David Rekemeyer Adopts the Fitness Habit

by Laurence Wiland

May 2008 — “Fitness has always been a focus of mine, but I never considered myself particularly athletic, and had never belonged to a health club before,” said the 40-year-old Ashland area resident.

Early this year, David heard about a regional initiative called Walk the Talk Today! and decided to give it a try. The 90-day program challenged participants to embrace healthy and ecological living through three steps: regular exercise; eliminating the use of plastic shopping bags; and eliminating the use of plastic water bottles, styrofoam coffee cups, and other disposable beverage containers.

David was reasonably fit and active, and felt the goals of the Walk the Talk Today! program fit well with his own lifestyle and health habits. After completing the program, however, he learned that as a participant, his name had been included in a prize drawing, and he was chosen as one of the winners. His prize: a year-long membership to Ashland’s Chequamegon Health and Fitness Center, starting January 2008.

Prior to joining the health center, his regular fitness routine included yoga, a little running, and occasional commuting to work by bicycle in the summer.

“The goal of my own fitness program doesn’t have to do with performance or even weight,” he said. “I’d say my goal is to maintain as high a degree of health as is possible for my body.”

In his visits to the Chequamegon Health and Fitness Center, David added to his routine some work on the weight-resistance machines, and time on an exercise bicycle during the winter months and inclement weather. It wasn’t long before he noticed some changes. He lost 19 pounds and is now down to his college-age weight..

“I thought I had maintained a particular level of fitness, but the fact is that as I’ve gotten older I’ve gained a couple pounds per year—not much and not noticeable in any given year—but it added up,” he said.

Perhaps more important, however, is that the strengthening exercises he practices have helped stabilize his torso and lower back.

“Part of my health story is that when I was 21 years old, I took a 30-foot fall and broke my leg,” he said. “That injury initiated some degenerative disease in my back. As I’ve aged I’ve found that certain movements combined with compression really cause a lot of problems.”

About five years ago, he started having muscle spasticity  that locked up his lower back.

“It took about a week to recover from these episodes to the point where I could stand up without pain,” he said. “I would have about two or three of these episodes per year. When they happened, I’d just lay on the floor and eat Vicodin.

“I’ve found that the added strength and keeping my weight lower really has helped manage my back pain. I haven’t had a debilitating episode of muscle spasm in a year now.”

David’s commitment to health and fitness goes beyond his own personal habits; in his work as a certified massage therapist, he regularly sees the effects that fitness, and lack of fitness, has on the human body.

“Ironically, I find that most of what I do is help people deal with and manage back pain,” he said. “In my years of practice, I’ve noticed a fairly direct correlation between advancing age and the importance of exercise and health practices you need to maintain fitness. But I also see a link between advancing age and decreased motivation to make these healthy choices.

“The key to lifelong health is making healthy practices a lifestyle,” he said. “If it’s routine, you don’t need to think too much about it; you just do it.”

Photo by Laurence Wiland.