by Myra Ross and Cindy Wentz | From BayLines Express, February, 2024
Only one BSCB member contacted me (Myra Ross) with a health-related New Year’s resolution. I added a blurb of my own.
From Cindy Wentz:
My top resolution for 2024 continues to be physical fitness and overall good health. And it’s the hardest one to keep! I recently read that we humans are actually supposed to achieve 300 minutes of exercise per week: that’s double the 150 you might have heard. I think I’d settle for 200. For several years I’ve been working out with a trainer twice a week. I’m fortunate to be in a financial position to do this. She’s taught me a lot and continues to motivate me. Although I’ve taken the plunge and purchased a set of adjustable dumbbells, there are plenty of strength training and aerobic exercises you can do with no equipment. Sometimes I can google an adequate written description of how to do a particular exercise. Of course, there are a gazillion YouTube videos and fitness apps but many of them rely too much on vision to be of use to me. The ACB Community has a fitness activity almost every day. There is also at least one app – Revision Fitness – that is totally accessible and descriptive as it’s produced by an athlete who is blind. The monthly charge is about the same as a coffee and a doughnut: think about that next time you want to stop at Dunkin or Starbucks. Go for it! Your physical and mental health will thank you and you might even look better. I, Myra Ross, have been going to Planet Fitness with my husband for about an hour each time, at least three times per week for several weeks now. It is very inexpensive ($10 each per month), but unfortunately, the equipment is not accessible. Once a sighted person sets the parameters on the treadmill for example, I can change slope and speed without sighted assistance, but I cannot get any information about my progress on my own. The strengthening machines have multiple peg holes for changing the weight you are pushing or lifting. I count the holes from the top (lightest), and decide which weight is appropriate, but without sighted assistance I cannot know how much weight is loaded. The equipment has a long way to go toward independent accessibility. Staffing at Planet Fitness is very sparce, so it is not reasonable to expect them to assist me with much of anything. Nevertheless, I’m glad we are going regularly; I do feel more energized, and I do find myself standing up straighter when I leave the gym!