With Age Comes Wisdom

I was teaching Boot Camp last week and a member asked me about saggy arms. More directly, how to get rid of them. I could have just said, "work your triceps". It's true, that's the muscle we want to strengthen to firm the back of our upper arms. But instead I held up my own arm and gave it a good shake, showing her the slow waddle of an arm belonging to a woman of a certain age. 

With age, I am wise enough to know that no matter how hard I work out I won't have the body of a 20 year old. I'm in really good shape and you wouldn't notice my jiggly bits unless I pointed them out, and this is also how I felt when I looked at her. We both work out and do our best to slow down the aging process, cause we all know we can't stop it. We're not on the outlook for each other's flaws, but we are way too hard on ourselves when we look in the mirror. 

So let's rewrite how we view aging bodies. The benefits of exercise far outweigh the comfort of an extra hour a day of sitting on the couch. Exercise is important throughout our lives, and as we get older there is a significant advantage for those that do make it to the gym. You are more likely to be stronger, have better balance, good metabolism, endurance, and let's face it, be less cranky. 

This month we are offering the Tuesday 8am BodyPump class with Leah as the Free Class Pass. If you want to firm up some of the softer parts of yourself this is a good place to start. Each class is designed to work all of the major muscles of your body in a safe and challenging way. I'll see you in class!

Karen Gamble
BHC Class Director