Sometimes exercise can save your life; a few stories from my past.

Sometimes exercise can save your life; a few stories from my past.

Exercise means many things to many people; I am still surprised by the wide range of reasons people have for them to exercise.

I often sway the pendulum towards the idea of training for life instead of just exercise. I want to illustrate the vital distinction by recounting a few stories which show how exercise is training for life.

But, first, we have to notice we have a problem and only then can we save ourselves both physically and mentally. 

As for my part in these stories, I mostly learned to listen and see how people needed my guidance. 

Listening and seeing is difficult; we want to force things; not allow them to happen as they should. 

I need to keep listening to YOU if I am to remain effective; give you the training you need, especially when injuries and mental despair threaten to derail your efforts.

Anyway, exercise can be a chore, it is often annoying, and we like to avoid it. But keep on doing it; your health depends on it.

My Coach from Hungary shared that most of our life is physical; we make decisions mainly based on our feelings, from our gut, from our intuition - all bodily sensations.

We might mull over decisions in our mind, but ultimately we decide based on our feelings. 

All physical; clearly, our body plays a significant role in our mental and emotional wellbeing.

Luckily personal wellbeing doesn’t require the pressures of Elite sports training to achieve; we don’t need to have those levels of physical fitness.

Smile.

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Over the past twenty years, I have seen some vast transformations, people pulling themselves out of an emotional pit, overcoming debilitating stress, learning something about themselves, and developing an appreciation for their bodies.

Salomie, my friend from Varsity, struggled her whole life with eating disorders, first being anorexic, then turning the tables on anorexia and gaining 60 kilograms over seven years. She had a breakthrough when we started training together. Eventually, she took up rock climbing at the University of Pretoria. She learned to appreciate her body again.

Dennis struggled with General Anxiety disorder, struggling to make it work, thinking he would lose his job due to his poor performance. Counselling helped a bit, but it wasn’t enough. We started lifting heavy weights; I still remember his words: “Dude, when I go to the gym, and I lift, I control my heart rate instead of my heart rate-controlling me.”

Archer, an excellent Rugby Player, eventually turned to Triathlons to control his Bipolar disorder. But, for a couple of years, after his Rugby career stopped, he spiralled into alcohol and developed an eating disorder. 

He managed his moods by eating and using alcohol. So we initially started training in the gym, you know, consistently and patiently until he could control himself again.

He often said, “I have to look at myself and tell myself I could control IT (my moods) until my weightlifting builds me up enough, so I can be Archer again.”

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I skipped the long list of stories about curing diabetes, recovering from strokes and heart attacks, and the one about controlling the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease without medication.

Exercise saves lives.

Encourage your family and friends to train, especially if they don’t think they can with their unique set of physical and mental limitations. We can give them accurate advice.

Coach William

P.s. I even remember some exciting stories of heartbreak, loneliness and stress from University responding to training.