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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, April 30, 2015 | 12 O Joining a gym a `super smart decision' to keep the `poly' at bay ver the past six months, I've become what I once abhorred (unfoundedly, of course) -- I've become an obsessive frequenter of a tness club, one of those guys who wriggles out of obligations and steals away at odd hours to go work up a good sweat. Yep, I've become a gym rat. I've always been an exerciser; always been addicted to tness in one form or another -- the mind-clearing sanity it restores, the feelgood endorphin high it produces. But I'd never in all my many moons darkened the door of a tness facility. Not once. Ever. Now, I know my friends who always (unfoundedly, of course) sided with me in abhorring tness clubs and what we all perceived to be the gym life -- you know, muscle-heads staring at themselves in mirrors, when they're not busy icking towels at each other's backsides -- are probably shocked to hear that I've become "one of those guys", and are wondering only one thing: Why? Because necessity, I have discovered, is indeed the mother of invention (and reinvention, too). Because in order to keep on keepin' on, That's Life Andy Juniper Guest Contributor CLAUDE'S VACUUM SHOP CL # 1 International Vacuum Month of May Special Tax Included Sales · Service · Parts Free Estimates on Repairs Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday · 9am - 6pm Wednesday · 9am - 5pm Saturday · 9am - 4pm 128 Kerr St., Oakville, ON L6K 3A7 905.842.5658 | claude2@cogeco.net www.claudesvacuum.com you do what you have to do (or what you can do). Because a year ago, I was blindsided by polymyalgia rheumatica, an in ammatory condition that causes muscle pain and joint stiffness -- like your muscles are on re and your joints are seizing with rigor mortis. Trust me: not half as much fun as it sounds. Anyway, last spring when `poly' tackled me from behind, leaving me unable to tie my shoes, or open a humble tin of tuna, or get up from out of a chair without a Herculean effort, and a little help from my friends, I lost the ability to practice yoga, play golf, and cycle -- at least, not up any kind of an incline. So, to not surrender, to keep my body moving, I enlisted a stepladder. Each day, I'd gingerly scale the ladder and get up onto my bike, then I'd cycle the long, at road just up from our house. Back and forth. Back and forth. After three months, `poly' eased up a bit. I began biking slight inclines. By autumn, I was back biking the hills around our house. Granted, my legs often seized afterward, my arms remained tender, and the opening of that tin of tuna was still too much to manage. I knew that as I reluctantly put the bike into storage and we headed into winter, I'd need a means of continuing to exercise every day for both peace of mind and continuing recovery. I (gasp) joined a gym. which, in retrospect, was a super smart decision. The gym I joined is nothing like what I'd imagined. In fact, it's best described as a business-like environment lled with likeminded people blowing off steam, sweating out stress, and doing what they need to do to keep on keepin' on. Now, as I hit the one-year anniversary of my poly-blindside, I'm back doing yoga (granted, a self-invented yoga hybrid; some limbs still don't bend the way they're supposed to), back biking, and still ever-so determined to get the in ammation the hell out of my shoulders and the pain out of my arms so I can golf this summer. Oh, and I'm still going to the gym, whenever I can steal away to go work up a good sweat. Yep, I've become a gym rat. -- Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found on Facebook www.facebook.com, or followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/thesportjesters. Spring Special Pre-Book for Spring and Save on painted Fiberglass Doors plus FREE inside painted White. 30% OFF 30% OFF All Vinyl Windows Installed! Monday - Friday 9:00am-4:30pm, Saturday 9:00am-12:00pm 4 Month YMCA Summer Membership for Students Join by May 1 for just $150 * After May 1 the regular student rate of $45/month applies. *Offer valid only at the Peter Gilgan Family YMCA, 410 Rebecca Street and available to students 13+ yrs with proof of full-time student status. Applicable taxes are applied at the time of enrolment. Full details at ymcaofoakville.org. 4280 Harvester Road Unit 3 & 4 905.333.4044 · info@thedoorcentre.ca ymcaofoakville.org 905-845-3417