Living To The 'use It Or Lose It' Motto
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday October 5, 1994
If you want to jump up and down to music in Pam Taylor's class, you have to make your own.
Aerobics classes to music or workouts at the gym may suit some people but at one fitness class in Willoughby, participants exercise out of doors, come rain or shine, and have to sing while they exercise.
When joints start to stiffen up with age, nursing them is not always the answer.
The Arthritic Association recommends "Use it or lose it," and Mrs Taylor is a staunch advocate of their motto.
The Frenchs Forest woman, who has been teaching fitness for 12 years, is teaching Easy Exercise to 40- to 65-year-olds and getting great results.
Her classes differ from those given at gyms.
"Speaking to 20-year-olds, they seem to have it in their mind: 'No pain, no gain.' I find that once people turn 40, they seem to want (a different) type of exercise."
The classes include gentle warming up exercise followed by 20 minutes of aerobics, or what Mrs Taylor calls "walking-jog" with weights.
A 10-minute cooling down period is followed by a few minutes' meditation or relaxation.
Mrs Taylor, a qualified nurse, also gives advice on nutrition and posture and participants are screened by a sports doctor before joining the class.
With the combination of exercise, nutrition and good posture, she said, "you get the reward of looking good from the outside and feeling good on the inside".
Mrs Taylor is a strong believer in having fun while you exercise. Out in the park at 6 pm under the trees and the stars makes a pleasant setting for training.
"I get them to talk to each other and to sing while they are doing it and that's the biggest relaxer of tension," she said.
Classes are small and personalised and Mrs Taylor tries to match individual needs with the correct exercise.
A term costs $70 and includes nine classes.
The next term starts on October 25. For more information, phone Fit and Trim, 975 4195.
© 1994 Sydney Morning Herald