Stroke Recovery (Author Interview)




Stroke Recovery looks like a fantastic book on the aftermath of a stroke.  What type of readers are you targeting with the book?
I wrote the book to target two types of readers. One, specifically to help stroke survivors and their families/caregivers gain more knowledge about the body as well as covering as many challenges with recovery that they may face. After speaking to, training and being contacted by survivors from all over the world asking for help and guidance, it has been made clear to me that thousands of stroke survivors are trying to gain better recovery after their therapy has ended, but they don’t know where to or what to do. They have experience fitness professionals that have no knowledge or experience with stroke survivors. Two, I want to reach fitness professionals as well, so they can gain knowledge from my book to help them better help guide a survivor into a stronger recovery. I feel if professional limit their knowledge, they limit the outcome of a survivor’s recovery. I don’t feel that is fair.

What do you think makes a great educational book? I think great education book brings basic and advanced knowledge of the subject the book is about as well as having a human connection to who will be reading the books, especially in an educational book such as this.

What inspired you when writing Stroke Recovery? I worked with a special stroke survivor a few years ago. It was an inspiring journey. He was not my first stroke survivor to train, but he was the first one beginning his training with me in such a fragile state. It was such a wonderful and educational experience. He understood that he had a unique case and he wanted his story shared to help other survivors to a better recovery and to give them hope. This led to my first book, “The Stroke of An Artist, The Journey of A Fitness Trainer and a Stroke Survivor”. This book has reached stroke survivors worldwide. I have been contacted by people from all over the world for help. I even had this couple travel to my city and live for a month to train with me almost every day with her 82-year-old male stroke survivor husband. They came from the New Jersey coast to the Oregon coast where I am. It was literally 3000 miles the traveled. She had had some very disappointing experiences with physical therapy and reaching out for help from fitness professionals. I was so honored they came, but if there were more professionals with knowledge and experience to help as I do, she would not have had to make such a big trip. I was also asked by medfited.org to be on their Fitness Education Advisory Board and to write a CEC course on Stroke Recovery and Exercise.  As I finished this course, I thought to myself, “This education will get to those professionals who reach out to learn, leaving the knowledge still limited to getting out.” I then decided to bring much of what I teach in the course (minus the video lectures and exercise teaching videos) to those who have had a stroke, loved ones and or their caregivers.


What are your ambitions for your writing career?  Full time?  Part-time? I work full time training my clients and own my own fitness studio, Tracy’s Personal Training, Pilates and Yoga, and I write on my off time.  I have been full time in the fitness industry for two decades.

When did you decide to become a writer? I always knew one day I would write a book on the core of the body, but the first book came about when my client in my first book was serious about his story being shared. In each book, I write I have a chapter on muscles, anatomy and functional movement to educate the reader about the body and why specific exercise and brain activity is needed for the body to heal.

When writing Stroke Recovery did anything stand out as particularly challenging?  I have so much information to share. The hardest part was trying to determine when to stop. Another challenging part for me is my back and hips were not too happy sitting a lot to write and edit. 

How did you come up with the content and ideas in Stroke Recovery?
I think this question is answered partially in other questions, but I will also add that I have had experience with survivors achieving results. I feel the body needs to build from the inside out. For example, survivors and others who struggle with walking gait, balance and stability challenges need to train from the core of their body out. The core is like a tree trunk of an apple tree. If the tree trunk is weak and hollow, the branches won’t be strong to hold many apples, therefore branches may break off of the tree can fall over, also the overall health of the tree is weak, such as in a stroke survivor or others struggling with such challenges. There much are more details of this in the book

What do you like to do when not writing?
When I am not working and writing, I walk my dog, hike, rest, eat sushi….

How can readers discover more about you and your work?
I am on the internet at www.tracyspersonaltraining.com my author website is www.tracymarkley.com Instagram www.instagram.com/motivate_healthyfit Twitter www.twitter.com/tracysfitnesshb  YouTube – Tracy L. Markley, Fitness and Author

My second book is “Tipping Toward Balance, A Fitness Trainer’s Guide to Stability and Walking”. All three of my books are available at Amazon.com and my websites. The first book is also on audio since many stroke survivors cannot read or comprehend what they have read after a stroke. This new book will also be made into an audiobook sometime this year.



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