Shirley Manning joined Upper Valley Aquatic Center (UVAC) in 2021, after living a sedentary lifestyle for nearly ten years. We sat down with her to hear about her life, her experiences at UVAC, and her health journey that led her here. She has consistently been a top-MEP earner since adopting the MyZone activity tracking system and she credits it to helping her achieve her goals and changing her life habits.

Shirley started her journey at UVAC by doing water-physical therapy with Jo, a Physical Therapist at Advanced Physical Therapy in White River Junction. She originally began PT because of back pain and needing relief her pain that made her not want to move! She loved being in the warm pool for exercise and how the great community in the water classes with Signe’s endless energy. Since finishing physical therapy, she started a membership, and has attended all of Signe’s Splash HIIT classes 3x week. She’s improved her cardio tremendously, lost over 45 pounds in the last year, and can’t believe the milestones she’s made.

When we sat down with her, she shared that she is amazed how busy she is. She can now keep up with her 25 grandchildren! She enjoys keeping active outside of UVAC playing volleyball with her family and doing water tabata in her pool at home. She has also stopped smoking after 45 years and is three months STRONG without them!

Shirley’s story is not only incredible because of her progress, but also because of the health hardships she has faced. In 1997 taken by helicopter ambulance to the Cleveland Clinic where she was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension and given 2 years to live. At the Cleveland Clinic, they treated her with a trial drug to keep her lung pressure down, and it has been working for her ever since. She continues to lead a healthier lifestyle through the support she has received from classmates, coaches, and her family. She has improved energy levels, is breathing better, and not using her inhaler as much.

Shirley is driven by the great results she’s seen since starting her routine she is able to do things she never thought possible! Never a gym-goer, she now makes time to exercise. She also gets a big drive from the MyZone challenges, and loves seeing her name in the top spot. Shirley’s next goal includes getting her weight down 20 more lbs.

Way to go SHIRLEY!

By Carrie Borowy and Shirley Manning