BodyForTheAges.org Blog

Weight training is more art than science.  Aerobics is no more than putting one foot in front of the other to make certain you don’t fall on your face.  To ensure maximum exposure to the art of building a body of your dreams, change trainers periodically.  No one trainer has all the knowledge of the sport’s infinite number of techniques.

Having been active in the field of medicine for a third of a century, I can tell you the art of weight training is not commonly known to medical professionals.  To exacerbate the problem, most know not, that they know not.

If you are rehabilitating from a medical condition or physical injury, consider the following.  You are not interested so much in how a muscle works, but how to work the muscle.  At BackPax (”peaceful backs” in Latin) Medical Center, the medically-oriented back rehabilitation clinic I founded, we gave up on physical therapists and instead hired registered nurses and nurse practitioners.  Not only were these nurse professionals more open to creative ideas about rehabilitation, they were generally more involved in their own back health and general fitness programs.

The nursing profession couldn’t be better represented by anyone other than my colleague, best friend, tower of power, and wife, Sophie “Super Soph” Taggart…Ms. America, Ms. World and Ms. Universe.  I think if you looked up “commitment” in the dictionary you would see her picture.  Yeah, I’m biased, but the credentials and the body warrants it.  Actually, “Super Soph” is a step above the level of a registered nurse, as she is a registered nurse practitioner.  The latter in many cases can prescribe drugs and diagnose medical problems, just like a licensed medical doctor, while the more common registered nurse does not have those options.

The typical physical therapists’ inherent deficiency, besides not knowing the art of the game, was that they wanted to control you, rather than train you.  This is a sensitive area with me.  When I scanned client results at BackPax I found, without exception, that individuals who were allowed to take responsibility for their own rehabilitation garnered infinitely superior results.

For some inexplicable reason, in my vast travels from one gym to another throughout the world, rarely do I see registered physical therapists as members, but the gyms always seem to be loaded with registered nurses and nurse practitioners

Some credentialed exercise physiologists and kinesiologists in licensed medical environments are quite knowledgeable about rehabilitation through weight-resistance training, but currently their work in this field is not routinely reimbursed by insurance companies.  They are frequently regulated to monitoring treadmill stress tests, while weight-resistance training authority reverts back to the ill trained physical therapist.  Nevertheless, given the option, I would choose an exercise physiologist or a kinesiologist with weight-resistance training experience over a physical therapist or medical doctor any day.

The best personal trainers are those that are independent business professionals (not employed) in the gyms, and the best personal coaches are likewise independent contractors in fitness-oriented health centers, not the hospitals.  Period.  End of report. Many personal trainers are not even college graduates, but a lot of them are so dedicated they have taken any one of a host of available educational weight-resistance training programs and become certified trainers.  A registered physical therapist degree or a medical shingle hung on an office wall does not represent a person qualified to teach the art of weight-resistance training.  I can’t say it with enough emphasis: If you are a stabilized heart rehab patient, and are allowed to exercise, get out of the hospital rehab center as fast as you are medically able. (Note: I emphasize only if you are a stabilized heart patient).

Find yourself, a personal trainer, or personal coach, and turn your rehabilitation into a fun wellness lifestyle…and yes, even an anti-aging lifestyle.  Stop feeling sorry for yourself.  Don’t think you are going to find a medical professional who will solve your rehab problem, once you have stabilized from surgery.  Don’t think the solution is only a prescription for a drug.  Don’t think of every breath as your last.  Ultimately, we all have a last breath.  Move on.  Get yourself a personal trainer, or preferably the more broad-based, multi-faceted personal coach, who knows the art even better than the science of weight-resistance training, and who will coach and encourage you. Understand results are your responsibility and involve your practicing the Total Commitment Motivational, Wellness Philosophy, then you will experience a real anti-aging, rejuvenating lifestyle.

Work was loong. At five o’clock, with the beginnings of a headache nudging behind my eyes, all I could think about was going home, putting my feet up, and vegging out.

But… I had Pax Beale’s workout schedule in front of me. My first, since joining the Body for the Ages Online Wellness Program. It was time to learn what it meant to be a Member of Team Body for the Ages.

I checked over the personal email I’d received from Pax, noting how amazingly in-tune he was, regarding my wellness needs. He was warm and encouraging, yet just strict enough to keep me heading for the gym, rather than making a bee-line for home.

Pax had strongly suggested that I print out the personal workout schedule he’d sent, and bring it with me to the gym, as a guide. “Consistency,” wrote Pax, “is key. You probably wake up at the same time day. You probably eat lunch at the same time every day. It’s important to work out at the same time every day, as well. This way, you train your body, and you “trick” your subconscious into believing that no day is complete without a workout at its normal time.”

So, with my guide in hand, I entered the Body for the Ages Health Studio. I had no idea what I was doing.

But guess what — I made it through. I followed my workout schedule. I sweated and breathed and laughed and at one point I had to sit down and rest… (”Baby steps!” Pax had written in his email, advice that echoed in my head as I got ready to begin again.)

Halfway through my workout, I noticed something wonderful: I could feel my muscles. All of them, it seemed. I was stretching, bending, straining, relaxing muscles that felt like they hadn’t been used in years, and it felt so good to be conscious of my body. Sometimes we forget what a wonderful machine it is.

When I’d finished the workout, two things struck me:

1. My headache had vanished.

2. Though I’d been dreading visiting the gym, because of my long work day and lack of energy, I was suddenly filled with energy. My visions of going home to vegg out had vanished along with my headache.

I walked out the door, and into the sunshine, wondering what I’d do with the rest of my day.