“Exercise is good for body and spirit”

TREVISO – ninetyanndo not hear them. Enough to grind kilometers and kilometers every week on the stationary bike or treadmill. Gym at least four times a week, «and if I can even five» he specifies Antonietta Zardetto Pietribiasi, who has been a regular visitor to the De Ferrari gym in Treviso for almost forty years. «I started doing gymnastics when I was 45 – says Zardetto Pietribiasi -; At first I did bodyweight classes. Then, when you opened the De Ferrari gym, I signed up and never changed again ».

SOCIAL RELATIONS

In the gym Antonietta has also had the opportunity to create many solid friendships, some of which still last today. «It was nice when the gym was still small and you always met the same people – recalls the woman – and sometimes, once or twice a month, we also organized ourselves to go out for dinner. Things have changed a bit now.” If many elderly people today prefer not to go to gyms, part of the blame lies with covid. An environment whose image is defined by people close to each other who puff and sweat has certainly not helped these businesses in their post-pandemic recovery. But Antonietta certainly doesn’t let herself be stopped by unfounded fears and she continues to go to the gym regularlywithout ever missing a workout. «There is no one my age anymore and many other elderly customers have also fled frightened by the covid – Antonietta confirms – but I don’t care. There gym is good for me and I want to be autonomous until the end. Imagining someone having to feed me or even wash me makes me shiver. I want to die standing up.”

IN GREAT SHAPE

And with strength and determination Antonietta pursues her desire for health and well-being, despite some ailments, a natural consequence of an age which, in her case, seems to be just a number. «I feel lucky. Last time I had blood tests all values ​​were fine. Of course, I can’t do some exercises, on the other hand I also have a knee prosthesis and a thinned meniscus. But just listen to the instructions of the coaches, and everyone can find a way to keep moving». At De Ferrari Antonietta can count on everyone’s care and attention. «Certainly going to the gym is good in every sense – admits Zardetto Pietribiasi -, even for the soul. When I decided to start training, I did it because I was in a state of great desperation and I needed to let off steam in some way». Antonietta had to endure the tragedy of two very serious bereavements that occurred within a short distance of each other: the death of her husband which, two months later, was followed by the disappearance of her eldest son, who passed away due to a road accident. Left alone with her eighteen-year-old daughter, she decided that her life had to be faced anyway and her response was found, at least in part, in physical exercise. «Everything collapsed for me. I arrived in Treviso from Rome when I was 22 and got married. Suddenly I found myself alone with a daughter. Working hard has helped me keep my mind busy. Life went on and the mother became a good example for her daughter too. «She is now 63 years old and she trains a lot more than me – Antonietta jokes – as everyone should do. Don’t end up like my brother-in-law – she jokes – who stays on the sofa all day and takes the car even just to drive a few hundred meters ».

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