Strength Training Meant No Back Surgery

Sheree
Now, hi, Angela. Thank you for joining me today.

Angela
Hello, Sheree.

Sheree
Angela, can we just start by asking how old you are? And maybe have a chat to the camera as well.

Angela
I'm 71 at this time.

Sheree
Seventy-one? What a great age to be. Angela, can I ask you what you did in your past life? Because you're retired now, are you? Yes.

Angela
So what did you do when you were working? I was a nurse administrator, really. I used to manage age care facilities.

Sheree
So you'd see all about the age body and what- Absolutely, yes. And what thing? Because I think me also as a nurse, you look at older people, and if they don't continue to move and stuff, it's just a down your slide.

Angela
Absolutely. And then once you get down, you can never recover.

Sheree
Not when you're that down. No. You can go a little way down, but then you need to be looking at how to recover from there and not doing the big slide down. Absolutely, yes. Because when you're stuck in a bed day night, not good. No. So Angela, I want to ask you before you started strength training, actually, how long do you think you've been strength training for?

Angela
I think it's basically on and off for about 10 years. Yeah, that's what I thought. I started when I was working, and it fitted around when I wasn't working. And then when I was doing contract work, I'd concentrate on paying probably three times a week. And then in retirement, it was three times a week. And I've fairly recently reduced it to twice a week.

Sheree
Yeah, great. And so then what was it that caused you to start strength training? What Why did you start in the first place? What did you see in your life that you needed to start strength training?

Angela
I was very overweight. I was sedentary lifestyle, worked from the office, no exercise. And I thought, I've got to do something. So I went to the gym, Spice Fitness, and that first test was abysmal. I couldn't do a thing. Everything I couldn't manage once.

Sheree
Wow. That's really interesting. So that obviously was putting a I guess you were already alert to the fact you need to strength training, but even more so.

Angela
Absolutely. That was the lining in the sand. That was it. I could only improve.

Sheree
Yeah, that's so good. So before you started So you were in the train then. Your body, obviously, was not strong. No. So did that prohibit you from doing things that you wanted to do?

Angela
I couldn't walk. I couldn't walk. I couldn't go shopping. I'd get out of breath. Wow. Okay. Wow. Wow. Even just walking quickly up the corridor would just wear me out.

Sheree
Yeah. Wow. That's incredible, isn't it? Yes. Absolutely. And how old were you at the time then? In your early '60s?

Angela
No, I was probably late '50s, early '60s.

Sheree
Yeah, it would have been '60s. Yes. So Angela, doesn't the decline start early?

Angela
It starts quite early. It does, yes. And you got to get it quickly. You do.

Sheree
And that's why I think I get quite a few women in their '50s, mid '50s, early '50s. He's starting to come in the door going, I need something more. And I think it's when you can't. And for you, because you're a person that likes to do things, you're not just a homebody. And so I think if you need to do things, and you had grandkids not long after that. So you have grandkids come along and you want to be able to play with them, don't you? Oh, absolutely. You want to roll on the floor or play with them or pick them up when they're small. And if you can't do that, then that's putting a whole limit on your life and what you can do. Absolutely.

Angela
Yeah.

Sheree
That was so good. So how has strength training then, and we love this line unbreakable, because it's unbreakable means that we're trying to make a body, my body, your body, that will last us into old, old, old age. In fact, maybe just days before we die, we want it to last. So how has strength training made your body more unbreakable? And can you tell people out there, they're going to watch this, just about your back as well, what you've had to deal with?

Angela
Yeah, I've had a degenerative back condition for quite some time, and I was offered major surgery, which was fusing bones over several years, which meant cutting into the abdominal muscles, all that strength training, wrecking every year. And I decided against that, which meant I had to focus on my body and improving it because last thing I wanted was annual surgery. And so then I just had to work with you to strengthen my back, strengthen my core, strengthen my body. In the course of stuff, I'd lost weight anyway. And then I was able to this year just go overseas. Yeah. How cool is that? And that was really lovely. And when I bought that ticket to go overseas, six months prior, I really wasn't sure whether I was going to be able to make it. But we worked hard together and I got there. And I managed the whole trip really well with minimal additional analgesia and came back feeling stronger and better And I done it. It was like, I achieved it.

Sheree
You see, that's what's so good about you, Angela. That was a big trip. It's not just arriving in England, but it's the plane flight there. You're going to sit in a chair. You You went in a bed in a chair all the way there on a 20-hour flight, you said? Yeah. A 20-hour flight all the way to the UK from Australia. And then you have to get yourself around there, see all your family, see friends. So it's a nonstop thing. You said you had one full day, then you tried to have a quieter day, but you were still full on while you were there. So it's a really cool thing, isn't it? That I see, Angela, that you were able to fulfill a dream of yours to go back and see family in the UK. Whereas if you hadn't been doing strength training, you I know this back problem was going to stop you, then you're not able to live life, are we?

Angela
No, absolutely not. That's scary. The busy days were busy because it was like 10 or 12 hours walking. So you'd go on the bus, on the train, on the tube, walking around Soho, restaurants, music, venues, theaters, and then all the way back again. And that was a busy day. And I managed it with no additional analgesia It was fantastic. So good. And that trip was going to be my last trip to the UK. There you go. But because it was so easy- It's not going to be- I'm going to go back.

Sheree
And that is the thing. If you are at home and you think, I've got a bad back or I've got a bad knee or a bad hip, this is it for me. I'm probably going to have to pull it back, and I'm not going to be able to do this and do that. There is no reason you can't, because strengthening muscles, strengthening bones, strengthening all of that will give you the ability to still go ahead and fulfill dreams and still go ahead and do what you want to do. And I love that idea. I'm going to go back. You're not going to stop me. Absolutely. So she will be going back. I know that that will occur. So Angela, What would you say to somebody at home right now that's watching the story of yours and going, she's inspiring, but I don't think I could do it? What would you say to someone like that? Just get out straight into the camera.

Angela
Just get out. She's talking to you. Get off the couch. Yeah. You got to get moving. And that first bit is hard. It is hard. When I went into Spice Fitness, to go up those stairs, to go in the front door, to talk to somebody about how useless I was, that is hard. But you just have to do it. It's now or never. Yeah, I love that. You have to do it.

Sheree
And you're right. I'm amazed at how many women are at home and know that they need to do something but haven't. Because of a sore back or because of their age or because their weight, whatever it is, we don't care how much you weigh. We don't care how old you are. We don't care how infirm you are. You can make massive changes with strengthening that body. And I'm also a nurse. Angela is a nurse. And so I will be so careful with you when you come in. As I am with Angela, I'm always adapting things under Angela. Just in case I just think, Oh, I'm not sure about that weight. What do you feel? So Angela can then decide for herself what she does. But I will give her the same as what the rest of the session, the people in the session do. But sometimes she might adapt that a bit for her back. So, yeah. So come on along, and you two can be like Angela. Thank you so much for joining me today, Angela, because I'm sure that someone out there is going to be inspired by that today. I certainly hope so.

Sheree
Thank you so much. So hopefully see you soon. Bye. Bye.