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What has exercise done for you lately?

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Since returning to the club on a more regular basis now, I’ve had the opportunity to once again, stop and chat with many of our members. One member in particular stopped and chatted with me one day and the only thing I could think of saying to him after he was finished was “I wish I had a recording of what you just said”. Sometimes, something that is so obvious and makes so much sense isn’t even realized by you until someone points it out. He was kind enough to send us a brief summary of what he said to me that day so I could share it with you. Pay particular attention to the bolded type at the end.

“The day I walked in the doors at G&M Fitness I was unhealthy and unhappy. I had a resting heart rate of about 80bpm. When I spoke with Matt I had one goal in mind and that was heart health. I want to live a long life and have many years with my 2 boys and my wife. Today, a couple years later my resting heart rate is now 57bpm which falls in the category of athlete… I can tell you this: I went from unhealthy and unhappy to being stronger than I have ever been and having amazing heart health and being very happy with myself. This is not just great for me but also great for my family. My boys and my wife can see how truly happy I am…. you can be bigger and still be healthy and the key to that is definitely exercise. As Gino told me “Be the best you” and he is absolutely right.

Cool aye! We seldom think how our health, how we feel physically, emotionally, mentally can affect the other important people in our lives. Here is a prime example of how exercise can most definitely help you, but more importantly sometimes, how it can have a positive effect on others in your life.

Gino

Why are you here?

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A lot of people assume that one joins a health club to lose weight, and arguably so, for the majority, that’s correct, but truth be told, there are many other reasons for people to join a club like ours. And even if they have other reasons for joining, and there are many, weight loss usually results simply because they are more active and using up more calories than they were prior to taking up regular exercise. Regardless, here are some of the different reasons that our actual clients have joined our club and requested our assistance.

“My doctor wants me to go on high blood pressure medication and I’d like to try to avoid having to do that.” ……done.

“My doctor says I’ll be on my high blood pressure medication for the rest of my life. With your help, I’d like to prove him wrong.” ………….done.

“I’d like to try to reduce and control my high cholesterol.” …….done.

“I’d like to increase my bone density. My doctor says it’s too low.” ……..done.

“I’d like to better control my blood sugar levels and possibly reduce or eliminate my diabetes medication.” ………….done.

“I’m having a difficult time getting out of my car. I need to strengthen my legs.” …………done.

“I’d like to eliminate my back pain so I can stop taking this pain medication.” ………..done.

“I just want to get out of my house and shake this depression.” ……………done.

“I need to strengthen my legs for figure skating.” ……….done.

“I need to better my swim time. I’m a tri athlete.” ……….done.

“I want to compete in a body building contest.” …………done (several times).

“I want to be able to go up the two steps at the entrance to the Italian Hall without help so I can go dancing again.” ………..done.

“I want to be able to walk without the help of my walker.” …………….done.

“I want to be able to walk without the help of my cane.” ………………done.

“I want to be able to get up out of this wheelchair that I’ve been in for 35 years and walk on my own.”………….DONE!

So there you have it. This is what we do every day and have been for over 33 years. As you can see, it’s not all about weight loss.

Gino

Be Strong, Stay Strong

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Anyone who has listened to Matt and I speak about the benefits of strength training, already know that we are, without a doubt, convinced that consistent, effective strength training is the key to a great quality of life. If I was given a choice to live ten more great, healthy, and happy years or to live fifteen years but the last ten of those fifteen years would be in ill health, I would choose the first.

To me, (and this is just my personal opinion), quality of life is everything. That is precisely why I chose this business. Life should not be a struggle, and unfortunately, simply because people do not stay strong in their elder years, life becomes a constant struggle, when, again, in my professional opinion, it should not be. I’ve referenced before in a previous newsletter that if you visit the small towns of Italy, nestled quaintly on the side of a mountain, the elderly there are strong and they stay strong long into their later years because literally everything they do is an uphill climb! Those in their 80’s and 90’s are still physically capable of more than you may think. I’ve witnessed it first hand and it just made me happy.

Here at home, I see constant examples of people in their sixties and seventies struggling to get out of their cars, go up a flight of stairs, walk upright with good posture, even to put their socks on. It’s not their age, although they are convinced it is. It’s because they have allowed Mother Nature to do her thing quicker than is really necessary. When I see these things, all I can think to myself is, “I can fix that with strength training.”

How many personal trainers do you know that can get a man out of his wheelchair that he’s been in for 35 years and have him walk again without it? You know one….me. While his surgeons and specialists were trying to figure out what surgery would best serve him next, I looked at him and figured out what muscle strengthening and stretching would serve him best. I won.

If you consider any sport (even golf), every athlete, regardless of their sport does strength training. Sports you never expected to benefit from strength training like auto racing, golf, skiing, tennis, soccer, curling, running, basketball, and such. Why, because the benefits of strength training go far beyond making and keeping you strong.

There are many, many more benefits on a list far too long to mention them all here, but some include mental clarity and alertness, better reflexes, better balance, increased flexibility, more efficiency in your blood flow which in turn brings more oxygen to your muscles more efficiently, increased bone density, and so on.

Well, if you’re not convinced yet to take up strength training if you haven’t already, don’t worry, I’ll likely write about it again some time, it’s that important. And for those of you who I have convinced, get strong, stay strong and live your best life because you only get one.

Gino

It’s All About The “End Game”

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Most long time members think they know me well enough to know what I do for a living and what I do in my personal time. Well guess what? Nothing they assume can be further from the truth, and that’s because I’ve always valued my privacy. I’ve never been one to broadcast what I do or what I’ve done, still to this day. Despite that though, there are some things that I will share from time to time simply because I need to, to make a point.

One of the things that I occupied my personal time with over 12 years or so of my adult life was coaching. I loved to coach, especially hockey. I coached soccer, baseball and hockey. Whether it was in a Trainers position, Assistant Coach or Head Coach, I was on the coaching staff of all hockey age groups from Tyke to Midget. The reason I ‘m sharing this with you is that I truly believe that life is very similar in my view to any sport. If you think about it, and this is what I told all of my players, is that you need to be playing your best at the end of the season, not at the beginning. So, “make your mistakes now”, I’d tell them. “Go out and just play to the best of your ability and don’t be afraid that you’ll make mistakes”. “Mistakes will happen”. “We’ll correct those mistakes in practice, and by the end of the season, we will be the best we can be.”

It’s the same in life. As we grow up and become adults, we experiment, adjust, change, wander, head in one direction only to turn and try another direction, and we all make mistakes along the way.

The same can be said for our physical fitness. In most cases, we put our personal well being on the back burner for many, if not most of our adult years while we find new jobs, get married, have and raise children, etc., only to find ourselves at the end of it all, in a physical mess.

Well the good news is, you may not be able to take up soccer, or baseball, or hockey later in your adult life, but you sure as heck can take on exercise. It’s never too late for that. So if you’ve been putting off getting and keeping yourself into good physical condition, no matter what age you are, get started, because there’s no time like the present to start working on “the best you can be”.

Gino