Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
BE ‘UNSTOPPABLE STRONG’ AT ANY AGE
It’s never too late to begin an exercise regimen and reap many benefits
After two shoulder surgeries over the span of 15 years due to torn rotator cuffs, Richard Benjamin was 65 when he realized he needed to start taking action to preserve his quality of life.
“The shoulder injuries were from doing yard work and not paying attention,” he said. ““I decided I needed to take better care of my body.”
Benjamin, a Chester County resident, wanted to avoid getting any more injuries from activities he enjoyed doing and began having an awareness that starting to spend time at the gym could be the answer.
“Doing resistant weight training to maintain muscle mass is what you need to do when you get older,” he said. “My favorite saying is, ‘motion is lotion’.”
Prior to his injuries, Benjamin was physically active in life between yard work, walking and hiking, but he was never one to have a formal workout regimen. New to personal training, Benjamin joked that the closest he ever got to having a trainer was through his drill instructor when he was in Marine Corps boot camp in his 20s.
More recently, Benjamin’s wife, Jessie, started working out with a personal trainer and he credits her for getting him on board.
“She started doing resistant weight training to keep a potential for osteoporosis at bay and maintain bone strength,” he said. “She’s the one that got me in there.”
Unstoppable Strong
The gym where the Benjamins started, Mitch’s Market Street Gym, Chester County, has since closed, but two individuals they met through the gym — Doug Slabach, Mitch’s former Fitness Director and Master Trainer, and Brian Musselman, a former trainer at Mitch’s — ended up opening up their own gym, Unstoppable Strong, last year after Mitch’s closure.
“It’s a nice, small gym and they care so much about their equipment and the people they train,” Benjamin said. “It’s so personalized and there is a lot of community as well.”
The privately-owned gym located in West Chester has a specialization in personal training and the intimate size of the gym has them limiting membership to avoid overcrowding.
“It’s a nice atmosphere and we make everybody who comes through the door feel welcome,” Slabach said. “It feels like a luxury home gym where you can get a great workout and have fun.”
Customized equipment
Before opening Unstoppable Strong, Slabach and Musselman worked together at Mitch’s for 15 years. At their gym today they offer a large selection of customized cable-based equipment to cater to their members who are primarily aged 40 and older, in addition to a full range of free weights, functional trainers and cardio.
“As people get older they want to care for their joints more and the cables give you more freedom,” Musselman said. “It’s a free range of motion because the handles are cables versus fixed positioned handles, so it’s not tough on joints, elbows, knees and shoulders.”
One of their clients is 99 years old.
“She is amazing and trains with me twice a week,” Musselman said. “She’s been with us for years and she’s an inspiration to everyone who comes here.”
Never too late
Slabach said that regardless of age it’s never too late to begin a physical fitness regimen.
“You just have to take that first step to get started,” he said. “It will enable you to continue to enjoy everyday activities, it will save you from throwing
your back out and if you’re a parent or grandparent you can enjoy playing with your kids or grandkids.”
Slabach emphasized the importance of balance as one ages.
“We do a lot of primal and functional movements such as standing abdominal exercises, balance, mobility and core strength,” he said, adding all of these factors can positively impact one’s balance.
Slabach used Benjamin as an example to illustrate the ways in which one can benefit from such exercises when age 40 plus.
“Richard is very active and now he is able to do yard work without pain or discomfort,” he said.
Personal training
Benjamin, now age 69, works out at the gym five to six days
a week.Two are spent personal training and the rest of the days focus on individual training, heavy cardio and stretching.
“What I love about training and working with Doug is he keeps the boredom from settling in,” he said. “Every week I learn a new exercise I haven’t done before.”
Since Benjamin began working out he is now at a point where he continues on with his normal activities in life without being fearful of injuring himself.
“Doug has helped me with my core strength and making sure my shoulders are strong because of the surgeries,” he said. “Now I can do things and pick up things and not be worried about it.”
For more information, visit www.unstoppablestrong.com