\n Stevenage resident John Gigg, a long-time member of the Stevenage Arts and Leisure Centre, credits his three-times-a-week gym routine for making him \u201cfeel 70 and full of life\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\n His journey, marked by hip and knee replacement surgery followed by a severe infection, left him housebound for nine months.\n<\/p>\n
\n However, with the support of the exercise referral team at the centre, John regained his strength and mobility.\n<\/p>\n
\n John using a pair of dumbbells as part of his routine (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: \u201cThe fitness team helped me every step of the way.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cComing back to the gym gave me something to focus on, and seeing familiar faces again made a huge difference.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be where I am today without their support.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n John and his late wife, Freda, were regulars at the centre, attending the gym and classes six mornings a week.\n<\/p>\n
\n He recalled her philosophy: \u201cFreda always said the gym was a social club where we happened to do some exercise.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n John (middle, right hand row) with his gym friends (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n After Freda, who was later diagnosed with Alzheimer\u2019s disease, passed away in 2022, the gym community became a vital source of support for John.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: \u201cComing here helped Freda so much.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt kept her mind and body active, and she loved seeing everyone.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAfter she passed away, the support from my friends at the gym really helped me to keep going.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Despite his age, John continues to inspire both staff and fellow members, attending the gym three times a week.\n<\/p>\n
\n He takes pride in his routine.\n<\/p>\n
\n Crunches are part of John’s workout routine (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: \u201cI\u2019ve done 120 crunches today \u2013 as well as 20 minutes on the treadmill, 25 minutes on the bike and a few sets on the tricep dip, hip abductor and adductor machines.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI always leave feeling good.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great social place \u2013 I love coming to see people.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt gives me a purpose, rather than sitting at home doing nothing.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cYou just feel better in yourself.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n John\u2019s story is part of Everyone Active\u2019s Age is Just a Number campaign, which highlights the importance of staying active and socially connected in later life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stevenage resident John Gigg, a long-time member of the Stevenage Arts and Leisure Centre, credits his three-times-a-week gym…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[337,97],"class_list":{"0":"post-277896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}