Counting reps, not years
Could a workout a day keep the doctor away?
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- Early last year, Paul McNally went from taking daily walks to needing a wheelchair. Shortly after going to bed one night, he woke up violently ill, dizzy and confused.
"He went to bed and began throwing up. I couldn't get him out of bed the next morning," said his wife, Ann.
After spending a short time in the emergency room at Forum Health North Side Medical Center, McNally's sudden and unexplained decline required him to be placed in a nursing home.
While at the facility, McNally needed a physical therapist to work with him on climbing steps, walking and muscle retraining.
Now, instead of visiting him at a nursing home center, you can find McNally at a fitness center.
What he does: For more than a month, McNally, 85, has been a regular fixture at Rocky's Personalized Training and Wellness Center. During that time, he developed a routine that he follows each Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
For an hour each day, McNally uses several of the facility's machines to keep his hips, shoulders, arms and triceps muscles in shape.
"I wanted to join to build my body up," McNally said. "I feel 100 percent better every time I leave this place."
Rocky Taumoepeau, the fitness center's owner and trainer, said he watched as McNally went from using a cane to walking from one piece of equipment to another unassisted. Taumoepeau said that McNally, with rest and small amounts of weight, can do up to 100 repetitions on some of the machines.
"I used to have to lift his leg. Now he does it himself," Taumoepeau said of McNally's ability to get up on an abduction machine himself.
Personal trainer: Taumoepeau works with McNally, guiding him as he counts 10 repetitions on the abductor, which is designed to increase the range-of-motion in his legs, or as he takes a four- to five-minute walk on a treadmill. Along the way, Taumoepeau instructs McNally to rest, keep his head down or pause for a water break.
Ann McNally said that despite experiencing some breathing difficulties and emphysema, her husband looks forward to his workouts. In addition to the physical benefits, his mental outlook has improved, she added.
Paul, a former General Fireproofing and Simco Management Corp. worker, said part of his physical therapy at Shepherd of the Valley care center consisted of climbing steps. He has resumed his daily habit of walking five times around the Mill Creek Village complex where he lives.
McNally said his grandson introduced him to the fitness and wellness center about eight weeks ago. His 16-year-old great-grandson also is a member.
McNally said he lost about 14 pounds during his illness and nursing home stay, but added that he has gained two pounds in the past several weeks from working out at the gym.
McNally also said that exercise has no age limits. Despite his physical progress, though, he cited determination as the biggest factor for pulling him through his struggles.
"My determination is the most important thing," he pointed out. "I made up my mind in the nursing home that I was going to walk out of there. If you give up, you're dead."