Senior Success Story at Fit For Life

A Preventive Health & Fitness Company
"Keep Active and Have Fun!"

Pedaling For Health!

Exercise, especially cycling, provides the energy Ellie Bryder puts to valuable use in her community. Now 78, she is retired and living in Bellaire. Ellie keeps her days busy with exercise and community work. Cycling and swimming are her favorite activities, and she does one or both daily. She has won several cycling medals in Senior Games competitions on the county and state levels.

Ellie pedaling for fun. All her cycling time is spent on the Pinellas Trail. At least four days a week she rides the 9-miles from her home and back, for an 18-mile round-trip trek. She swims six or seven days a week, doing laps for 30-minutes in her complex. Since it is unheated, winter swimming is usually out of the question. Ellie keeps limber by taking weekly yoga lessions in addition to her swimming and biking.

Church and cummunity service fills much of her time during the week when she is not exercising. Two days a week Ellie spends delivering meals as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels. She also visits sick people and helps members of her congregation feed the homeless.

Mental health is as important to Ellie as physical health is. Although she has a pacemaker, she doesn't allow it to keep her home on the couch. "I try to encourage people my age to exercise more and stay active," she said. "It seems to agree with me."