Knowing No Limits
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2007-03-16 16:34:10.888905-05:00
By Mary Angell
Tom Lee works out at the Cheyenne YMCA almost every day. He’s usually in the 9 a.m. aerobics class, where some women less than half his age envy his stamina as they struggle to keep up with the instructor.
In addition to his Y workouts, Lee likes to bike the Cheyenne Greenway, sometimes going as far as 14 miles on a Sunday. He’s tried snow shoeing and spinning, but his favorite sports are snowboarding and windsurfing—both of which he learned after the age of 60.
Lee, 71, is a grandfather of seven and great grandfather of two.
A retired telephone repairman and technician, he started working out 10 years ago because he was gaining weight. He joined the YMCA, started taking better care of himself—taking vitamins and protein supplements and drinking plenty of water—and dropped about 10 pounds.
“It was time to do something rather than sit around and do nothing,” said Lee. “I decided to take care of myself so I could live a little longer. Working out does make my heart stronger, has kept my circulation good.”
He took up snowboarding just six years ago.
“I took a class,” Lee said. “I don’t believe in somebody else teaching you. I’m a firm believer in professional teaching, especially with snowboarding. I take a lesson once a year. The lesson points out my mistakes.”
Lee had already been windsurfing a few years before taking to the snowboard. After learning to windsurf on a Colorado lake, he started vacationing every year in the Caribbean, where the constant tropical breezes make conditions ideal for the sport.
“Windsurfing is like any surfing. Windsurfing, skateboarding—it’s all balance,” he said. “You can fall and it doesn’t hurt you. With snowboarding, you can get hurt. I turned my shoulder once pretty bad (snowboarding), but windsurfing, the water forgives all the mistakes you make. You can get up and get back on.”
Lee said what he enjoys the most about the sports is the challenge of adapting to ever-changing dynamics. In this respect, riding the boards is a metaphor for life for Lee, who embraces—rather than fears—change.
“I came out of the ’50s,” he said. “If you came out of the ’50s, I don’t know how you would have lived if you said ‘No, I want it to stay this way.’ I remember some of the early dial phones I first installed. Before that were the first ones you cranked. Now I can call my daughter in Moscow on my cell phone and tell her to get on the Internet on the Web cam in Jackson at the Bridger Gondola and have her see me (on the ski slope) at Jackson. I can wave to her and she can say (to her kids), ‘Look, there’s Grandpa!’”
Being open to new experiences also helps Lee stay active and in shape. He frequently takes trips with the Cheyenne Ski Club, taking advantage of opportunities like manufacturers’ demo day at a Colorado resort when companies offer free demonstrations of the newest snowshoes. He also takes advantage of the free weekday lift tickets for seniors at Copper Mountain.
“You’ve got to stay open to what is going on around you,” he said.
Seniors who work out enjoy other benefits besides physical fitness, said Lee.
“I think it is a mental thing,” he said. “You do stay mentally alert. If you get to the point where you just sit down in a rocking chair and watch TV, that is all you know—what’s on the boob tube.”
“A lot of socializing goes on in this area at about 8 a.m.,” he added. “The seniors meet and have coffee and go to work out.”
Lee wears a heart monitor when he’s exercising so he can keep his heart rate under the maximum recommended rate. Explaining how the band goes around the sternum and the heart rate is displayed on the watch-like device on his wrist, he demonstrated it. His resting heart rate was 65 beats per minute.
“I’m a firm believer in watching your heart rate in order to level it out and extend the activity rather than doing it all at once and conking yourself out,” he said. “Like my snow shoeing. The first time I tried it Saturday in Estes Park, it made me think of that movie with Charles Bronson where he’s running with snowshoes. I thought, ‘No way.’ It’s harder than it looks. “
He advocates exercising—whether it’s snow shoeing, riding the elliptical machine or biking—at a pace that’s not too exhausting or too hard on the heart.
“I think the Greenway is one of the best things (Cheyenne) has ever done,” Lee said. “Anybody who wants to start out, a Sunday is a good time to do it. Go from one end of it to the other. Even if you’re not in very good shape, you can take your time and stop for coffee or whatever.”
Lee, who regrets not getting in shape sooner, has some advice for those who want to live a healthier lifestyle and start exercising.
“One thing I don’t think people understand is that muscle is heavier than fat,” he said. “When they start out, they have to be ready for the fact that they have gained weight. They have made muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat. It’s hard to overcome that discouraging beginning. I know. I went through that myself.”
And the best way to begin exercising?
“Just do it. Get up and go,” he said. “Even the longest journey starts with the first step. You still have to take that step. Take one step at a time.”
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