This is a video of the story of Sarah, a Monkey Bar trainer and the webmaster for one of my new good friends Jon Hinds' web site: Monkey Bar Gym.
AMAZINGLY cool story. Here's more of her story from some emails we traded:
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As I'm sure that you have gathered, our #1 goal at the gym it to help heal people and teach them how to be as healthy and as strong as they can, thus increasing happiness, life span, self worth, etc. We used to charge for the daily workouts, but realized that is counter productive and we can reach so many more people by making them free! Our idea is that families, couples, friends, etc can all start to do them at home together instead of plopping down in front of the tv, etc. We try to make them fun, too!
Anyway, it is a miracle that I made it to the Monkey Bar Gym in so many ways. I was born with a form of joint dysplasia called Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia. Essentially, most of the joints in my body are missing the final layer called the epyphyseal, it is what makes the end of the bone hard. So, without this layer, my joints started to deteriorate at 12 instead of at 80 like most folks. I was told from a young age not to play sports, not to run or jump as a means of "preserving the integrity of my joints. This led to child hood obesity due to lack of movement and ultimately to drug abuse starting in High School. My highest weight was close to 350 pounds and I smoked pot all day everyday for 12 years. I had a pretty big wake up call in 2002. I drank over a 12 pack of pop each day and ate fast food for every meal and weighed over 300 pounds. I realized that I wasn't living, but dying. My parents bought me an exercise bike and I started riding it, at first 10 minutes a day working up to 40 minutes. I also started to pay attention to what others were eating. I dropped weight pretty quickly and soon I was able to ride my real bike. Madison is known for it's commuter paths and I felt like I was part of a group, it was truly amazing.
I decided that I was NEVER going to sit on the sidelines again. I took it a step further and applied for a part time job at fedex, knowing that it was going to be extremely painful on my joints. They actually hired me and it was very painful, but I didn't care. I was doing what the medical community told me that I couldn't do. I met a woman, Jessica Rucker, who was a trainer at the monkey bar. She used to see me limp into the coffee shop that she worked at part time and told me that the Monkey Bar could help me. I didn't believe it. That went against EVERYTHING that I had been told. By the time I met Jessica, my hips had deteriorated to the point that I had almost no cartilage left and only about 5 degrees of lateral range of motion. I could barely walk for one city block, but I kept moving. I reluctantly went to the gym and signed up for some personal training sessions. I was hooked the second I started. Due to my dyslpasia, I could not do lunges or squats or jumps of any kind. With Jessica's help, we worked up to 1/4 range lunges, which felt like a miracle. We decided to focus on my upper body. I joined the gym and started taking the classes. I had to modify most of the workouts, but I didn't care. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was a part of the Team.
I stopped using drugs in November of 2004 and I had a double hip replacement in the summer of 2005 and feel great. I took Jon's certification in the spring of 2006. I wanted to give back to the world what was given to me. The power to heal and strengthen! I still have dysplasia in my knees and shoulders, but have learned so many ways to stay active and put the pain aside. Play the hand you're dealt, right? :) Just moving is a huge help! I started teaching some classes at the gym and in the fall of 2006, I took a leap and quite my job to manage the new MBG website. I also started doing private training sessions for folks that are significantly overweight and who also have physical limitations. It is such a gift to watch my clients progress and they too are doing things they never thought possible! It has been a truly amazing couple of years and am so glad that I stopped dying and started living :)
Last winter, Jon, sent my story to the local news stations and they did a story on me for the local tv news and the paper. I am sharing this with you because we really do want to change the world and from your website, you clearly have the medium to do that. My goal in life is to make the world a better place to live. My story is nothing like the greatest dad or the 4 fingered pianist, but if I can inspire just 1 person to make the move to get off the couch and start living, then I know that I am doing my part to fulfill my life's work.
Thanks for taking the time to read my story and I hope that you will consider sharing my article or video with your audience! Thank you for the work that you are doing!
Here are the links if you are interested:
http://www.monkeybargym.com
Take Care,
Sarah
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POWERFUL!!!
-bri
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