Rebuilding balance, rediscovering power.

Before Goodnick

Before Goodnick, Jackie was struggling with her mobility after surgery. "I'd had a hip replacement operation earlier that year and I recovered from that okay, but obviously I lost a lot of muscle and I was a bit of a mess." One moment with her grandson brought it home. "I was looking after my grandson and he was on the floor doing a jigsaw. He said, can you help me, and I looked around and I thought, how do I get back up. I was looking at what furniture I could use to climb up, and I thought, this is ridiculous, I'm not that old, I need to do something and I need to do it now."

Her biggest fears about ageing were clear. "My biggest fear about getting older would be losing my mind, dementia, that sort of thing. I do want to be fit enough to enjoy the grandchildren." Falls were on her mind too. "I had a couple of falls and was quite concerned."

Her earlier attempts hadn't been enough. "I started doing Pilates at a local gym and I had a personal trainer for one session a week, but that's just not enough, and then the gym closed." Online was new to her, but Goodnick's long-term, progressive approach appealed. "I saw an ad on Facebook. This looked like something that would work in the long term rather than just a quick fix, and I love the idea of 20 minutes four times a week. It's perfect, isn't it?"

Getting started

Starting was refreshingly simple. "It's very simple because you don't really need anything apart from a mat to begin with, and then a couple of weights and some bands, it's nothing." The sessions were clear. "Excellent, it's excellent." And the format fit her day. "It's a bite-sized chunk. Twenty minutes doesn't take up too much of the day, and even the days when I think I don't really want to exercise, I just think, I'll do it, get it over with, it's done then."

The at-home format mattered, especially in winter. "It's brilliant, especially when it's cold and horrible and you look outside and think, I don't want to go out. It's not like a class where you're reliant on everybody else, the instructor showing up, and you've got to be there at a certain time."

What changed

After the nine-week programme, the change was hard to believe. "I just felt so much better. I couldn't believe it had only taken nine weeks to get from, my god, how do I get off the floor, to, well, that's how I get off the floor. I just stand up." One moment took her by surprise. "I was lying on the floor and I sat up and I thought, good god, I've never been able to do a sit-up, and I've just done one."

Daily life got easier and her fear of falling eased. "It just made life a lot easier. My balance now is so much better and my flexibility is so much better. I'm not so frightened of falling now, because one or two times when I have tripped I've managed to not end up on the ground." She's quietly proud. "Getting up off the floor is as simple as just getting up off the floor."

What she'd say to someone thinking about it

Jackie doesn't hesitate. "Just do it. What have you got to lose? The sooner you start, the better it is, because you're going to get fitter." Asked for one word for what Goodnick gave her, she's clear. "Balance. I'm a lot more balanced."