80 Years Young

Since moving to Louisiana, I've been trying to get my MawMaw to accompany me to the gym. Not that she NEEDS to go (though I truly believe we all NEED to work out and stay physical), but I thought that having a more disciplined option would help her get back Ito being more physical. This past week she started talked about gyms... And I reminded her of my offer to have her as my guest and how her how to maneuver the facility. "Tomorrow," she said. Yeah... I've heard that for several months now...

Much to my delight, when asked this morning, she agreed to go! Yay! So off we went... To check out the newest location of Planet Fitness here in Lafayette. After a tour of them gym, we for to business on the cardio machines. The goal was to complete 5 minutes on each machine total so that she could get used to it and become familiar with how they worked. At 80 years young, turning some of them off and on can be a little intimidating.

We successfully completed 18 minutes total... Not bad. The elliptical was a little more strenuous on her knees than we wanted so that one was quickly nixed.

Next up was the "30 Minute Express" room where she learned how the area worked, a few step exercises to keep the heart rate up, and finally how to properly use the weight machines. She did fantastic!

With summer around the corner, she asked about ab workouts so we squeezed those in at the end. I was thoroughly impressed at how well she did. Her sense of humor was delightful as she tried each and every exercise, even those that make the experiences gym goer feel a little silly (like the hip abductor machine).

I watched her smiling and laughing and my heart burst into a million happy pieces. I felt so fortunate to be there with a her, having that experience. I may not have had a good workout, but I did have a GREAT time. :)

- Christina