Meet Kathy . . . one of our beloved 2nd Wind participants.
When I asked her about her exercise history, her exact words: "I am the poster child for inactivity".
Yet, what I see is a dedicated member of our group who comes rain or shine. In fact, I can always count on seeing Kathy in class . . . with her lovely smile and willingness to work hard.

With humor, she recalls a childhood of only exercising when required for P.E. In fact, at the end of her high school senior year, her gym teacher took it upon himself to throw her gym shoes into the garbage. And she never bought another pair . . . until . . . .

It was 15 years ago when she was sat down by her doctor for a stern discussion. She had been taking care of her parents, whose health had been declining, and her stress and health were taking a toll. Between her weight gain, high blood pressure, and low bone density, her doctor told her that she needed to do two things:

Start to exercise ("you don't have any gym shoes? go buy a pair")
Do something for yourself (now she designs and creates cards to sell at craft fairs).

Soon after that, she joined Curves for women where she met one of her closest friends (Rhonda). For 3-5 days per week, at 1/2 hour per session, she has been a dedicated member for 15 years. The benefits besides the camaraderie have been increased flexibility and not losing any more bone density.

When her friend Rhonda decided to join our 2nd Wind class, she came along to check it out. Now a member for nearly six months, she has enjoyed having an additional way to get moving and build strength.

In fact, she can now do sit-ups and planks . . . two skills she never would have even considered trying beforehand.

What she also appreciates about our class, in addition to the fun atmosphere of good humored jabs and winks, are that:

we work around her physical limitations (such as modifying squats so that her knees don't hurt)
she can ask questions from a knowledgable coach
she knows her form will be corrected if she's doing something wrong

Maybe fitness wasn't her favorite past time as a child, but with a good enough reason to care for herself, Kathy now has two supportive, fun, and productive environments to keep her doctor at bay, her health in check, and motivation enough to keep moving.

Nice work Kathy!

-Coach Rebecca

KATHY