Wednesday 28 July 2010

Great Uncle Harry strikes again

Great Uncle Harry ended up being an inspiration again today. You remember him? 92 (yep he's had a birthday since Gym Ninja last mentioned him) and keeps himself active by twice daily completing a 3 mile walk up the Malvern Hills and also daily calisthenic exercises he learned when in the Army.

Well Gym Ninja had a few clients to train today and rocked up to the private studio half an hour early to find two maintenance men and a male cleaner in the gym. Gym Ninja had met the maintenance men before as she'd found an air bubble in the flooring and this had then entailed them ripping up half the studio floor to fix it!  The male cleaner was introduced to Gym Ninja-let us call him Dave.

"You should come and train with me one day" Suggested Gym Ninja to Dave.

Dave screwed his face up and shook his head, before explaining that gyms weren't his 'scene'.

"My brother does that and he's a triangle shape" He said, referring to the V Taper that often shows on a male physique.  "I don't like that!"

Gym Ninja then decided to explain to Dave about training styles and how there are different ways of training for different shapes. Gym Ninja then used the European Athletics as an illustration...

"See the shape of the shot putter? And the marathon runner and the sprinter? They all have different physiques and they all train differently to suit their sport. So you can choose how to train to reflect how you look."

Dave nodded.

"Is there nothing you enjoy outside of the gym? You don't HAVE To exercise inside a gym you know." Continued Gym Ninja.

Dave thought & then said "Boxing".

"I did boxing a few times when I was thinner and some guy who was a pro boxer saw me and said that I had potential. That affected me as nobody has ever said I had potential before but I never tried it again. I'm too old now".

He gave a wry smile.

"You should do it!" Said Gym Ninja enthusiastically. "Look, feeling how you do isn't an inevitable part of aging, it's down to use. If you had a car and left it parked up for years then it'd struggle to start and have all sorts of running issues. If you drove it daily it'd run fine. The body is the same. If you rest, you rust!"

Then followed Gym Ninja's story about Great Uncle Harry being 92 and very active and sprightly due to his 6 miles a day  hill walks.  Dave stood there, open mouthed.

Then, he said something that even Gym Ninja hadn't anticipated.

"That's it! I WILL do boxing again! I know I don't know your Great Uncle but I want to be like him. Thank yoU SO much for that. I'm going to start boxing again" And with that, off he went, a big smile on his face.

HOW amazing is that?

It is THAT buzz when you see a person get fired up about being active that makes it exciting for a PT. That is why Personal Trainers help people. Knowing the adventure that is about to begin and how positive that person will soon feel makes it  just as exciting for the Personal Trainer as it is for the individual.

Gym Ninja will keep you all informed about Dave....

Gym Ninja x