I joined Fit4Life because my wife has a membership and we enjoy doing things together. I had belonged to other gyms in Madison. That's when I realized the great benefits of exercising. I found that with lifting weights I could get off the diabetes pill.

About 2 years ago, I started having pain in my left arm. At first I tried to walk through it, but it got to the point that the throbbing took all the fun out of walking. A first stress test in 2003 reveiled nothing. However a second stress test in January of 2005 found a problem. The doctor said I had a "silent" heart attack about 2 years ago!

On February 23rd, I had 5 bypasses done at Mayo and was told that my main artery was 99% blocked and the other 4 were 80% blocked. According to the doctors, the exercising I had been doing for years saved my life. The heart developed "feeler" arteries to try to do the job the main arteries were no longer doing. The doctors said the only reason I was still alive was because of exercising and not using tobacco or alcohol.

Two weeks after I returned home I started rehabilitation. My motivation was to not only get back to where I could walk once again without pain, but also to regain my upper body strength and lose several unwanted pounds.

I am well on my way to achieving this goal and am fortunate to have a fitness center so close to home that has everything I need! ...................... -Richard Fish, Jr.