Day 5 personal trainer

Feeling tired?

Feeling depressed?

It seems counter-intuitive, but moving thereby oxygenating your blood and improving your circulation helps.

I used to think, “I am so exhausted, I need to conserve my energy and move less. “

“I need to try to take as little steps as possible.” But this only made me more tired and proved debilitating.

My mother set the example. At 88, she had a personal trainer and worked out three times a week. She modified her workouts, but she remained slim and trim all her life.

She was the oldest patient the week she had her stroke and the only one to survive.

She survived a basal stroke, which is the worst kind since it effects all the involuntary movement.

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We were not sure if she could breathe on her own. But the artificial respirator was removed after 2 days – and she inhaled and exhaled like a little steam engine on her own. We were spared saying good bye to her.

Then we were not sure if she would regain her eyesight. She regain sight after a few days.

Next, we were not sure she could regain her hearing. She could see after a week.

Each day she was able to do more and more.

But within the first days, like an infant learning to walk and get around, she had incredible strength, enough to pull herself up on the handle hanging above her bed and swinging her legs off the bed.

Had she was not under constant observation, she would have run around the intensive care unit.

But day after day, miracle after miracle, she recovered except for a swallowing handicap. With rehabilitation she relearned the swallowing movement had to make deliberate swallows.

It was thanks to all the physical exercise she had performed before her stroke, I am sure.

At 50, I had never thought of having a personal trainer, while raising children the tyranny or the urgent demanded better uses of our meager salary.

But suffering from exhaustion and fatigue, I knew it was time to change my life.

After my Mom’s stroke, I hired a personal trainer for my son and I.  Involving my son made me commit to the weekly workouts and the cost for 2 was nominally more that for one. I was almost buy one and get the second free.

Mike, our personal trainer was great – he could modify all the equipment according to our different potentials. My son would pump the 50 lb weights while I lifted the Q-tips.

It was humbling but at the same time, I was determined and invested all I had in

the training even though my weights were minuscule next to my son's.

(If you do not have a relative who will work with you, find a friend or make a friend and commit to walking, riding a bike or exercising. Make yourself accountable to someone. )

Achieving great accomplishments, after one year; I could balance on one leg and squat (which was not possible at the origin of training). I felt more energetic and my outlook on life was more positive. 

At work, we subscribe to Crystal Water in huge bottles. Before I first started to work out, I actually dropped a 5-gallon jug right before a meeting.

The bottle burst right in front of the elevator and the water gushed out and started dripping down floor-by-floor compiling onto the first floor lobby before the maintenance crew was available to mop up the mess.

This embarrassing event would not happen to me today – even though I do not feel strong, the weight of the bottles is no longer staggering.

When I also considered the cost of a personal trainer, originally, I weighed the costs of the doctor, hospital and medication. Even though we have great insurance with only a $20 co-pay, the price of the personal trainer is so much less the cost of being sick. Not only the costs, but also the price of losing friends because of the time commitment in the doctor’s offices and hospital leaves you no time for relationships..

Health is worth working for; from the physical, economical and social standpoint.

Exercise has been proven to reduce tension and anxiety, increase your serotonin level; make you happier; increase muscle tone and give you more energy and thereby increasing your self-esteem. It can boost your stamina, your brain power , your immune system and  can kick-start your metabolism back to normal, reducing or even eliminating  atherosclerosis and joint pain, diabetes and regulate your lipid levels. It can even make you sleep better!

Get out of your lazy boy and move!
Even if it is just a walk for 5 minutes a day – increase it to 45 minutes over whatever time period you need.  You will reap the benefits. Make sure you set achievable goals and goals you can maintain over a long period of time. Better to take baby steps than leaps which exhaust you.


Take responsibility for your health and longevity.




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