Making exercise a habit

I have been in the habit of exercise for lots of years by walking my male miniature blue poodle named Moto. Three years ago right before Christmas, I underwent a medical procedure on my left heel for plantar faciatis. The procedure, called ossotron, is a shock wave therapy which does not remove the heel spur, but zaps the inflammation and if I stretch a lot and wear good shoes with heel inserts it is supposed to get rid of my heel problem.

I must not have done a good job because this past fall I started having heel soreness again. I do not want to have the heel spur surgically removed because this is an open release procedure and has a long recovery time. So what can I do?

I have been thinking about it for a couple of months and although this sounds like a New Year's resolution, well it is, I joined the Define Fitness gym right here in Johnson Lane located at 2528 Business Parkway, Suite A. The owners are Nathen and Stacy Hughes. They bought this gym last January and have completely remodeled it.

Why a gym was appealing to me is because they have elliptical machines that will take the pressure off my heal. Then as the snow fell last week I remembered how miserable it was last year walking my dog in the snow and how cold we got, my nose so pink and runny. A climate-controlled gym sounds very good to me.

On my first visit to Define Fitness, I took a step class with Jenny Passas who teaches this class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I thought I was in good shape - not! I thought I would be able to make it through the hour-long class with ease but could only use the step for the first 20 minutes, then it was just too much for me and I had to continue on the floor. A couple of days later on Christmas morning, when of course the gym wasn't open, I rode my stationary bicycle that I bought last New Year's as part of my resolution and only rode a dozen or so times. I was able to pedal for 6 1/2 miles and it felt good. Exercise really energizes me and motivates me to be productive the rest of the day.

I asked Nathen if they were going to have additional classes in this new year and he said they were adding the Quick Fit program which allows clients to get together in small groups of three or four and work with a personal trainer. They will be adding more new equipment and are negotiating for additional types of group classes. Yeah, maybe they'll add a yoga class for all of us to take to get more flexible.

Now that I have told my story to several friends here in Johnson Lane, they are interested in joining Define Fitness too. With the price of gas as high as it is, you can save a lot of money having a gym so close to home. Plus, if your child is out of school and that is your excuse not to work out, they even offer a kids' play room that is supervised and has video monitoring.

What's your excuse for not working out? Why not make exercise a habit?

-- Lisa Welch is a Johnson Lane resident and can be reached at 267-9350.