A Lifetime of Fitness: Seniors Discuss Their Personal Regimens 

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Seniors weigh in on the reasons for — and benefits of — their personal regimens

Olive Macgregor, 70, of Lebanon: “I would say I’ve been attending Aquafit classes at the CCBA for at least 15 years. I really like it. I try to do that class three times a week and sometimes I go to pilates, so I say I average one or the other about four times a week. I love the water, and the people in (The Aquafit) class have turned into great friends. We’ve gone to funerals for each other’s husbands, we’ve gone to birthday parties — it’s a friendly group. The class is just part of my life, and I would think that if I ever moved away, I would really miss that.”

Stephen Berger, 66, of Quechee: “I’ve been involved in fitness my whole life. I’ve been in many gyms in many states. I was a former half-marathon runner, a weight trainer and a swimmer. I injured myself a couple of years ago the way most athletes injure themselves — I was walking my dog and I slipped on a rock and twisted my ankle. After icing my ankle and taking Advil, the injury kept getting worse. Once I started a regimen of resistance and weight training at KDR fitness, one year later, I don’t have a limp. I’m doing advanced intelligent weight training — not for big biceps, but for functional muscles and balance and for the strong aerobic part of my program. I feel now as close to the best shape I’ve ever been in my life, and I’m over 60.”

Helen Dicke, 70, of Hartland: “I teach six yoga classes a week at the Hartland Yoga Center. I’m probably as retired as I’m ever going to be right now. I’m not a very retiring type person. Apart from teaching yoga, I go hiking with my friend Pierre several times a week. Last January, it was discovered that I had ovarian cancer. I had surgery on Jan. 30 and have been having chemotherapy off and on from mid-February until June 15. I believe that the self-awareness I have gained from yoga helped accelerate my recovery from cancer.
I think that one of the biggest things with cancer is that the mind just goes nuts. My mind didn’t go nuts, it went nuts for about a split second, and my larger self said, you don’t need to do this, it’s just your mind. From yoga I learned to quiet my mind and just calm down. The result was that I just sailed through it. It’s amazing. And I’m feeling great now. I’ve been more active recently. I feel positive and I love doing things and I can hike up a hill like the best of them.”

Marjorie Vail, 87, of Barnard: “It’s hard to tell how long I’ve been playing tennis. I’ve been playing since I was in high school but not competing or anything. My husband and I joined the Woodstock Country Club when this building and the new tennis courts were built and I’ve played ever since then. I play twice a week in the summer, and once a week in the winter. This is my last day playing tennis. I’m 87 years old, and I think it’s time. It’s not that I can’t play, but it’s a little too much for me and it’s hard to get here in the winter. What’s kept me coming back all these years? It’s such a fun game and I love tennis, and I hate awfully to not play, but stopping is just something I feel I need to do. I’ll still be active after I stop playing tennis. I walk, and I have a woodstove and that keeps me busy every morning.”

Photographs and interviews by Sarah Priestap