The Bad News about the Olympics is that this week there were so many inspiring stories, I didn't know where to start.
Jason Lezak's anchor of the men's 4 X 100 relay. At age 32 he is the oldest man on the U.S. swim team. Yet he swam the fastest split in a 100 free ever recorded. While many things stood out in his interviews, one thing in particular stood out the most. He said, "I'm not going to give up. This is doable."
Next I was reading about Sheila Taormina who at the age of 39 is the first American to compete in the Olympic Games in three different sports. In 1996 it was in swimming, then the triathlon in 2000 and 2004 and now in 2008 in the pentathlon.
Sheila recalled a story about reaching out to a young swimmer who experienced altitude sickness during a national swim camp at the Olympic Training Center. Sheila was a guest coach and reached out to the young girl in kindness when other coaches were ignoring her pain. It turned out that this young girl was breast-stroker, Megan Jendrick, now competing in Beijing.
Then Michael Phelps tied Mark Spitz's record of 7 gold medals in one Olympic games. Wow. What a feat. And when you dive into (no pun intended) Michael's history, you can see why he achieved his goal. From the age of 12 -17, Michael never once missed a practice. Talk about dedication...how many people can say that... about anything?
He also talked about rest and recovery. Feeding your body. And using the nay-sayers quotes as extra motivation.
And I can not forget Dara Torres. Who at the time of this writing is seeded first for the 50 free and has already won a silver medal at the age of 41.
Two things Dara said struck me. She said as an older athlete she trains different...as her recovery time is slower, she concentrates more on her core muscles. She also said, "Don't put an age limit on your dreams..."
So with so much good stuff I couldn't pick just one. And that means good news for you. To summarize, I will leave you with this:
- Don't give up. Whatever your fitness goal is...it is doable.
- Don't push your body so hard every workout that it gives out. Remember to give your body time for rest and recovery.
- Use the nay-sayer's comments as fuel to reach your goals.
- Concentrate on your core muscles
- Don't put an age limit on your fitness goals
- And last but not least, know that I am reaching out to all of you Baby Boomers who are experiencing pain. Send me your questions so I can help you get back in the game by posting your question to me at http://www.mikeryanfitness.com/faq.php or if you don't have a specific question, let me know your biggest concerns, aches and pains with regards to fitness.
With Healthy Regards,
Mike Ryan PT,
ATC, PES
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