Exercise by Kate Gogal

 

Exercise has impacted my life in ways I could not have imagined. Sure, exercise helped me shed a lot of weight, and don't get me wrong, losing weight was a good thing. I gained a lot of weight when I was in elementary school, because I ate poorly and was not as active as I should have been. The consumption of delicious freshly baked chocolate chip cookies the lunch lady snuck my way almost daily throughout my years in elementary school didn't help my weight issue. 

Walking is how it all began. I started walking four miles everyday, and I still walk that much today, all these years later. Eating healthier meals and consuming less treats followed. I began homeschooling around this time too, which helped eliminate my daily cookie intake. The weight began to melt away, slooooowly. I began looking and feeling better. Finding clothes that fit properly became a lot easier and this made shopping for clothes more fun. 

When I entered middle school, I added to my exercise regimen. I continued walking but also started doing exercises to strengthen my muscles. I learned how to do sit ups, planks, burpees, and hand weights. With time, my body got stronger and my movements got more precise. Like many of us with apraxia, controlling my movements on demand was a huge struggle and it continues to be challenging when I am learning a new exercise. The key to learning these movements is to have the motor plan broken down into multiple steps. This process has made it more manageable for me to learn new movements. Using gestures and tactile cues when I get stuck with the movements has also been extremely helpful. Over time I have noticed that I am able to learn new exercises much faster than when I first started exercising. I am proud to share that I went from barely being able to motor plan a sit up to participating in a weekly live zoom exercise class with my peers. The exercise class I participate in is 30 minutes and quickly transitions from one exercise to the next. Years ago, this pace would have been too fast for me and would have caused great frustration. Today I am keeping up with the pace.

The strategies that are used in my exercise program can be transferred into all daily living skills because everything we do in our day requires motor planning. Exercise has given me better control over all of my movements in my daily life. Exercise has become a lifestyle that has given me access to recreational and social activities that I can enjoy with my family and friends. Exercise has also shown me and those around me that motor movements can be complex and there is great value in breaking those steps down to make them more manageable for someone with apraxia.