakers, iced my heels, and stretched as recommended by the physical therapists at FYZICAL, nothing really improved. Blame my high-arched dancer’s feet, too tender for the hard world of running.

Buoyancy allowed me to run in water, and resistance improved my overall strength. I even put my old orthotics in my water shoes, — mine are from Ryka.

I didn’t think I would ever jog again. It never occurred to me that I might have to re-learn how to walk, or that starting over would rehabilitate the old injury as I built back better.

I had to re-learn how to walk

July 2019

When I was released from the Amsterdam ICU after six weeks, most of it intubated and inert, I had lost 30 percent of my body weight and the ability to move. Returning home to the United States depended on my ability to walk. Weeks into recovery in the hospital’s 7A unit, I finally stood, but my legs felt as empty as cardboard tubes. Weeks of additional work with my awesome physiotherapists, and I flew home.

Better alignment

My dance background and my American Council on Exercise personal trainer certification helped me be aware of keeping my ears over my shoulders, my shoulders down and back, and my knees over my hips. As my body slowly came back into its own through physical therapy at FYZICAL, there were weeks when I felt like a Transformer every time I slowly stood up, my parts slowly clicking into place.

Better body mechanics

I used the audio workouts from WeightWatchers, aaptiv, to keep me focused and motivated on my outdoor walks. For the first time since my days as a barefoot modern dancer, I was super conscious of how I used my feet in propelling my weight forward. As much as I thought I knew about how to move, I picked up tips like landing mid-foot instead of on my heel. That single tip probably helped more than any other in keeping plantar fasciitis at bay.

Fall 2020

Better strengthening

I continued to do the exercises I had done at PT to strengthen my legs (particularly squats and monster walks), adding resistance bands when my old Lycra water bands gave out. Mine are Fitfort, no longer under that in Amazon, but they look very similar to these. My daughter’s hand weights came out of the closet, too.

Better stretching

The two things I missed most about moving my body while I was hospitalized were relaxation — when you’re lying in bed all day, you never get that “ahhh” release — and stretching. As I recovered strength and movement, I regained the need to relax and the ability to stretch. Water gave me back loads of stretching, and my weekly yoga class with Jade Wonzo has facilitated even more.

Et voilá! I’m jogging

Bit by bit, walking became trotting became jogging, without any heel pain, and now I’m jogging — not running every day but doing a steady 15-minute mile several times a week. I’m swimming or biking the other days. And doing weights and stretching too. Our rescue Lab and I walk every day.

Someone said, “Oh, you’re cross-training!” Guess so. A little bit of everything seems to be a good balance for now. As I continue to build back better.

September 8, 2021 running in my Ryka water shoes