After two knee replacements, Sandra Hunt was tense and unable to stride-out for her morning walk.
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“It was as much mental as physical; my confidence was gone” Sandra said.
“I had both knees done together – that’s a reasonably serious operation –and my strength and flexibility deteriorated. You don’t want to fall and you are always on the lookout, you can’t enjoy walking out on a lovely day.”
These days Sandra confidently navigates the great outdoors, thanks to a program of lifting weights and core-strength exercises. The Weight Exercises for Balance (WEB) class caters for women aged from their late 50s to early 90s.
Sandra said she had attended WEB for several months.
“Slowly I have increased the weights, and seen tremendous improvements to my balance. I no longer shuffle but stride out and walk. A lot of it is mental; the security of no longer feeling like I am going to fall,” she said.
Sandra said each WEB session included some leg-weight exercises – two sets of eight – then some arm-weight exercises – “we work on all different muscles” – with the last 20 minutes on the floor for core-strength and stretching.
“You go at your own pace,” she said, “they really stress that. You start at one kilogram and after weeks or months, however long it takes, you add some more weight. Just because someone else is lifting six or seven kilograms does not mean you should.”
There are added side-benefits from the program it seems.
“A lady of my years gets these, ahh, chicken wings they call them – exceedingly unattractive! I had stopped wearing short-sleeved blouses. With some definition in my arms again, I’m feeling better in short sleeves.”
Sandra says she tells all her friends about the class: “It’s like the TV advertisement, ‘use it or lose it’”.
“That’s absolutely true. The less I did, the less I was able to do. Now, the more I do, the more I am capable of, and the more I want to do.”
For more information on WEB, contact Bronwyn on 4472 6608.