On Saturday I was down in Tramore Kettlebell Fitness using my Anatomy in Motion training to help out several of gym owner Gan Power’s clients.
Over the day I learned a good deal from the various bodies as I assisted them to better movement and hopefully pain free performance.
But one guy stood out.
By far the quietest and oldest guy in the group.
When it came to his turn to be assessed I asked him about his injury history. He wasn’t very forthcoming, he didn’t think he had much wrong at all.
Except a bit of shoulder pain from time to time. But that went away when he warmed it up. He then lifted his arm demonstrating what looked to me like a very uncomfortable and restricted action.
But, “it gets better when I warm it up”
Then he told me that he’d “Broken a knee, but it never bother me” he told me this in the same manner you’d tell someone that you’d just crossed a road or something equally banal.
And then he dropped the clincher. He casually told me how he “used to have arthritis”
“used to have”
When was the last time you heard someone talk about arthritis in the past tense?
He said it may flare up in various places as Rheumatoid Arthritis is prone to, but only in times of stress. But it never bothered him.
When I asked about how he beat it, he simply said, “I changed my diet” and left it at that.
On further questioning about the shoulder he thought back to how it may have happened back when he was in a pretty bad car accident.
So in front of me I had an older gentleman, quiet and unassuming yet talking about how he beat arthritis, survived a car crash and broke his knee as if they were nothing. Minor inconveniences of a day gone by.
I figured this history would leave discernible evidence in his movement assessment. But no, he moved well. Better than many with almost no injury.
I helped him improve what he has but was left scratching my head by this seemingly indestructible older guy.
His attitude is the reason he’s healthy. He takes personal responsibility for himself and his health, which is probably why he’s in such good nick.
He demonstrates an attitude that is dying in the modern world. He doesn’t sit feeling sorry for himself, probably couldn’t give a shit about what people think of him and I dare say wouldn’t know an emoticon if it punched him in the face.
He’s old school. A gentleman and a dying breed.
I challenge you to be more like him, I know I’ll be watching myself a little more closely.
Will you?
Regards
Dave Hedges www.Wg-Fit.com