Our Spotlight Member this month is Andi! Over the past year, Andi has worked patiently and consistently to build strength while recovering from injuries and navigating hyper-mobility. She brings high energy, enthusiasm and lots of support to her training partners, and we are so grateful to have her in our Breakthrough community!
BREAKTHROUGH: All right, Andi! Thank you so much for being for being our next Spotlight member. We were just discussing that we are about a month out from being your year anniversary with us.
ANDI: Yes.
BREAKTHROUGH: So, I always like to know, back at the beginning, how you were feeling before you got started? What made you feel like this was something you wanted to do?
ANDI: I used to work out lifting weights. I love it more than anything. I find it exhilarating, exciting – my favorite workout. I got hurt so much from being in a group class environment lifting the same weights as everybody else. So, I stopped because I was always getting hurt. I found out that I have a condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which is hyper-mobile joints. My girl friend Jill joined Breakthrough and said, “Andi, I found the perfect place for somebody like you.” When I called you, Kati, and you said to me, “We have hyper-mobile clients. We can make a plan for you.” I was beyond thrilled.
BREAKTHROUGH: Yes!
ANDI: I knew I needed to get back into lifting weights because I was approaching my 60th birthday and I was terrified. I had pain all throughout my body and I felt weak everywhere. When I started working out with you, I – literally from the first session – I fell in love!
BREAKTHROUGH: Yay!
ANDI: I was not scared. I knew in my heart of hearts I was surrounded by people that were watching me who knew what they were doing. So, I felt safe. I have never felt stronger, or felt better. I look forward to coming here. I can feel and see the changes in my body. And the best part for me, Kati, like I said, is I apply these exercises or whatever I am learning here that I carry with me in my every day world.
BREAKTHROUGH: Great!
ANDI: I work retail. As you know I am on my feet all day. I unpack boxes. I move furniture. I am 60! I can’t believe the things that I am able to do without pain. I am in love with all of you!
BREAKTHROUGH: Ohhhh! We love you!
ANDI: I just feel so good! I am at the airport. I’m traveling. I am at the market. I carry my groceries. I lift and bend with a new sense of awareness in controlling my body. Even when I am shaving my legs, I put my foot on the stool, and I feel more balance. I just feel better. I am so looking forward to seeing how much stronger I will get.
BREAKTHROUGH: Yeah. That’s amazing. That is the biggest reason why I train. It is not so I can do cool stuff in the gym. It’s so I can have my life outside the gym be easier.
ANDI: Absolutely!
BREAKTHROUGH: I always love to hear about those experiences that you guys have where you notice “Oh, I can carry all my groceries to my car, and I don’t have to have someone help me. I can move boxes and stuff at work.”
ANDI: And of course I love the community too! The people here are so phenomenal. I love everybody here. We have fun together. Sometimes it feels hard watching everybody else do harder stuff than me that I wish I could do! Like Anat! And I say to myself that I have to remember that I have a different body and different recovery needs. I know that I will hopefully be able to do ‘that’ one day. So, my patience is a little – I wish I could excel faster but I have to pace myself. I know I will get there. But it’s so chill here. I don’t care if I make faces or look funny. Clearly, I don’t get embarrassed! Ha, ha!
BREAKTHROUGH: Ha, ha!
ANDI: So, it is a very safe environment. Mentally and physically!
BREAKTHROUGH: Yes! It is! I think everyone here is supportive of each other. No one cares if anyone makes a face or has to wobble a little bit if they are practicing balance. We see people at different points in their journey. As you cross that threshold of being a member for a year, you are going to start to see people who are newer and they are looking at you. They are going to say, “Wow! Look at the stuff that Andi is doing! I want to do some of that stuff too!”
ANDI: That would be great!
BREAKTHROUGH: You probably don’t know that that already happened! When I think about how we first started, think of the things we were doing compared to the things you are doing now.
ANDI: Before I started here, I couldn’t even lift a weight. I was so afraid because of the previous injuries I had– you know what I came in with, all my issues.
BREAKTHROUGH: Yeah.
