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"Making Tyler a FIT CITY one step, one bite and one health-conscious decision at a time" |
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If it is 9 a.m. on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday, you will find Barbara Ewing at KH Fitness in Tyler.
What makes this so remarkable is that Mrs. Ewing is 79 and has suffered two broken hips.
Kelly Hitchcock, the fitness center owner, says she (at under 5-foot tall) is a little dynamo.
“Barbara is one of the most dedicated, determined, disciplined and consistence people that has ever worked out in our facility. Her positive attitude is largely responsible for her consistency throughout the years. … Our clients admire her persistence.”
Mrs. Ewing, the mother of five grown children, admits that when she sets her mind to something, it gets accomplished.
In 2006, after she suffered a second broken hip, she wanted to visit her son in New York City but was concerned that she didn’t have the strength and stamina to maneuver up and down the subway system.
She had completed rehabilitation but still did not feel strong enough.
“At the time I couldn’t go up and down steps. I thought if I had to go up a flight of stairs I might stumble or fall,” says Mrs. Ewing.
The trainers at KH Fitness put her on a special exercise regime. She began walking up and down a small set of steps and she began slowly walking on a treadmill.
“I needed to strengthen my legs,” she recalls.
She says they took it slowly and carefully and that the trainers were encouraging but backed off when she felt she was overdoing it a bit.
Later she began lifting very light weights.
“It all helped tremendously,” says Mrs. Ewing.
She says she can walk a mile on the treadmill in about 20 minutes and that steps pose no obstacle.
Now Mrs. Ewing can’t wait to get to the center for her exercise sessions. Many times her husband comes with her.
“I have to move,” says Mrs. Ewing who is quick to tell you that she feels wonderful. “If you just sit all the time, you are not going to be able to get around good.”
Hitchcock says, “She is a reminder for all of us that we can live a full life well into our 60s and 70s as long as we keep moving.”
