Fitness Case Study #27: Life's Daily Activities Ooooof. Just stooped down to get a pan from the cabinet. Pant. Pant. Just trudged up a flight of stairs with the laundry basket. Ugh. Just lifted the bag out of the trash can. Eeeeek. Just got out of the car. Flumph. Gotta sit for a moment... Sound familiar? Well, this was D’s daily life. A 55-year-old grandmother and technical writer, D drove to work everyday, parked in the lot and had to walk uphill to get to her office building just half a football field away. By the time D reached the door everyday, she was out of breath. By the time she got to her workstation, she had to take a few minutes to recuperate. "I knew that I was out of shape," says D, "but I figured I was getting older and that's why I was having trouble with day-to-day things... I thought 'That's just the way it goes'." But over a year or so, D noticed that the difficulty she had standing for more than 10 minutes at a time seemed to be directly related to the increase in her weight and decrease in energy. When her physician told her that she was at risk with high blood pressure and had to be on medication, D knew she had to do something... she didn’t want to shorten the time she had with her grandchildren. She wanted to be able to play with them; take them to the mall; go to see their dance recitals and ball games. D was ready to get healthier and get back to living well. In our day-to-day lives, our level of health is a key factor in simply getting through the day. Whether it’s getting in and out of the car, standing, walking, lifting and carrying, or even sitting, being "out of shape" increases the difficulty we have in accomplishing our Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). "We sometimes don't realize that working out... meaning being focused on fitness... isn’t all about 'losing weight'," says fitness expert and founder of SIFT Personal Training, Erica Williams, BS, ACSM-H/FI, "In order to accomplish ADLs, we have to be ACTIVE. Our bodies need to be worked out... or else they will 'give out'." After nervously walking from her car into the fitness facility (SIFT), D had to sit down. "I was sort of scared," said D, "but I couldn’t let that stop me... I just kept thinking about being around for my grandchildren." Knowing she would have to start with the minimum and work her way up, D's team of personal trainers, happy that she made the decision TO start, set up a fitness regimen for her that included walking on a treadmill. She started at a 1.7 grade. Within just 4 short months, D was comfortably walking on a 2.8 grade! And other successes began happening quickly: She lost weight; she is now almost completely off blood pressure medication; she can make it from her car to her workstation without getting winded; and she can stand as long as she wants! "I feel sooooo much better," says D, "and I'm sooooo happy I made the decision to be healthy again... so I can live better and longer." The nervous D that made that decision less than half a year ago is laughing again. She took her grandchildren to the mall. They shopped all day long... and D never had to sit down. <<< Back to In The News