GYM RAT

My husband endearingly calls me a gym rat and it has become a joke between the two of us.  And it is true because I absolutely LOVE going to the gym almost everyday and working out.  I even call it my home away from home.  Too bad this wasn't a part of my life when I was much younger, but as they say "better late than never".  

Now I'm not one of those people who jumps out of bed and heads straight to the gym.  My husband and I enjoy breakfast together and I go to workout sometime in the morning if I have nothing scheduled that gets me going sooner.  Some mornings I get so immersed in my sewing room that I have to drag myself away from a project.  But it's better to get my workout done and then I can spend time on my creative pursuits.  This morning it was cold and rainy and I sure didn't feel like getting out of my warm pjs and robe to go outside.  Yet that is exactly what I did because I knew how great I would feel while I was there and when I was done.  I came home an hour later full of energy and ready to accomplish anything.

After more than a year and a half I still enjoy, and look forward to, my daily workouts.  The gym I go to is Fitness Quest 10 ( fitnessquest10.com ).  It is a neighborhood gym owned by Todd Durkin, not a large chain fitness center.  While it may be small in size it is super large in IMPACT, Todd's key word.  He trains some of the nation's top professional athletes from the NFL, MLB, and NBA, as well as college sports.  However, I do try to keep some space between myself and those REALLY BIG GUYS from the sports world when they are working out. Even though I am among the "older" clientele that work out there I never feel out of place.  Everyone is very friendly and there's such an amazing amount of positive energy everywhere.

The gym has given me back my quality of life.  I was on the verge of scheduling spinal surgery when I went to Water and Sports Therapy (they share space in the gym).  After years and years of living with a very bad back (many problems), enduring countless epidural spinal injections only to end up in pain again in a year,  I began PT one more time.  In the past I would practice the home exercises they recommended but sooner or later I stopped doing them and of course the back pain eventually returned.  Two years ago I completed my Physical Therapy and my pain was gone.  I knew that I definitely did not want back surgery so I made the decision to join the gym to try to keep my core strong and my back pain free as long as possible.

So all-in-all I guess you could say I am a gym rat.  And so far all my hard work has paid off in spades.  I can now carry my 11 pound travel backpack, or a heavy bag of groceries without hurting myself or being sore the next day.  And I can stand for hours without my back aching or feeling exhausted.  My clothes also fit much better.  My bottom-line goal is to try to live the best quality of life I can as long as I can.