I'm 68 and hired a personal trainer because I've always hated working out. For the first time ever, I feel great and am making progress.

• Although I've never enjoyed working out, I started going to the gym regularly in my late 60s.
• With the help of my personal trainer, I've built muscle and feel better than ever.
• To my surprise, I even discovered that many of the members at my local gym are my age or older.

As a kid, I hated gym class and lived with my nose in a book. While my classmates were playing hockey or soccer, I was in the library on my way to becoming a writer.

Over the years, I occasionally visited the gym with my wife who loves working out, but I never really embraced fitness until recently.

Exercise is important at any age, but this is especially true for older adults. After all, working out can prevent or delay age-related health issues. With this in mind, I decided to make a change.

Now, at 68, I've fallen in love with working out, thanks to my personal trainer. Here's what starting my fitness journey later in life has been like.

My personal trainer helped me feel comfortable in the gym, a place where I never felt at home

I work with my trainer, Neil, every week. Having a trainer makes a difference for someone my age because he can help me adjust my posture and movement, and help me avoid injuries. Because I don't have a background in sports or fitness, I need that guidance.

When I first started working out, I faced that initial hump of feeling self-conscious and embarrassed. But meeting with Neil helped to eliminate a lot of that. He started me off with exercises that were right for me and discouraged me from trying out whatever fad workout I'd seen on social media.

I found that my progress was faster and safer because I was being guided. Neil explained that his job was to make sure I was doing the correct things to meet my specific needs. I started out slow because I wasn't very fit and wanted to avoid injuring myself.

I've seen a change in my body

Seeing and feeling my body change has been a huge confidence booster. After the first few weeks of working with Neil, I could feel progress.

I realized that climbing stairs was becoming easier, and many of my long-standing aches were starting to disappear. I enjoyed the sense of pride I felt as I moved from five to 10, and then 20-pound dumbbells.

I even had a stop-dead-in-my-tracks moment when I realized many of my shirts no longer fit me. I thought they had shrunk somehow, but in reality, the shirts were too small because my shoulder and arm muscles had grown so much larger.

For the first time in my life, I feel comfortable working out — and comfortable with my body

In addition to working with Neil, I was also comforted by the fact that many of the members at my local gym were my age or older. Even though I aspire to be like the young, buff gym users, it's nice to know there are other people my age with similar goals.

They understand that at 60 or 70 years old, our muscles react differently and it may take longer for us to see progress. Beyond that, though, I love seeing other older people working on their fitness, and I can measure my own progress by what I see in them.

Overall, there are days where my muscles are sore and I know I overdid things. But I also know the aches will disappear in a day or two, and when I'm back in the gym, I'll be lifting more and stretching further than I was before.

Most importantly, though, is that for the first time in my life, I feel comfortable with my body — with exercising and building it, and being part of a gym community that used to terrify me.