Cranky Curmudgeon No More!

Categories: Uncategorized Mar 30, 2014

...And now, a guest post by Sarah Young, an Original Strength Specialist...

In the last few years, I've had a bit of a falling out with my body. It decided, for some reason, to begin behaving like a cranky curmudgeon. It started sending me curt messages in the form of aches and pain and stiffness. I wanted to approach life with the youthful exuberance of Tigger, and my body kept acting like Eeyore on a extra bad day. I tried to be nice to it and feed it good food, get it massaged and adjusted, and nourish it with movement; running, yoga, corrective exercises, foam rolling, you name it. But the crankster just kept saying, "Woe is me."

Now, I could have given my body a pass and blamed its ill manners on age. I mean, after over 50+ years on this planet, that's allowed, right? And I had no shortage of people saying that aches and pains just come with age, that the body just falls apart over time. After listening to enough people, I started to feel like a cheap toaster oven that was designed with obsolescence in mind. I didn't like that. I didn't want to buy into that kind of thinking.

So in order to get back on good terms with my body, I searched for new systems of movement. I looked into several systems and tried a few. The problem was none of the programs met me where I was at, met my body where it was at. None offered me a point of entry. After several decades of stupid moves on my part and stupid moves on the part of others, my body needed something that could remind it of a time before it was abused by stupidity (yep, stupid oughta hurt and it eventually does). I needed something to take it back to a time before I did stupid exercises, trained when I was hurt, bought into the "no pain, no gain" approach, and listened to trainers, coaches, friends who practiced said approach, and sat too much.

Looking back I realize my body was just trying to be helpful, finding new ways to keep me going. It developed compensation patterns that were often dysfunctional ('dirty compensations'). Ahh, if I only knew then what I know now. Being O-L-D was not my issue: my body just needed to be reminded of how it was made to move before all the stupidity, and I needed to listen to it. Then a friend of mine (thanks Gabe!) told me about something called “Original Strength.” I checked it out and decided to attend a workshop.

To be honest, attending my first Original Strength workshop was a bit intimidating. It was held at the Burr Ridge Kettlebell Club near Chicago, and it was me and about fourteen other individuals who all looked to be crazy strong and ridiculously fit (hmmmm... one thing doesn't resemble the others...). I will also add, that I had at least 15+ years on most everyone there. So yes, I was intimidated, but I decided I wouldn't let 'em see me sweat.

And here's more honesty. Geoff Neupert and Tim Anderson, originators of the program, did an awesome job of explaining the Original Strength System. They also did a wonderful job of demonstrating and explaining the resets, progressions, and regressions, and why each was important. When we practiced the OS drills, Geoff and Tim did a great job of cuing less and letting each of us find our own way. Everyone was encouraging and I never felt self-conscious. Everyone had issues ('dirty compensations'), and the OS resets—which are very simple movement patterns-- were both exposing the 'dirty compensations' and cleaning them up at the same time, bit by bit. By the end of the first day, my neck and shoulders were sore but my body felt more connected and grounded than it had in a really long time.

My cranky body was now in the cautiously optimistic mode. And when I woke the next day still feeling grounded and connected with no aches or pain, I think my body decided to start being friends with me again. And I know I still have a whole bunch of stupid to make amends for. My friendship with my body, like any good relationship, will grow stronger with respect and good communication. My way of respecting my body is to practice my Original Strength resets mindfully and not rush through them.

I remember reading a quote several years ago in the book Zendurance by Shane Eversfield: "Youth is a gift of nature. Age is a work of art." It became one of my favorites. But those words hold a much deeper meaning for me now thanks to Original Strength. You see I didn't fully value the amazing gift of my youth and, in many ways, I wasted it. But now through the Original Strength System, I'm getting somewhat of a "do over". By "Pressing Reset" I'm actively restoring many of my youthful gifts of movement and creating my own unique, beautiful and vital work of art -- me. And that sure beats the hell out of being a broken down kitchen appliance.




If you, too, would like to experience what Sarah has you want to learn how to press reset, check out one of our upcoming workshops, hopefully coming soon to a town near you!

---