For decades, the Shorewood Recreation Department has been offering health and wellness opportunities for community members. While patrons have mainly used the facilities for preventative health measures, members also use them for rehabilitation and recovery.
One such resident is Michael Mishlove, who suffered a minor stroke last year that caused some paralysis to the left side of his body. After stays at the hospital and a rehab facility, Mishlove was encouraged by his family to start using the Shorewood High School pool.
“The first time I got in the pool took strenuous effort,” Mishlove says. “I couldn’t even get down the ladder without help, but I will never forget the feeling when my body hit the water. The buoyancy of the water held me up and I was so blown away with joy. It felt so liberating that I could move around without a cane.”
Mishlove started with simple exercises like walking back and forth across the pool or hopping on one foot, and with time graduated to regular swimming.
“The amount of miles I have walked in this pool…it has been absolutely instrumental in changing my life,” he says. “The camaraderie and friendships I’ve developed in the shallow end of the pool, it’s just beautiful. I am especially grateful to Perry Perkins and Bill Haury for their support and for recently encouraging me to pursue lifeguarding certification (through the Rec Department’s Senior Lifeguarding course)”
Another long-time Shorewood resident and fitness center member, 80-year-old Barbara Weber, is also grateful for support from the Recreation Department over the years. While she mainly uses the facilities to stay proactive about her health, she’s experienced minor injuries that have been remedied through personal training sessions at the Shorewood Community Fitness Center.
“Exercise has always been important to me because it not only helps my body, it helps my mind,” Weber says. “I started personal training, though, because I was stumbling a lot and dealing with some balance issues. I also had some tendonitis. When my trainer taught me how to strengthen my core and how to use my rhomboid muscles, it opened up a whole new world. I had been doing the exercises all wrong, but now I am completely aware of how I’m holding my body and what I need to do. And the friendly, knowledgeable staff cannot be matched.”
A recent partnership with local business Crux Chiropractic has elevated the fitness center’s personal training services even further.
“Empowering by guiding healthy movement is a major pillar of our care at Crux and the exact reason we love partnering with the Shorewood Community Fitness Center,” says Stephen Sherman, Crux’s owner and a chiropractor. Crux has held healthy movement classes for members to promote back health, improve balance and increase strength, and also taught staff about the best ways to onboard new fitness clients and those starting personal training. “When your trainer knows how to challenge you safely and at an appropriate level, you find the sweet spot where improvement happens. When I refer patients to the fitness center, I know that they will be provided with great guidance and a positive experience with movement.”
For more information on the Shorewood Recreation Department and Shorewood Community Fitness Center, visit shorewoodrecreation.org.
[Photo by Patrick Manning; published in Shorewood Today]