Latest news with #taiChi
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
‘I'm 78 and in the Best Shape of My Life—This Is the Exact Workout Routine I Swear By'
It's not every day in an independent living community that one of its 78-year-old residents routinely wins medals, can do moves like handstands and cartwheels and teaches tai chi classes. But for Arthur 'Artie' Lynnworth, who lives in Wellington, Florida at the Wellington Bay independent living community, looking and feeling fit is the norm, and it's all thanks to a lifelong commitment to fitness. 🩺SIGN UP for tips to stay healthy & fit with the top moves, clean eats, health trends & more delivered right to your inbox twice a week💊 Lynnworth has been active in sports since childhood. He was the captain of his New York City high school gymnastics team ('undefeated on the parallel bars' during his senior year, he adds), and he was also captain of his Syracuse University Varsity Gymnastics Team. He went on to work as an assistant gymnastics coach at a high school for a couple years. Later in life, he continued pursuing sports, which included biking, tennis, racquetball, aikido martial arts and tai chi. Then in 2008, when he retired from a 40-year career in the chemical industry, he wrote several self-help books, including Get Fit and Stay Fit for 'I'm 71 and In the Best Shape of My Life—This Is the Exact Workout Routine I Swear By' It's not enough that Lynnworth fulfills his own fitness goals—he also competes and brings home medals too. He explains that recently, he competed in a multi-state senior track event called the Wisdom Warrior Challenge, and was awarded several national medals, including two gold medals for the 50 and 200-meter races, silver for the 100-meter and 5th place for the 400-meter race. Each race followed a run/walk format. Related: 'I'm 73 and in the Best Shape of My Life—This Is the Exact Workout Routine I Swear By' Every morning, Lynnworth takes a one-mile walk with his 78-year-old wife, Margy. Lynnworth was way ahead of the trend when it comes to pickleball. He's been participating in the sport for 15 years, which he does six mornings a week, something that he says keeps him 'fit, agile and healthy.' Five of those mornings are straightforward pickleball games and one morning a week, he takes a pickleball lesson. Before hitting the pickleball court, Lynnworth completes a five-minute brief stretch and limbering routine, as he calls it, and includes such moves as side torso stretches, rotational torso turns, hamstring stretches and squats. Additionally, Lynnworth teaches tai chi classes through his independent living community. 'I have run over 100 classes in the last two years here,' he tells Parade. Related: 'I'm 71 and In the Best Shape of My Life—This Is the Exact Workout Routine I Swear By' One motto that Lynnworth frequently expresses, which he included often in his fitness book, is, 'Anything is better than nothing.' If you'd like to begin an exercise regimen, he recommends starting easy after checking with a medical professional. 'Find ways to gradually do more physical activity,' he advises. 'It can be as simple as parking farther out in the parking lot to take more steps or beginning a short morning stretching routine to get your body moving. Take a 10-minute walk. Lean against your kitchen counter and push away in a kind of vertical push-up. Find simple things to do that are possible and keep at it. Later, you can add more.' To sum things up, he says, 'Fitness is important for good physical and mental health. Start small and let the positive reinforcement of the new activity be self-motivating for continuing and perhaps even doing more.' Up Next:Artie Lynnworth, Wisdom Warrior Challenge medalist and tai chi instructor. 'I'm 78 and in the Best Shape of My Life—This Is the Exact Workout Routine I Swear By' first appeared on Parade on May 25, 2025
CBC
15-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Tai chi brought peace to this Regina teacher during a time of mental struggle. Now she shares it with others
This story is part of a CBC Saskatchewan series showcasing movers and shakers for Asian Heritage Month in May. For more on this project, visit When Xiaofeng Wu leads her class through the movements of tai chi, her steady calm permeates the room. Wu — who also uses the first name Lena — is an ardent proponent of this martial art after learning and teaching it for the past 13 years. She knows first-hand how beneficial it can be, after struggling with her mental health when she first came to Regina in 1994 to study at the local university. "Like many newcomers, I faced lots of cultural adaptation and on top of that I experienced the family transitions, which led to some mental struggles," she said. To find an answer for the depression, she turned inward, beginning with yoga, meditation and a healthy diet. But it was the ancient exercise of tai chi, which she used to see practised in her childhood home of Beijing, that would really help her break through. "That flow and that elegance just directly spoke to me," she said, adding she was fortunate to learn from senior members in the Chinese community. "I feel I was very much grounded and immersed in the flow of the movements." Unlike Wu, those seniors didn't speak English. She was able to serve as a bridge, connecting with other cultural communities to share more about tai chi, outside of her Monday to Friday job as an educator. She helped to start the Regina Chinese Canadian Association Tai Chi Group, leading weekend sessions. She now also teaches weekly classes at the local YMCA, seasonal programs with the Albert Park Community Association, and workshops through the local library, university, senior residences and schools. Her students describe her as calm and patient, gently guiding them in perfecting their movements. Shelley Cochrane, who takes Wu's classes at the YMCA, said she always feels more calm after the hour-long class. "It helps me get grounded. It's just a way of life that you can adapt to this stressful world that we're living in right now," Cochrane said. Wu said she feels disheartened when she hears about children and adults facing increasing anxiety and depression. It's what propels her to continue volunteering to teach this art that brought her peace in a time of need. Practising tai chi helps her connect with the natural part of herself and reflects the nature around her, she said. "That helped me to accept who I am. That helped me to step out of the judgmental self, and then that's how I felt like we're all the same under the same sun. … We're all connected," she said, pausing to reflect on how true that feels when she practices tai chi. "That's quite profound."
