May 05, 2011


Photo: Wonder Women work out in Sydenham with Marilyn Picard (front row,far right)

Who says seniors can’t be Wonder Women? Not a single one of a group of close to 30 women between the ages of 59 and 67, who have been hitting the AMHO U Sports and Training facility in Sydenham hard and regularly since January 2011. The group, known as the Wonder Women division of the Iron Maiden Training Tribe, are fast ridding themselves of the typical aches, pains, and some of the diseases and medications that can sometimes go hand in hand with aging. These women are getting the upper hand on their health and are loving it.

Marilyn Picard, a former high school phys-ed instructor, is the group’s task master and she holds her classes at her son Jim Latimer's private training facility located just north of Sydenham. It is here that Marilyn leads her Power Fit or boot camp classes, where the goal is to develop entire body strength, including core strength and flexibility both of which older women tend to lose as they age. Marilyn demonstrates how to use barbells, dumbbells, balls bands, free weights, ploughs and other fitness equipment as part of the workout.

“The goal here is to reverse the aging process and we are doing very well in that regard,” she says. In the short three months that these women have been working out, many have already seen a dramatic reduction in their arthritic pain and high blood pressure. Some have even managed to cut their medications in half while others have cut them out altogether.

In a typical class the group begins with a pre-warm up/social time. Marilyn then takes the ladies through a group warm up, and at the class I attended on April 29 the focus was a lower body work out comprised of a series of squats, lunges, jump lunges, push and pull ups plus additional abdominal, glut and ham work. Lastly, the women hit the great outdoors for a bit of running and the class ended, as it usually does, with a series of total body stretches.

Surprisingly, many of the participating women have had hip or knee replacements, have osteoporosis, bad backs and other painful conditions and are slowly seeing a dramatic change in their physical abilities and energy levels. “The motto here is you start from where you’re at and you proceed at your own pace. The women tend to know their limits but at the same time I don't baby anyone. These are not broken women but rather women who are changing their bodies and who have stepped up to the plate to do so.”

One member of the group, who was waiting to undergo knee surgery and who first came to the class limping and unable to run, is now running and may not even require the surgery. “What happens here is really transformational.” Marilyn said. “While most of us who are grandmothers now have spent all of our lives giving to other people, we are now here learning how to give to ourselves in a whole new way.”

Classes run from 45minutes to an hour and cost $20 a week for a series of three classes. For those who may not have ever exercised before Marilyn says, “Come on in, audit a class and just come out to play and do what you can. Usually if you come out to play you will tend to come back.”

Currently there is a waiting list to join the program but Marilyn encourages anyone interested to call her for more information and to join her list. She can be reached at 613-376-6246, cosmicheart13@hotmail.com

 

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