We Can Work it Out

Life is very short and there’s no time

For fussing and fighting, my friend . . ..* 

I have a Medicare Advantage Plan that offers a free gym membership. My wife and I picked one of the area gyms, or “fitness centers.” We have been going sporadically for the past year or so.

For most of my life, I have diligently tried to avoid such places. As a schoolboy, I was typically one of the last chosen when the gym teacher had the best athletes pick boys to form teams. In high school, I was happy to find any excuse to cut my phys ed class. As a freshman in college, I chose ROTC over a physical education/swimming class though I had no intention of joining the army while the fighting continued in Viet Nam.

I began my professional career in the early 1980s – a few years after people began jogging, and fitness became a thing. Around that time, fitness centers or “health spas” began to spring up around the country. Some of the fellows I worked with persuaded me to join the YMCA which offered exercise classes and a few stationary bicycles. After a few months, I decided I’d rather spend my lunch hour taking a walk in the fresh air rather than sweating indoors with a bunch of smelly men.

I continued my lunchtime strolls for the rest of my career as many of my colleagues joined fitness clubs to exercise and network with other like-minded professionals. When asked if I exercise, I would jokingly respond, “Yes, I exercise. I exercise my right to not work out.” I just didn’t get the exercise thing. Certainly, I never saw my parents jog or work out. Yes, I remember those ads featuring Charles Atlas, but I had no desire to work myself into a muscle-bound freak.

I did enjoy taking walks, and after I retired, lunchtime rambles helped to clear my mind and inspire me to write. Often, I would take a book with me and sit in the sun to read for a half hour before hiking back home. As I approached Medicare eligibility, the small town where I lived provided plenty of quiet streets to traipse about.

Age began to take its toll. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and pre-diabetes, and taking long walks became more of a requirement than a simple pleasure. Then came the COVID pandemic during which I packed on fifteen extra pounds.

So, when the opportunity to join a fitness club for free presented itself, I decided to take it. I even signed up for weekly sessions with a personal trainer and joined a yoga class. Why? While I’d like to lose some of that pandemic weight gain, I’m more concerned about strengthening deteriorating muscles, increasing flexibility, maintaining mobility and lowering my cholesterol, blood pressure, and risk of diabetes.

 It’s true that my father didn’t work out, but he died of a heart attack at 78. I recently turned 70. As the song goes, life is very short and there’s no time, for fussing and fighting. Just go to that gym!

* “We Can Work it Out,” John Lennon & Paul McCartney, ©1965