The Mind is Where Real Change Begins Part IV - Wildman's 1,000 Reps

I'm in my thirties and I don't think I've missed more than three consecutive days in the gym since I began lifting at 15.

The 50-year-old surgeon who I train and mentioned earlier in this blog, gets it too. He's typically running seven miles before the sun comes up, does about a half dozen surgeries during the day and is back in the gym going “balls to the wall” lifting weights from 7 to 8 pm.

He gets it.

But as the universe typically does, I was recently turned on to an even more inspiring story. The mind is where real change begins and nobody exemplifies that more than the guy known as Don Wildman. A good friend showed me an article in Esquire magazine written by Susan Casey.

http://www.esquire.com/print-this/don-wildman-0508

If you’re looking for inspiration, look no further. Having trouble waking up and getting to the gym or finding your way to the bike path after work, please read his story.

Wildman is 75 years old, hangs out with surfers and pro athletes half his age and can kick the sh*t out of most of them when it comes to anything physical. Why? It’s in his head. His mind doesn’t allow him to fail, to complain, to worry. He simply does.

“If the brain stays young, you’ll stay young,” he says. What a simple but amazing philosophy!

I know at times this blog of mine has come off like some type of rant by a Marine Sergeant, like I’m some nut who has no compassion for the inexperienced or frail, but that simply isn’t true. Each of you reading this has that second gear inside of you. Another level of courage, pain and optimism that you have yet to tap into.

Just the other day a female client was accusing me of having no feelings, of being mean. But I explained I needed to condition her to get to the next level. Obviously whatever she was doing prior to hiring me was not working. People hire personal trainers because they either (A) do not know what to do or (B) cannot motivate themselves to do it.

The brain is an amazing tool, one which you can condition to accomplish anything. At first it appears as if your body absolutely has physical limitations, but does it really or are those limits placed there by the brain. Simply look at the Scott Rigsby story on MyFitnessChannel about Ironman Scott Rigsby. (h ttp://myfitnesschannel.com/THINK-IT) He finished the Hawaiian Ironman as a double amputee.

Much like Rigsby, Wildman is defying odds, defying his body. So when you find it hard to rep out another set of squats or go an extra 10 minutes on the stairs, think of the 75-year old who does 1,000 reps in a workout without rest or the double amputee who had to empty cups of blood out of his prosthetics every couple miles just to finish his race.

They are no different than you, and they’ll be the first to tell you that. They have simply mastered their mind to overcome limitations.

Get inspired!