Page 30 - Senior Link Magazine Winter 2018- Online Magazine

HONORING SENIORS
Norman Orr
Loving Life at 83
by Deborah Bahme and Jennifer Gray
orman Orr gets up every
day and demonstrates
Nwhat it looks like to be 83
years young. A Lubbock resident
since 1990 and a retired technical
writing instructor at Texas Tech
since 2001, Norman grew up on
a farm in Ridgley, Tennessee. He
played high school football and was
always physically active, but in 1978,
he began working a desk job at the
Veterans’ Administration, leading
to a more sedentary lifestyle. One
day, as he was carrying a bag of
fertilizer up a hill in his backyard,
Norman became winded and
out-of-breath. This served as the
wakeup call that he needed to get
himself into better physical shape.
So, Norman decided to purchase a
jump rope. This started him on the
road to physical fitness and led to a
30 Lubbock Senior Link
healthier lifestyle. He exercised
with the jump rope for several
years, but when he was 65, he
began having shoulder issues.
This pushed him to the decision
to join a gym, where he quickly
became interested in cycling Norman has a wife, Betty, two
classes. daughters, one son, two grandchildren
and one great-granddaughter.
Norman joined a local gym
in 2007 and has attended spin
classes seven days a week for
the last 11 years. He easily on their bikes throughout the class.
keeps up with other members half Norman begins each day with two
his age – and younger! “Spinning” hours of strengthening exercise, then
is an indoor cycling class set to hops on a spin bike for an hour-long
upbeat music that focuses on class. Some days he even attends
increasing lower body strength and two classes and always shows up for
cardiovascular endurance. Class the special 90-minute classes when
participants are led through a offered! For the last seven years,
variety of terrains - hills, climbs, and Norman has taught a spin class on
flats – by adjusting a resistance knob his birthday. This requires him to
select music, create choreography,
and plan out an entire hour of
different intervals to accompany the
music. His favorite part of teaching
the class is creating a “ride” that
mimics an outdoor bicycle race that
is uninterrupted and that challenges
endurance. Many gym members
and spin class friends look forward
to attending Norman’s birthday
class each year!
Norman also enjoys cycling
outdoors. He used to ride his bike
to the gym; however, after being hit
twice by vehicles, he decided to limit
his outdoor riding! This hasn’t kept