My First Client
I’ll never forget how nervous I was to coach my first class. The gym I had started interning at and eventually working for, I was already a member at for about a year. This meant some of the people I was now Coaching had been going to that gym longer than me. I was so nervous and inexperienced at getting the attention and respect of a crowd, I ended up getting on to two members who were friends and older than me as though they were children for talking. It did not go well to say the least. Slowly but surely things began to improve and I adjusted my approach as I learned more and more. A few months later, on a humid as hell summer night, Wayne came into the gym and changed my life forever. I was shadowing our owner and head Coach when an older gentlemen, probably in his 60’s, using a walker, with a long grey beard and shaggy grey hair, and the most honest look of innocence and sheer curiosity on his face walked into the gym. Like an asshole, I assumed he was there to pick someone up and I quickly walked over to introduce myself and ask who he was there to see. He promptly corrected me that his wife and daughter already attend the gym but that he was there to try it out himself. Now, just to give you better context, this was a CrossFit gym, in Florida, in the middle of summer, with NO air conditioning, blasting loud music, hellish workouts taking place with people grunting, sweating, and dropping barbells. This is not your typical gym. I was so taken back by his response I had to ask again and be sure I heard him correctly and he smiled and confirmed, loud and clear, he was there to participate. His age was not the cause of my confusion, in fact, we had members older than he was, but he was obviously very dependant on this assisted walker to walk, sit, and stand. My immature coaching mind, at the time, was having trouble conceiving how in the hell he would be able to do any type of exercise let alone CrossFit. Of course I did not express any of this to him and walked over to the head Coach and owner to explain the situation. Of course, he was as shocked as I was and was too scared to put him in the regular classes fearing he would get injured, understandably.
Per my boss's request, I recommended a physical therapist or private training of some sorts but Wayne just smiled and asked if he could do private training with us, at our gym. Again, the owner had no experience of training someone with his condition and didn’t want to take on the task, but told me I could if I was up to it. HELL NO I WASN’T! I had only been coaching a few months and NEVER had a personal training client period, let alone someone who couldn’t walk without assistance. I had no clue where to even begin to try and help him, but there was something so intriguing about his undeniable determination to try, I didn’t have it in me to say no. I told him I didn’t know if I would be able to help him, but if he’s willing to try, then so am I. After asking as many questions as I could think of, I learned he used to have a physical job, in the military, and one day, he woke up with a tingle in his legs and over time it became worse and progressed into pain and eventually a physical handicap. I’m not going to lie to y’all, I was scared to death of making him worse. Surely, I did not have the knowledge or experience needed to help this man, but I had exactly 3 days to learn as much as possible before our first session together. Our first day, it took him a solid 5-7 minutes to walk across the 75 ft long gym, with his walker. We began at the basics, sitting down and standing back up, at first with assistance, slowly progressing towards doing it on his own.
I started to notice something after our first couple sessions together. At certain points when he was standing, his face and body would tense up, almost as though his body was just shocked with some horrible pain. He would grip his walker, and slowly sit down, his eyes and lips pierced together from pure agony. Once he sat down, a few seconds later, his body would slowly loosen and he would open his eyes with a big smile and say, “Ok, I’m ready now.” The first time I saw it I nearly got tears in my eyes. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not an emotional girl. I’ve broken bones and didn’t cry. I almost shed tears because I was so humbled in that moment. I can’t tell you how many times I had complained of being “sore” or bitched about something ridiculously trivial that’s actually a luxury to others. And sitting in front of me is a man whom is in constant pain, his job and physical capabilities randomly and unexplainably stripped away from him, and he’s smiling, ready for another set. In that moment, he single handedly changed my life because he gave me a different perspective.
I once heard someone say the truest sign of intelligence is one's ability to conceptualize as many different perspectives as possible. I believe that. The more we can put ourselves in other people's shoes and get past our own egos and agendas and just look at a situation through someone else's point of view, the world would be a much more peaceful place. Being able to take into consideration someone else's upbringing, age, neighborhood, school, ALL the different influences and situations they may or may not have gone through that would obviously affect their behavior and choices, just as our own has affected ours, is an essential quality for continuous personal growth in life. That is a character trait that will single handedly make you a more balanced human being. Otherwise, you’re just the self centered completely unaware douche bag who’s thinking about their “soreness” in front of a guy who can’t walk without assistance. I’m not going to lie, in the beginning I was terrified to train Wayne, scared I didn’t possess the abilities to actually help him. My inability to believe in myself was projected outward onto him, but his undeniable belief in himself, created a fire inside me to see him succeed. And when he actually began to make improvements, I began believing in myself. After a few months of training, the guy who could not even walk without the assistance of crutches or a walker, could not only walk on his own; he could squat down and stand up with no assistance, he could push a 50 lbs sled across a parking lot, but most importantly, he was feeling better. He had more energy and overall felt physically better, his pain had subsided, his quality of life had improved. Don’t get me wrong, he was not cured, but he was better!
I’ve never felt such a high in my entire life. On the surface it all seems so simple, he’s just a guy showing up for training, and I am just a coach who has figured out a progression he can follow to take him from point A to point B. The beauty of my job is in the details, the conversations between sets, the lessons and knowledge they think they’re paying me for but really they end up teaching me just as much if not more. The perspective I gained from my time training Wayne, I should pay him back 100x more than what he paid for my Coaching. That’s not an exaggeration either. I’ll explain why. I have been Coaching 7 years and in that time I have trained some very fortunate people. By fortunate I mean people who are physically capable, athletically gifted, drive brand new cars, live in million dollar homes, and have lots of opportunity afforded to them. I am not suggesting this is a bad thing, it’s just an important part of the wisdom Wayne imparted on me. Wayne literally had every reason in the world to complain, to half ass his training, to show up late or call out of his sessions. However, he never missed a session he didn’t reschedule way before hand. He always showed up early with a smile on his face and would even stay late if he didn’t complete the workout I wrote for him in the allotted time of our session. He dealt with constant physical pain, he was not financially wealthy by any means and I am sure was buried in medical bills that were continuing to pile up. Yet he always expressed gratitude for what he did have. His focus was never on the past or what he used to be capable of and now is not. In fact, the only time he even talked about the past is when I asked about it. He was completely focused on the moment and continuing to improve in any way he could. On the other hand, I would have other clients pull up to the gym in eighty thousand dollar vehicles, and when you ask them how their morning is so far, they respond with some complaint of the hot weather or lack of sleep from the night before. Which I am 110% guilty of myself! Trust me when I tell you, no one used to be less grateful or more of a depressive complainer than myself. I am not judging, I am simply making an observation. Now, thanks to Wayne, I can see the absurdity in my own negative thinking and when I am about to complain I catch myself sooner and shift my focus on being grateful for how much I have rather than fixated on what I don’t have or used to have. Wayne changed my life for the better by giving me a different perspective to view the world with. I can only hope to deal with adversity as gracefully as Wayne has and continues to do on a daily basis. I wish the same for all of you.
Health is Happiness
Coach Karli