Back when Murray (who prefers not to use her last name) was raising her three small children, she decided she wanted to get active. She started running along the beaches and bridges near her Ft. Lauderdale home and discovered she loved being part of the excitement and fun of races with thousands of people.
Running became a part of her life, and after a move to Macon, Georgia, she added in other workouts. She loved the accountability and atmosphere of group fitness classes, and at different times over the decades she joined Les Mills, aerobics, yoga, OrangeTheory and CrossFit classes and programs. She even taught some classes.
All that exercise helped her stave off a lot of the typical health problems that often come with aging. At 74, she does not have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or pre-diabetes. But she wasn’t able to avoid arthritis.
She works around the limits of arthritis
Murray was in her 60s when she spotted the first signs of arthritis, in her hands. “I’d watch my grandkids play sports, and all the kids would high-five you, and that hurt my hand so badly,” she says.
Over time, her knees started to show signs of wear too. “I have osteoarthritis in all my joints, but I have no cartilage left in my right knee and almost none in my left,” she says. A “pop” in her knee when she was doing a burpee put an end to her high-impact activities.
“I begged the doctor, ‘Please don’t tell me to stop working out,’” she says. Her doctor encouraged her to keep exercising, telling her it was the best thing she could possibly do.
Still in her 60s, she discovered the Pure Barre studio in Macon when she searched for an alternative to the high-impact classes she had been taking for decades. “It checked all the boxes for me. I wanted to stay flexible and strong. I fell in love with it,” she says.
She’s finding new ways to challenge herself
With her fitness background, Murray figured the classes would be easy. She quickly discovered she was wrong. “I was doing a lot of exercise, so I thought, ‘This is not going to be anything.’ It was so hard. I was shaking. I couldn’t believe it,” she says.
That first class was a wake-up call. Despite the strength she had built in CrossFit and the flexibility that came from yoga, the barre movements challenged her in new ways: “At the very beginning, I would have to come out of positions a lot because my whole body would start shaking and I just couldn’t stay in them.”
Murray embraced the challenge, and she’s at the studio nearly every day, taking one of four different types of classes. She tracks her workouts on her phone, and she’s completed nearly 3,500. She credits Pure Barre with helping her stay mobile, energized and strong enough to keep up with her 10 grandchildren. She’s also improved her flexibility and balance.
She gradually built the endurance she needed to hold positions longer. “It doesn’t get any easier, but you get stronger,” she says. “I can keep up with those young people in my classes, which I’m excited about. They’re 30 or 40 years younger than me. I’m always the oldest person.”
Morning workouts: She chooses classes based off her energy level
As a retired teacher, Murray can work her schedule around her classes. She likes to work out in the morning and plan the rest of her day around that. “For many years, I worked out in the morning, and my body doesn’t behave as well at a 2:30 p.m. class,” she says.
Her husband is in the ministry, so their Sunday mornings are busy, and that’s the only day of the week she’ll typically take an afternoon class. “It’s a struggle,” she says.
She focuses on bone health
Because of her arthritis, Murray modifies high-impact moves. “I never jog, jump or do anything that’s bouncy,” she says.
She steps through burpees instead of jumping, adds steps to a plank in place of running and chooses low-impact alternatives to cardio. She’s stopped playing pickleball with her grandchildren because she risks hurting her knees with quick shifts in direction.
Between her strength training and her modifications, she is keeping her muscles strong and her joints safe. Her doctor says she may never need knee replacement surgery.
Murray also wants to make sure she keeps her bones strong. She has a family history of osteoporosis, and she takes thyroid medication for Graves’ disease, which can weaken bones.
“My mom had really bad osteoporosis. I don’t have it yet, and I think it’s because body weight and weight training really help with your bones,” she says. Murray had osteopenia (a pre-cursor to osteoporosis) in her spine, but she’s reversed that.
Along with her classes, she walks up to four miles a day during good weather to help further protect her bones and maintain her cardio fitness. She’ll have cataract surgery soon, and she’s already talked to her doctor about clearing her for walking as soon as possible afterward.
She’s inspiring two generations
Both of Murray’s daughters have also discovered a love for Pure Barre. And this spring, two granddaughters are taking the classes as well, working them around their college schedules at Ole Miss.
“It’s truly a joy for me to have all these generations together. I love it,” Murray says. “It’s a fitness activity that we can share.”