Keeping active during the pandemic

Posted on October 29, 2020

Many of us spend our lives making plans for our retirement. For some, it means travelling far away from home to see the world. For others, it may be spending time in your garden or doing volunteer work in your community. Maybe you have plans to join a local sport group to stay active. Have you ever thought about what your retirement would look like in the middle of a pandemic? What if you could not travel the world or even travel freely within your local community?

For Bruce Tsang, a resident of the City of Markham and retiree, even a pandemic would not stop him from finding ways to stay active.

Tsang is a regular participant of the Endurance Lane Swim pay-per-play program at the Markham Pan Am Centre and has made a commitment to himself to stay active every day of the week.

We caught up with Tsang recently to find out what motivates him to walk to the Markham Pan Am Centre four days a week to swim.  He says, “after sustaining an injury in a car accident, being stuck at home during the early days of the pandemic and not being able to move around caused stiffness in my hip”.  When the City of Markham opened up the Markham Pan Am Centre for Endurance Lane Swimming as part of Stage 1 phase 2 of reopening, Tsang jumped at the opportunity and immediately signed up. He has been a regular ever since. He says, swimming at Markham Pan Am Centre is, “a reason to get out of the house, do something active and get some social interaction too!”.

Tsang fully appreciates the importance of staying healthy physically and is committed to being active for life.  For Tsang, it is important to get out of the house and do something active every day.

The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity for adults 18+ to achieve numerous mental and physical health benefits. Tsang, who stays true to these recommendations, is an inspiration for adults of all ages who are looking for ways to get active, regardless of physical capabilities.

While the Markham Pan Am Centre is primarily used for high-performance athlete training and events, we are equally proud to offer a place for the community to engage in physical activity through the City’s pay-per-play programs (Badminton, Pickleball and Endurance Lane Swimming).  These programs remain available at our facility throughout the various stages of COVID-19 reopening restrictions, in addition to high-performance athlete training. For more information or to pre-book your pay-per-play session, go to markham.ca/swimming.