IFAST Client Spotlight: Eldon Marshall

This week I am excited to introduce you to IFAST rockstar client, Eldon Marshall.  Eldon has been training at IFAST since the summer of 2012 and he is so much fun to have in the gym.  The guy is super positive and he always works his butt off.  And, the results he has seen speak to his work ethic and consistency.  I will let Eldon tell you a little more about that.  So here is Eldon.

Eldon, can you start out by telling us a little about yourself and what brought you to IFAST?

I’m a 78 year old retired Indiana University Professor.  I came to IFAST with many of the signs so common  to aging persons and for me these ranged from declining strength, occasional times of instability in movement, and chronic strain in the right hip.  Beyond these I brought a history of multiple knee surgeries coupled with anxieties surrounding the potential for on-going deterioration and increased immobility.  Mindful of all the advice typically given by experts to aging folks about the importance of such things as strength building, core development, and flexibility I knew I needed to take new initiatives for myself since training at other gyms typically led to heightened discouragement about the prospects for positive change and on occasion led to further injury.  It was a physical therapist in Chicago who happened to be treating my son at the time, who referred me to IFAST.  He was knowledgeable about IFAST’S established and growing reputation as a physical fitness and sport training center.

How has your experience been so far?

So core to the quality of my personal experience at IFAST and the fitness successes I’ve achieved to-date has been the knowledge and expertise of my trainer, Jae.  I consider him to be uncommonly good at what he does.  He has an essential command of both the science and art of fitness training – and in my view they are each quite different.  Supporting my motivation to keep working and making fitness gains, Jae,  keeps me focused on the physical potential still residing in this 78 year old body – and that in itself is no little gain.  He inspires me to stay centered on what I can do rather than dwell on what I can’t.

I especially appreciate the fact that Jae applies a scientifically-based program of fitness training oriented to my individual needs; and in this case, it was one designed to help me get stronger, build up my core, increase my flexibility, reduce the strain in my right hip, and especially important, improve the strength and functioning of my damaged knee.  Having a well-defined map of where I was headed in my fitness development has always been reassuring and inspired hope that this program could make a make difference unlike my earlier experiences with other fitness centers.  Especially helpful has been Jae’s on-going individualized feedback in which he both corrects ineffective movements and also celebrates signs of progress.

What have been your biggest accomplishments thus far?

1 – Since beginning at IFAST I’ve developed an appreciation for the fact that my work at fitness is going to be a rest-of-life-time journey – one that I best hold to in behalf of my own quality of life.

2 – My upper body strength has increased significantly.  I try to swim a mile at least three times a week and have noticed that my strokes have become much stronger than I imagine possible .

3 – The chronic soreness that existed in my right hip at the start of training has all but disappeared.

4 – The troublesome knee has become more stable and the degree of soreness has diminished.

5 – A stronger core has brought about greater balance and stability in my movement.

6 – Especially important to me is that when old problems re-surface, I have much more confidence in being able to lessen them by applying what I’ve learned in training.

What makes IFAST different from other gyms you have been to?

Some of what makes IFAST different from other fitness organizations that I have used include the following:

1 – Work at IFAST starts with a formal assessment of one’s physical fitness, problems/complaints and is followed by a written fitness training program oriented to the specific fitness needs and goals of the client.  This plan is reviewed, revised on a monthly basis which has afforded a valuable point of reference for on-going evaluation of progress being made towards my goals

2 – The professional knowledge and expertise of staff is notable.  Put simply, they know how the body works and can better diagnose the source(s) of many problems with which folks struggle in their functioning. In addition, as I learned more about the source of some of the problems I was having, the more I was able to self-correct them when they re-surfaced.

3 – Especially basic to IFAST’S effectiveness relative to my fitness development I think has been the well-defined program of specific exercises targeted to my needs – a program that has been reviewed and revised as indicated each month.  It provides an excellent frame of reference for me to evaluate my own progress.

Any final thoughts?

There is one last personal note I’d like to add to the story of my journey at IFAST. As a musician wannabe, I have found the experience of becoming more physically fit to be very akin to that of becoming a good performing artist.  Extending this analogy, a musician friend of mine once said that getting good as a performing artist is in part a function of the quantity and quality of skills/techniques a musician has in his/her repertoire.  The connection this notion has for physical fitness is, namely, that I will be able to perform or function physically more effectively having developed at IFAST the requisite kind and range of physical fitness-building techniques that I can always draw upon to maintain and enhance my own fitness.

 

Thanks so much for the interview, Eldon!  Keep up the great work!