Its never Too Late 83 & Getting Stronger

"Well, the muscles in my diaphragm are stronger and I found very much that what I’d lost as a singer - and I’ve recently rejoined a choir - was that I was running out of breath... the difference that I can now last through where I’m supposed to last through all on one breath"

Read Video Transcript:

Sheree: Hey everyone. It’s Sheree here from Spice Fitness. So I love training people of all ages, and particularly people of older age because it doesn’t matter when you start, you actually make results. So we’re talking to Helena today who’s 83 years old, and she’s been coming to see me probably about four or five sessions now. She goes home and does her own home program and I just want you to hear what Helena has found about strength training.

Helena: Some of the really good things that I’ve discovered recently is that when I had a fall I was able to get up and that was very exciting because I’d be crawling around trying to get myself up. And also as I’m getting stronger I was able to reach things higher up without climbing on things to get them. And those are all, you know, often causes of really bad falls, so I can reach higher, I stretch further, and all those things have made a lot of difference.

Sheree: And so Helena you were also telling me a while ago you love to sing. You’ve been a singer all your life. And so what has strength training your core done for you over the last few weeks.

Helena: Well, the muscles in my diaphragm are stronger and I found very much that what I’d lost as a singer - and I’ve recently rejoined a choir - was that I was running out of breath. And all this strengthening has made the difference that I can now last through where I’m supposed to last through all on one breath. Whereas I was cheating and snatching the odd breath here and there. I can do it. It just suddenly dawned on me last week that I could get right through to the end of the piece we were doing without gasping for breath. It was very exciting. It was lovely.

Sheree: Well it’s so cool because you were saying to me, that you thought when you were told you had to do four notes you weren’t sure whether you could do them but you got them all out in one breath.

Helena: I got through right through the whole passage to the end without sort of going, gasping.

Sheree: It’s so exciting. It’s so, so good..

Helena:It was really good. It also meant the way I was singing was better. YOu know it just all sounded better. I was so happy.

Sheree: Wonderful stuff. So good to hear. And in fact have you just found that just in general everyday life, because I’ve just been seeing you coming in training today, I’m doing things with you I couldn’t have done a few weeks ago.

Helena: That’s right. And it was things like getting in and out of other people’s cars. THat was always difficult. I’d sort of launch myself backwards into the seat

Sheree: Not a great way to do it!

Helena: No! I was sort of trusting that I’d sort of fall into the right place,but I can do it a little bit more with a little greater elegance.

Sheree: So, so good. I’ve just been seeing you on the fitball today and we’ve been doing some stuff you wouldn’t have thought to have done before.

Helena: No.I wouldn’t have done that. No. I was terrified of the thing.

Sherere: So really good. It’s just great. It doesn’t matter what age you are. Whether you’re 83, 93, 63, 50. If you feel like your body’s not working so well for you then do what Helena’s done and just start doing some strength training.

Helena: Yeah. I had back surgery two years ago and it’s been a very, very long recovery and I got to the stage where I thought it wasn’t going to get any better, but it has.That’s good.

Sheree: So good. So good. I tell you. You start to train up some muscles - spinal muscles all your core muscles - because your spine also has muscles that run down either side of it. You train up all those and it’s amazing what quality of life you can achieve. So thanks Helena. I’m sure you’re going to go for gold.

Helena: Thanks Sheree.