ANDI: You guys have trained me in a way that I have not hurt myself once. That is amazing! Really! That should speak volumes to everybody who is interested in coming to a place like this.
BREAKTHROUGH: That is exactly what we want. And you have also been learning more about yourself too, and how to listen to your body and take care of yourself.
ANDI: It’s boutique; its bespoke. Theres no worries of ‘Oh she’s going to get hurt because she shouldn’t do that.’ You guys make sure we don’t do things we aren’t supposed to.
BREAKTHROUGH: Everything is customized to you. And that is as it should be. You know, it is fun to work in a group. Endurance classes are great. But we still get that opportunity – because we know you guys so well – to say, ‘let’s do this instead of that.’
ANDI: Exactly! I love endurance and now that I know, I might just do a little less of kettlebell swings, or go a little bit less intense.
BREAKTHROUGH: Sure! Yeah. So, the other big question that I love to hear from people is what is your why. What’s the thing that motivates you to take care of yourself like this; to prioritize yourself because it is not necessarily easy to do.
ANDI: No.
BREAKTHROUGH: It’s hard sometimes to figure out the time and make that commitment. So, what is your why?
ANDI: I got to a point in my life – I knew I was turning 60 and I said there is no more time. It is now or never. I have to do this for the rest of my life. It may be cliché, but it really is my motivating factor. I want to be able to carry my own groceries and take care of myself at 80 years as best as I can. And I may have needed to start sooner but we can’t go backward…
BREAKTHROUGH: The second best time is now!
ANDI: Right! It’s funny because the why is… there is no more time left. It’s not like oh I am working out to look good for an event. This is now, for the rest of my life. Of course, I want to look good, and I already do look better. But for me, it’s about the way I feel. Kati, like I said, I’m at the airport, I’m at the market and I am thinking of you guys. The farmer’s carry walk!!
BREAKTHROUGH: You can just do things.
ANDI: I just feel stronger and more stable in my joints. For somebody who is hyper-mobile, I hope this interview reaches people like me and they realize that they can work out safely in an environment like this. I was terrified before ….
BREAKTHROUGH: Sure! It’s scary!
ANDI: … in a group workout place – a class that I loved. But not for somebody like me! With high speed, with high weights. Danger! Ha,ha!
BREAKTHROUGH: Yeah. It really can be! Part of that is like you said, now you know yourself a little bit better. Even in our endurance classes here that are a little bit more like everyone is doing that same thing, you can figure it out. You know yourself well. As to your why, and I don’t think it’s cliché. I feel the same way that you feel. I don’t want that just for myself. I want that for everyone that is in here. And that is why I do what I do. I want to see people to living the rest of their days as independently as they possibly can. When you have seen it go the other way, it is a big motivator to be like ‘oh no that is not going to be me!’
ANDI: I want to say something else. My mom is also hyper-mobile. I’ve had both my hips replaced. She did too. Shoulders replaced. I watched her live a life of complete non-movement because in her day when she had a bad back, they said “you don’t exercise, you rest.” So, it really ruined her and then of course she just – she was really unhealthy, and she did not move for years. And I know that contributed to her death because of her heart. Then I see my dad, who just turned 90, who works out every single day, eats clean, takes zero medication and people are blown away. It’s really true. There are only two ways to go. And that is why I move every single day because, especially when you are hyper-mobile, the minute I stop moving- I walk my dog everyday, I work… if I don’t workout or walk or move, I am in pain. And that is what atrophy is. Very dangerous! So, we have to work out, we have to move, we have to walk.
BREAKTHROUGH: Yep!
ANDI: And this is for my health.
BREAKTHROUGH: It’s non-negotiable.
ANDI: Right! I want to be as healthy as I can for as long as I am here.
BREAKTHROUGH: This is amazing! Anything else that you want to share that we haven’t talked about? I feel like we covered a lot of ground.
ANDI: I love it here. I’m safe. I am supported. This to me is exciting. This is not boring at all. I love it! I just want to go harder.
BREAKTHROUGH: And you have been, and you are going to keep going harder! Thank you so much for sharing all of this, Andi! You rock!