What Forced Me to Start Exercising Two Years Ago - 73 Year Old Gym Mama

A 73 year old Nigerian woman, Rosalind Umar, has been trending and making waves because of her newfound gym lifestyle where she does various exercises from cardio to strength training. In a new interview with Channels Television, Rosalind opens up about what exactly pushed her to start gyming; and the revelation is actually very interesting and eye opening. Here's what 73 year old Rosalind Umar had to say.

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Speaking about why she's started gym in her 70s, fitness enthusiast Rosalind Umar says:

ROSALIND UMAR: In my generation, we didn't know much, or anything, about keeping fit or going to the gym, or exercising. Fortunately, I was a member of Ikoyi club but I really don't do anything until I developed arthritis in my knees and the doctor said I was too young to have surgery done on my knees, so I should swim and exercise, strengthen my muscles, hamstrings, and my quads. So I did that for almost 14 years and it will help you but it will only stave off the ultimate time when you need to do your surgery. I chose to do surgery. So I had major surgery. And after my surgery and my knees were now okay, some 6 / 7 years ago, I stopped going to the gym because the gym is not interesting. It's a lot of hard work and it's very difficult. I didn't go in the first place because I wanted to go. I went because my doctor told me to go. And now that there's no need to go anymore, I'd rather sit at home and just chill.

What now happened was that after my surgery after I recovered, I went back to my usual 'useless' lifestyle. Just sitting at home eating, drinking, and reading. It wasn't even the eating that got me into trouble because I'm a very disciplined eater, it's the sedentary lifestyle. Just sitting on the couch from morning to night, and it's not good. Even workers that sit in front of their computers all day, it's not good to sit for too long. I was sitting and lying in bed for too many hours, and by my 70s, I now developed another health issue: this time, raised blood sugar levels. Pre-diabetes. And my doctor again warned me: you have to make major lifestyle changes to reverse what is happening to you so you don't become a full blown diabetic. I was 71 at that time, and my husband after that voluntarily registered me in a gym and that is how it all started.

What do you think about what Rosalind had to say?

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