After 26 heart surgeries in 54 months, Norma Wilson was certain she needed to exercise to get her life back.
"I knew that I should exercise but I just couldn't make myself do it," said Wilson, 74.
She also knew there had to be others like her, people who were going through physical therapy, recovering from surgeries and injuries or dealing with ailments such as arthritis.
One day, she said, she was just fed up with not exercising and the lack of programs for people in her position.
Wilson, who was president of the Women's Club of Frankfort at the time, approached its members about creating a fitness plan. After the club agreed, Wilson said she was able to get help from the Franklin County Health Department, Fit Time for Women, Body Recall, ProActive Therapy and Cable 10. The organization formed the HOPE (Helping Other People Exercise) Coalition.
The Coalition has videotaped workout routines that air on Cable 10 6 p.m. Tuesdays and 8 a.m. Wednesdays, Wilson said. She said the routines vary each week with some focusing on ailments such as arthritis and others on total body workouts.
Episodes of the workout routines began airing in the fall; some were filmed in the Cable 10 studio, others at Fit Time for Women. There are a series of 10 workouts for Body Recall and 10-12 workouts specific to arthritis sufferers.
Lisa Walls, program instructor for the Arthritis Foundation, leads a workout class for those with arthritis. The class is like the ones airing on Cable 10 at Fit Time for Women.
Walls said the classes cover a range of motion, flexibility and movement because those types of exercises benefit people with arthritis.
"We just encourage people to work at their own pace," Walls said. "Some people start here and move up to a more challenging class."
She said those who frequently follow the routine see improvements within three or four weeks.
Priscilla Barnes, 75, attends Walls' class; she is also featured in some of the routines airing on Cable 10.
"This keeps me moving," she said. "It's fun to get with other people."
Barnes said she has been recognized by those who have seen the workout program on Cable 10 and says she's been participating in exercises combating arthritis for more than two years.
"I figure as long as I am able to get out I'm going to do it," she said.
Tom Robertson, executive director of Body Recall, which is based in Berea, said Wilson asked him to create a routine for the HOPE Coalition.
"We worked putting together programs to help educate and encourage seniors and shut-ins to get involved in exercise or movement," Robertson said. "Movement itself increases the quality of life of people."
The Body Recall program is not ailment-specific, but focuses on a total program of movement working joints and core muscles, Robertson said.
Another aspect of the Coalition is the emphasis on physical therapy as a means to help get individuals moving.
Art Nitz, a physical therapist with ProActive Therapy, said specific exercises for those recovering from injuries or surgery is crucial.
"It (physical therapy) helps injured tissue to heal better to move," he said.
Better movement allows for more exercise, which leads to better sleep, a general sense of well being and the ability to participate in leisure activities such as golf, Nitz said.
While the exercises are specific to older and injured individuals, Wilson says anyone can benefit from practicing the routines.
"They start out general enough anybody can participate," she said.
Wilson says the program, if it catches on, has the power to change the health of the community for the better.
"What we want is people in Franklin County exercising and recapturing their health," she said.