34 | SUNRAYS MAY 2015
ONLINE:
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FITNESS
Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy are Barbara Wood’s favorite
television shows.
How ironic, when you consider that her own spin at life’s wheel
of fortune landed her in a world of jeopardy. The 83-year-old
survived cancer and the partial removal of a lung only to barely
survive a head-on car wreck in 1998 that left her with a broken
wrist, a broken collar bone, broken ribs, and a shattered ankle.
“My whole life changed,” says Barbara, who was an avid ten-
nis player and umpire until the accident left her confined to a
wheelchair for six months. “I had to learn how to walk again,
and that is when I really started using the Fitness Center. I
went to water aerobics classes six days a week.”
As Barbara got older, more misfortune spun her way when
she developed osteoarthritis in both knees. Walking became
precarious again, and two years ago she turned to Sun City
personal trainer Judy “JB” Baier for strength training before
attempting a successful double knee replacement surgery. She
continues to train with JB three times a week at the Texas
Drive Fitness Center.
“We had our work cut out for us,” says JB, who, in collabora-
tion with Scott & White Physical Therapy, helped Barbara
progress from a wheelchair to a rolling walker and eventually
to walking with a cane. “Barbara becomes stronger each day,”
she adds. “She has mastered more machines and has increased
her flexibility and range of motion. You can bet she’ll be walk-
ing into the Fitness Center without assistance from anything
or anyone very soon.”
Barbara and her husband of 60 years, John, moved to Sun
City Texas in 1997, six years after she retired from her job as a
computer systems analyst with the Veterans Administration in
Austin. The Texas Drive Fitness Center is her “second home,”
she says, and JB is her “inspiration.”
The inspiration is mutual. “Barbara is an extremely active,
Athlete of the Month
By Lynda Dufour
Meet your Personal Trainer
and Group Fitness instructor
Judy “JB” Baier
Certifications
• Cooper Institute—Certified
Personal Trainer
• Cooper Institute—Fitness
Specialist General Population
• Cooper Institute—Fitness Specialist Older Adults
• Cooper Institute—Water Aerobics Instructor
• Aerobics Fitness Association of America—
Group Exercise Instructor
• PACE Instructor—People with Arthritis Can Exercise
• Resist-A-Ball Certification
For an appointment with JB, call 512-639-8259
Group Fitness tutorial
Monday, May 11, 9:45 a.m., Cowan Creek
In the Group Fitness Tutorial, Sun City
Texas Group Fitness Coordinator Whitney
Alexander will answer your questions about
group fitness classes. If you want more in-
formation about the classes offered, which
class is right for you and how to get started,
come join us!
Personal Training tutorial
Monday, May 11, 9 a.m., Cowan Creek
Sun City Texas Personal Training Coordinator John Rutan
will answer your questions about personal training. Join us
at the Cowan Creek Amenities Center to learn more about
our personal training sessions and the trainers.
outgoing, energetic person who has handled an overwhelming
turn of events,” says JB, who is now helping Barbara find the
strength to deal with the latest issue jeopardizing her health
-- the first stages of Parkinson’s disease. “Our training sessions
continually evolve,” she adds. “I selected Barbara as our Athlete
of the Month because of her determination to be as healthy as
possible, no matter what circumstances come her way.”
Barbara Wood
Personal Trainer: Judy Baier
