How I get fit done
Looking for inspiration to make fitness a regular – and more enjoyable – habit? The story of octogenarian Erika Rischko, who hails from Langenfeld in Germany, delivers it in spades…
What I like to call my ‘exercise journey’ began in the 1990s. I was in my fifties and for the first time in my life, I had the headspace to focus on myself. Before then, I was busy raising two children. Both competed in sports tournaments all over Germany for many years, so I took them to all their regular training sessions and competitions during the week and on weekends.
I was also the primary carer for my father, who had had multiple strokes and struggled with mobility.
By the time 1992 came around, my daughter, Silke, had moved to California, my son had relocated to Austria and my dad had died.
Silke recognised that I was lonely and sad, living in a different country from my children and having neglected friendships while taking care of my dad, so she signed me up to a gym she used to go to. She was an avid exerciser and wanted me to experience the joy of fitness.
I went three times a week for around an hour, working with one of the trainers to build strength with weight training. Every three months, they’d check my progress and update my training plan with heavier weights. After about a year, I added group classes such as step aerobics and circuits into my routine. Then I introduced spin and rowing into my schedule; I even attended some rowing competitions and took a spin class marathon of four to five hours.
I fell in love with the team spirit, getting to know everyone and feeling the endorphins post-workout.
Then, about eight years ago, I got into functional fitness – which focuses on training using movements that help you function better in everyday life. Deadlifts, for example, will help you lift heavy shopping, and squatting will help you get in and out of chairs. A new functional fitness court had been set up at my gym and I loved it – I’d work out for two to three hours every morning.
Fast-forward two years, to when I was 76, and my training intensified when my daughter moved back to Germany, meaning we could now go to the gym together. She works full-time, so I kept up two or three morning workouts a week and then I’d go back with her three or four evenings and on one weekend visit.
It added up to at least six sessions per week, and I’m still doing that now. My daughter gets bored easily, though, so we don’t always do my usual functional fitness class sessions. She pref
