After a lifetime of being on her feet as a hospital nurse, many could have forgiven Beverley Porter for a quiet retirement. However, 13 years since she hung up her scrubs, she’s still climbing over 100 floors on the Stairmaster at Anytime Fitness Orpington four days a week.

Beverley has been keeping active ever since her retirement and joined Anytime Fitness Orpington four years ago. As someone who likes to be on her feet, she’ll only go for a walk if she knows she can reach 10,000 steps and is determined to stay active to keep as healthy as she can, for as long as she can.

“I’ve been going to the gym ever since I retired and I’m committed to keeping myself healthy,” said Beverley. “It’s a lovely gym at Anytime Fitness Orpington and the staff there have been fantastic ever since I signed up four years ago.

“Before the first lockdown, I would always stay in the gym for 2-3 hours and have a target of burning 1,000 calories. The Stairmaster is the piece of equipment you’ll find me on the most. I started off by doing five minutes and kept increasing that time, working harder each visit. I can now do 121 floors which is the equivalent of climbing the Eifel Tower!”

Aside from a brief time out due to a back operation, the first lockdown was the first time that Beverley wasn’t able to go to the gym. However, this didn’t stop her by any means and once the restrictions were eased to allow unlimited exercise outdoors, Beverley was walking up to seven miles a day to keep active.

When gyms were permitted to reopen in July, Anytime Fitness introduced a number of additional safety measures to keep its members and staff safe. One of these measures was a Gym Reservation System, requiring members to book their gym visits in advance and being limited to just an hour. With Beverley traditionally being in there for up to three times that duration, it was a challenge she easily adapted to.