A lack of exercise took its toll on Nancy Burnham. After retiring from a desk job at 60, she was diagnosed with heart disease and asthma.
But then, one day, this woman who was overweight and got little to no exercise her entire life entered a shopping plaza to buy groceries when she decided to take a right turn (instead of a left) to the gym, a turn of the wheel that changed her life. She parked her car, and stepped inside a gym for the first time. She was 61.
“When I retired, my body was in bad, bad shape,” said Burnham, of Lilburn. “I was in pain. My back was hurting. And I just thought to myself: ‘I have got to do something about this. Nobody is going to do something about this but me.’”
Little by little, Burnham lost weight (30 pounds total), strengthened her core muscles and felt like a new person. Within about a year of starting her new exercise regimen, she stopped taking several medications, including pills for asthma, high cholesterol and depression. And that nagging pain in her lower back and hands — gone.
In the summer of 2012, at the age of 65, Burnham became an American Council on Exercise (ACE) certified personal trainer. She works primarily with older adults, most of whom are over 60; one of her clients is in her 80s.
To learn more about her journey to fitness and health, and read the complete story, go to www.myajc.com/news/lifestyles/health/late-to-exercise-woman-finds-calling-as-trainer-in/ngHZg/
