SENIOR LIVING Karen Elmore, Marilyn O’Rourke, Becky Fisher and Lawra Lee, from left, are among the women whose devotion to exercise at the YMCA in Hagerstown has evolved into a social and support group.
‘Just keep moving’ To “just keep moving” is also why 63-year-old Amy Wilson of Hag erstown and 67-year-old Sharon Mathews of Smithsburg partici pate in strength training taught by Dyanne Sharrar in one of the many physical fitness classes offered for free at Washington County Senior Activities Center in Hagerstown. For Wilson, organized exercise has been a major part of her life since she retired three years ago. While she acknowledges the social aspect of exercise classes, as the recipient of two knee replacements, she’s more concerned with the physical and health benefits. One class helps her with toning, another with maintaining strength. Yoga is for other body parts, and line dancing for balance and fun.
Strength training instructor Dyanne Sharrar guides Amy Wilson and Sharon Mathews.
Written by PAULETTE LEE B eth Tribble had some avocados from her garden to share. Lawra Lee passed around fra grances she brought back for the ladies from Hawaii. A daugh ter’s new job was announced. An offer of a home-baked scone brought for the day’s snack was made for an elderly father. Ten women who get together for coffee every Friday – some times at a local café, sometimes at a residential community center – are more than three-timesa-week exercise partners at Hag erstown’s YMCA. They’re part of a friendship group that has been around for a decade. Jane Mackley, 73, of Hagerstown claims to be the group’s founder, and no one disputes her. She moved to Hagerstown from Frederick, Md., 10 years ago and wanted an exercise class. She joined the Y and not only got the exercise she was seeking, but lifelongTribble,friends.63,of Spring Valley is the newbie. She’s been wholeheartedly accepted by the rest of the group, even though her regular position in their interval aerobics class at the Y is on the right side of the floor (when facing the mirror). All the others are always on the left side. It’s part of theirThetradition.womenare all married and many knew each other before coming to the Y. Two of them were elementary school friends. Two have husbands who worked together. Now all are older than 60; several are in their 70s and all except one are grandmothers.Thematriarch of the group, Har riet Muldowney of Hagerstown, is 86 and a great-grandmother. She stopped exercising two years ago with the onset of COVID-19, but not because of her age. The Y changed the time of the class to 8:15 a.m. and she said she had to choose between exercising and “my husband, who loves breakfast.” “I miss these girls, though,” said Muldowney, a former avid tennis player and bicyclist who intends to get back to yoga. The women are devoted to their friendship, which extends beyond their exercise classes. It’s not only a social group for them, but a support group. During the pandemic, they got together via Zoom and in person to walk and even met in a church parking lot, setting up chairs 6 feetThey’reapart. also devoted to the YMCA. As soon as it reopened outdoors, the ladies were back. “It’s a special place,” said Tribble, who’s been exercising there for 22 years. “There are great instructors and classes for all ages. We do whatever we can do. We’re not in class to lose weight, just to keep moving, and being together helps us to continue to exercise.”
PHOTOS BY PAULETTE LEE
Whether you’re going to an exer cise class or working with a personal trainer, Jones said, “Just because you’re over 60 doesn’t mean you should stop moving. No, you should continue, if not do more. You should still retain your physical activity. The amount is the same, no matter how old you are: 150 to 300 minutes a week. But it can be moderate exer cise, and it certainly doesn’t have to be all at once. Do it in increments. People put up barriers to exercising, but you don’t need to. Do it for your self so you can have a full life.”
Places 86 “We’re not in class to lose weight, just to keep moving, and being together helps us to continue to exercise.”
– Harriet Muldowney “I try doing different things to target different areas,” she said. Wilson and Mathews found the pandemicMathews,challenging.whoretired in 2020, has always had an active lifestyle and ex ercised on and off for 20 years. When the pandemic hit, she no longer had a partner with whom to hike or bike, and family dynamics changed due to her isolation. She knew she had to get back to exercising as soon as possible.“Ihad to make myself deal with the socializing part,” Mathews said, “but it was more about getting active. I had to take control. I knew I needed to get exercise.” She said exercise is for her mental and physical health. Patti Jones, 61, of Hagerstown, has also been physically active all her life, and she made sure her three children were, too. As they were growing up, Patti was right there with them, coaching them in sports, encouraging them to stay active. The kids graduated, but they joke that Patti never did. She is still coaching at St. Maria Goretti Catholic High School and Hagerstown Community College and loves it. In fact, she’s been doing it for so long no one would have suspected that she wasn’t certified as a trainer. Now, she is. Jones just completed HCC’s six-week Ameri can Council on Exercise certification course.“Wehad a huge textbook,” she laughed. “We had to study kinesthet ics, anatomy, behavior modification – all the things I realized I had been doing all along, but now I know I’ve been doing it right!”
