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On a recent morning, Anna Hughes McCloskey sat on an exercise bike at the Bangor Wellness Center, a facility for current and retired state employees, taking a break from her workout.
She was a bit winded – last week, she had a touch of bronchitis – but she looked right at home in her cranberry velour tracksuit and tan sneakers. When her trainer, Sheila Coleman, asked if she was ready to start pedaling, McCloskey nodded an enthusiastic “yes.”
McCloskey turns 90 tomorrow, though you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at her. And while it would be nice to say that regular exercise had a lot to do with her youthful appearance, that’s a relatively new phenomenon. After a long illness and a subsequent stint in St. Joseph Hospital’s cardiac program, McCloskey graduated to independent workouts in November.
She just wishes she had started sooner. “This is all new to me – I don’t know why I didn’t start it years ago,” said McCloskey, a Bangor resident. “It does me a world of good, a noticeable world of good.”
Coleman came to Bangor Wellness Center from the Y’s cardiac program, and she has a lot of experience working with retirees. Each consultation starts with blood pressure screening and a measurement of her body mass index, but because each person has unique needs, she tailors a workout program around that.
“When Anna came to us, we had some other things to think about,” Coleman said. “I felt comfortable working with her with cardiac rehab issues, and she’s made some real progress.”
Before starting her regimen, McCloskey couldn’t walk up and down stairs, and she had trouble getting around her house. After three months of weightlifting, circuit training and stretches, she’s seen tremendous improvement.
“My back is an awful lot better than it was, and I really think if I fell I could get up now,” she said, “but I’m not gonna try it.”
These days, McCloskey gets by with the help of her son, Edward McCloskey, who “takes very good care of me,” but she has been fiercely independent for most of her life. She was pregnant with twins when her husband died, 11 months after their wedding, and she became a working single mother before it was common.
“I’ve never known anything different,” she said as she recalled her career as a youth director at the YWCA, and later as a social worker – she worked at Bangor Mental Health Institute until she retired. “I have really been privileged. I’ve had a variety of jobs and met so many nice people.”
Her new exercise plan has helped her renew her independence. Recently, she and a friend went to see The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and The Band of the Coldstream Guards at Bangor Auditorium (she’s a regular Maine Center for the Arts patron). Though she had to climb lots of stairs to get to her seats, she had no problem. Now, she recommends regular workouts to everyone.
“Tell ’em to try it,” she said. “I didn’t expect to like it. I expected it to be an ordeal, but it isn’t, it’s a pleasure.”
As McCloskey prepared to ride the exercise bike, Coleman looped the footholds around her sneakers. McCloskey leaned back and smiled.
“Aaaaaah, this is relaxation,” she said.
For seniors who are considering starting a new fitness program, Coleman recommends they work with someone who has experience with “more mature exercisers.” She says seniors should take it easy at first, and find a routine they enjoy, one that includes cardio, strength and balance work.
“It’s more about functionality,” Coleman said. “They need to do things to make their life easier.”
These days, getting around is much easier for McCloskey – and more fun, too. She says there’s nothing remarkable about turning 90, but with her positive attitude, that’s no surprise.
“I choose to be upbeat with things,” she said. “It’s much easier to live well. I expect every day to be a good day and I expect progress and I get it. That’s the best part of it.”
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