Sedentary Uncle pedals his way to the golf course

Posted July 19, 2010 by Cheryl Barrett
My elderly uncle comes up from Florida every summer and stays with my family.  I noticed this summer he wasn’t really getting around as much and his activity level had diminished drastically since last summer.  He always was scooting around and played 9 holes of golf on the weekends with his nephews’, but this summer he wasn’t golfing and was mostly sitting in his chair watching sports and financial shows.  I understand that at 80 years old and having COPD he is slowing down and it is getting harder to get around.  He had a checkup with his physician and we were told it’s a catch 22, he needs to exercise but the problem is the less he does that harder it becomes.

I thought about how we could get him exercising,  gyms were out because he wasn’t going to go any place to work out, DVD’s wouldn’t work because he can’t operate a DVD player and bulky equipment like treadmills and bikes would take up to much space. I then remembered how he told me one time when he did physical therapy he liked doing the recumbent bike.  Well, recumbent bikes are very expensive but I found him the next best thing an exercise peddler.  He can sit in his chair watching his shows and get some exercise in or he can sit out on the deck put it on the table and peddle with his hands.  It’s not bulky and easy to use.  Now, he does a little in the morning, some in the afternoon and if he’s up to it a few minutes at night. He is building up his cardio and now he is golfing on the weekends. It’s the best $100 I spent.

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