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For a long time his life was hyperactive, his days juggling a schedule full of shifts and overshifts at his office, his children’s activities, his medical conferences, and his social obligations.
Until one of those days in 2020 that no one wanted to remember anymore, in the midst of the pandemic and confinement at home that slowed down everyone’s routine, he had that revelation that can only happen when one faces the mirror long enough to look at oneself. The glass brought back an image she did not recognize: that of an exhausted woman, very different from the inquisitive young woman she had always been. Where was Velma, always ready for anything, the first to sign up for an impromptu picnic, a tennis match, the first to offer to organize a barbecue?
It was getting to that point – being a gynecologist, she knew – that a lot of changes would start in her body, it was inevitable, it’s biology, it’s the cycle of life, the years, as the old saying goes, “they don’t come alone.”
For Velma Ruseczewski, a 56-year-old gynecologist, pausing her usual routine while going through menopause gave her the opportunity to recognize the changes her body and emotions were going through. He looks inward with the same precision as he cared for his patients in the office.
She was born in Posadas, Misiones, and came to Buenos Aires at the age of 18 to study medicine at UBA. He stayed and raised a family and today lives with his two children and dog. Detached, she organizes her life between clinical practice, academic commitments and the training routine that she sees as a pillar. Her days start early: at seven she is already on the move between consultations, training and, when appropriate, an outing with friends or attending an event.
What could have been a breaking point – as menopause still is for thousands of women who go through it alone, without information and in confusion – became for her an opportunity and she did not hesitate a moment: she was going to return to sports.
So, at the end of the pandemic, when a friend invited her to join a group of people doing triathlons, she said yes. She didn’t have to think about it much. He has known this discipline since he began training at the age of 38, but with no continuity and always interrupted by work and family obligations. “I started training and never stopped again,” Velma says. “Going out running and swimming again, after five years of not doing so, was once again facing a challenge that gave me a lot of enthusiasm,” Velma recalls. There was only one small detail to resolve…
Triathlon is an endurance sport that combines swimming, cycling and running. In this order. But ever since she was a child, Velma had been afraid of water, a fear she had partially overcome some time ago, but after many years she did not know whether it would return to the surface when it was her turn to immerse herself in open water. “If I’m afraid of water, will I be able to compete in a triathlon? What if I panic again? question.
It had happened a long time ago but the scene was still stuck in his memory. At the age of thirteen, Velma almost drowned in the sea, and this incident left her in constant fear until motherhood became stronger. “My ex-husband told me I should learn to swim in case something happened to the boys,” she recalls. With this need, he began training with the triathlon group. What was a commitment became an achievement. Jumping into the pool was difficult for him, but he overcame it quickly. The real challenge came at sea: the waves, the storms, the salt in the eyes, and the absence of limits in sight, required him not only to gain a lot of skill in swimming techniques but also emotional control. So he worked with a sports psychologist Who taught her several techniques to overcome fears: exposure simulation, breathing, and running helped her transform panic into the ability to focus. Fear did not disappear, but rather stopped paralyzing her, and today it is a driving force that pushes her, at the slightest doubt, to improve herself. When resuming training in 2021, it was essential to do it in a group: “It improves self-esteem and activates happiness hormones; in addition, one commits to it and maintains it,” he says.
Velma’s personal experience in life was translated into tangible lessons that she later applied in treating her patients and in the advice she gives to her followers on her Instagram account.. “Exercise raises endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin; helps prevent osteoporosis, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease; improves mood and reduces the risk of depression,” says the gynecologist. He adds: “Movement during menopause is not optional, but rather a medical indication, as is the case, for example, with a high blood pressure patient taking a pill for high blood pressure.”
Menopause reduces estrogen and modifies performance, but it is not an excuse for inactivity. “Evaluating hormone therapy with a specialist can be part of the plan to relieve symptoms caused by low estrogen, but it never replaces the foundation: exercise, nutrition and professional support,” the gynecologist concludes.
Its message is simple but effective: You don’t have to compete to feel the benefits of exercise, just incorporate sustained movement over time and some solid work routines.
Five years ago, Velma ventured into social networks and the result was a community of hundreds of thousands of followers. The impact of her first content led to her becoming a professional, and today Instagram outreach is part of her daily work. She shares stories of her daily life, the events she attends, advice on every topic related to women’s health, comprehensive sex education for teens, clearing up myths and false beliefs about health and sex issues, and of course, she devotes her efforts to publishing her discoveries about the benefits of exercise in menopause, which she links to her own life experience.
“Becoming an influencer was like facing water again. “Being in front of the camera was a challenge,” he recalls. Today he has more than a million and a half followers on TikTok and nearly 140,000 followers on Instagram, where he delivers his message: Health and movement are ageless.
His own experiences are transformed into content: he tells from the messages sent between members of his training group before a competition, or the scenes of training in the rain, or the faces of happiness and fatigue upon reaching the goal. Their stories encourage others to implement healthy changes in their lives.
By incorporating her personal experience into the way she works with her patients and her social community, Velma discovers that her professional activism and networking presence feed each other into a virtuous circle. Thus, today he gives talks, participates in conferences and produces content that combines clinical evidence and personal experience. His qualifications are dual: medical training and sports practice. This allows you to publish content about the importance of movement in late childbearing and menopause, and how to incorporate safe and sustainable physical activities into daily life.
“If I am healthy, my children and those around me are healthy too,” she concludes. “My role is to motivate women to take care of their health and understand that this stage of life is not the end. We can be active, happy and pain-free, regardless of age.”
“I discovered that just as I was able to swim despite my fear of water, I was also able to start giving talks, and leave the office to become a communicator,” she says. “Nothing is impossible and it is never too late to start.”
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