Christine's Story
At 66 years old, Christine came to Body + Soul Fitness with a specific goal in mind: correct her shoulder pain. With her trainer’s support, she gained strength, corrected her posture and started to live pain-free. In the process, she gained the strength to enjoy more activities and her long-term aspirations shifted.
Christine and her husband Bruce enjoying a spritz in Deruta, Italy.
About Christine
When she started training with us, Christine was not starting her fitness journey from scratch. As a 66-year-old, she described herself as active – someone who was an avid runner and yogi. After practicing and teaching a repetitive style of yoga, she noticed recurring pain in her shoulders. Her shoulders hurt all the time and this pain was impeding everyday activities.
Christine teaching a yoga class, demonstrating a spinal twist.
The Challenge
When she first started, Christine’s primary goal was to correct the recurring pain in both of her shoulders. Her shoulders had limited mobility, which caused her discomfort and contributed to poor posture. Christine wanted a trainer that could help her become pain-free.
When Christine was matched with her personal trainer Conor, he quickly discovered that Christine had other areas that required attention. He learned that because Christine mostly worked on her flexibility and mobility, she lacked overall strength and was therefore more prone to injury.
The Program
Based on what he learned through the assessment, Conor started with the basics of strength training. He wanted to start slow, making sure that Christine perfected fundamental exercises to build her strength, capacity and technique. This first phase was like a prerequisite course, correcting her posture to ensure her safety and building the foundation for progressing into movements to build overall strength.
As she worked through this first phase, Christine’s perspective on fitness in general started to shift. Christine explains, “I went in wanting to focus on fixing my shoulder pain, but the more strength training we did, the more I started to realize how weak other parts of my body were, like my hips, hamstrings, and calves.”
“I went in wanting to focus on fixing my shoulder pain, but the more strength training we did, the more I started to realize how weak other parts of my body were, like my hips, hamstrings, and calves.”
The Results
With her trainer’s support, Christine recovered from her shoulder injury, corrected her posture, and improved her strength. Without pain and with more strength, Christine now has more options and control in her movement.
There are a lot of new activities that Christine can now enjoy. From stepping onto a high stool without support, to hiking with her family, to overhead pressing her dog – Christine has seen the benefits of her training effect her entire life. She’s even enjoyed more ease in her yoga practice.
Christine kayaking on Gibson Lake in Muskoka, Ontario.
Overall, Christine experienced the benefits of varied training first-hand. No longer relying solely on yoga for her daily movement, she has found that her day-to-day activities have become easier and continues to live pain-free. With the strength to avoid future injury, she can now enjoy her yoga practice even more, and continues to work on building even more capacity and strength.
Start Your Own Story
Sometimes, the hardest step to take is the first one. If this story has made you feel hopeful for your future, we would love to meet you. Book a complimentary consultation with one of our passionate personal trainers to get started.