A Love/Hate Relationship

Take care of yourself now and keep exercising, because it’s hard to recover once you’ve let yourself go!
by Charlie Leck

I really, really let myself go to seed over the last 10 or 15 years. I just, kind of, gave up on exercise and became a total couch potato. It was easy to sit with a wonderful book in my hands, a bowl of peanuts easily at hand. Televised baseball, basketball and football games were wonderful ways to spend an afternoon or evening. I was enjoying that kind of retirement. My waistline grew and my muscles deteriorated. My doctor finally showed me some numbers that shook me awake – bolt-upright, shocking, wide, wide awake!

Along with a massive and radical change in my diet, I also knew I had to go back into a physical training program. I’m one of those guys who can’t force myself to do regular, systematic and meaningful exercise. There is always something else to do. I knew I needed guidance, regular appointments and a tight schedule. And, I needed to pay for it all in advance so that it would be tough and financially painful to miss scheduled sessions.

So now, I have been working out very seriously for the last ten weeks – 3 times a week for about 80 to 90 minutes each time – with a very professional trainer and fitness expert. He’s got a completely Minnesota name – Rob Hanson – and calls his business Hanson Home Fitness. He doesn’t come to my home, however. I go to a fitness center that is fully equipped with all the tools of the trade that the Marquis de Sade would have loved.

I have established an extraordinary love/hate relationship with Rob. I love what he’s doing for me and how much better he’s making me feel, but I hate him every second that he is doing it – torturing me and racking my body with pain.

“No pain! No gain!”

He doesn’t actually say that! It is I who needs to keep reminding myself of it. Years of abuse and inattention isn’t going to be corrected overnight – especially at my age! It’s going to take a couple of years of work and a lot of money to get things straightened around.

If you, the reader, are a young person or even middle-aged, don’t let yourself go. Stay fit. Eat right! Then you won't need to go to a guy like Rob, embarrassed, as I was, and tell him your sad tale and ask him to do something about it.

Rob was a 3-time all American gymnast at the University of Minnesota. Needless to say, he’s taken care of himself. He believes that what he’s doing for people is extremely important and can change their lives. He normally works with people many years younger than I, but his client list varies greatly. I recommend him often to my friends, but most of these friends haven’t hit the low that I hit early this year (though some are on their way).

The road back is very steep and it’s not easy climbing. I’m committed now, however, and I’m going to keep working at it.

I’m a realist and I know there aren’t all that many years left until I make my extraordinary journey out among the stars, but I want these culminating years to be more comfortable and I want to look people in the eyes with a sense of pride about the way I look.

"Don’t listen to my complaints, Rob. Just keep pushing me! I won't go without a lot of grumping, but I’ll go."

If you’re local and you want to talk to Rob, personally and confidentially, about your own situation, send me an email and I’ll email back his phone number.

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