Silence overcame the room as she and I walked the long corridor. The other members of our adult fitness center repositioned themselves to get a better view. Three months ago she was too weak to lift her arms and barely picked up her legs. She struggled to breathe, achieved only 15 seconds of cardiovascular activity, and was written off by many who requested that she be referred to another facility. Now these same people looked on as we traded a wheelchair for a walker, then a cane, and proceeded to put one foot in front of the other. At the end of the hallway, her husband of 60 years stared with “for better or worse” in his eyes, and I began to feel the greatness of the moment. Overwhelmed with emotion, tears streamed down her face: “Look at me; I’m walking! I’m so happy”. I could echo the same sentiment. I was the college student who studied all day and night for weeks and still managed to fail the exam. I struggled to find my purpose, and days like this one confirm that I am exactly where I need to be. She will never understand what she’s done for me.
Studying health and exercise science in college took me on an academic rollercoaster. I was not a straight-A student during my undergraduate career but worked hard in every course, nonetheless. My willingness to learn by any means necessary drove me to attend physics-101 every morning, do every assignment, and take every exam although I had withdrawn from the course halfway through the semester. That determination was challenged every time I failed the same chemistry class and wondered if my best would ever be enough.
For years my dream was to be a physician. I simply wanted to help sick people get well. I have had physicians for clients, and I usually explain muscle mechanics, energy metabolism, and macronutrient breakdown for them as I do with any other client. In response to a self-diagnosis of sciatica, an emergency room physician informed me that she advises her patients to exercise. When I requested that she be her own patient and tell me what to do exactly, she confessed, “I really don’t know”. As I began to explain a few techniques that could be used to relieve her pain, which was really caused by piriformis syndrome, I was reminded of three concepts: One, the healthcare providers who many look to for instruction when it comes to diet and exercise, may not be equipped with all the information they need to help their patients. Two, a great number of medical professionals specialize in disease care. My coworkers, classmates, and I—we are the faces of healthcare. Three, an exceptional medical system encourages a symbiotic relationship between the two fields because we need them both.
I have had the pleasure of working with people who present with small aches and pains to joint replacements, neurological conditions, and everything in between. I’ve watched the degeneration in those with Parkinson’s Disease and ALS. I’ve also seen those who doctors gave up on years ago continue to fight. And while I consider myself blessed to work with this special population and help restore some quality of life, I am saddened to know that services like the ones I provide are few and far between in my neighborhood. The dichotomy between gratefulness and helplessness drives me to be the change I wish to see. The knowledge I have now and that I seek to gain are ultimately for me to give away. I believe in wellness and will spend my entire career advocating for a healthy diet and exercise program as our body’s best defense against disease.
The Milken Institute calculated the cost of preventable diseases in the United States to be over $1 trillion, a figure that threatens to reach $4.2 trillion by the year 2023 (Devol et al., 2007). What’s more frightening than those estimations is the fact that many people within the minority community still only associate physical activity with obesity. Only overweight people need to exercise. There is a sincere ignorance causing thousands to suffer and even die from conditions that could have easily been prevented or managed through basic lifestyle changes. I’ve looked into the skeptical eyes of those who refuse to believe that type II diabetes is not entirely genetic and can be reversed in many cases. I’ve explained, ad nauseum, that I do not have body image issues simply because I am a thin person who exercises regularly. Within low socioeconomic households, the barriers to good health—whether they be lack of money, resources, knowledge, or a combination of the three—form walls that many cannot climb over or get around. The only thing worse than not having access to help is not knowing how much you need it. My hope is to one day call upon all the information I could not digest before and use it to educate my community, starting with my own family.
The fitness industry has always seemed overly saturated to me. I was hesitant to step into this space because I just knew that I’d get lost among the millions of trainers. First, I am not an extrovert: You won’t hear me screaming to “get those knees up” in front of a group class. Second, I am not the super high-intensity personality that spills on to everyone around me. Third, I am not interested in walking gym floors and selling personal training packages, posing in a sports bra, writing the “Top 10 Ways to Get a Summer Body in Two Weeks” articles, or promoting supplements to enhance anything. I see nothing wrong with either of these paths; they are just not for me.
Why this career, then? The answer is simple: I love medicine, and I’ve figured out that exercise is one of the best drugs we have. Soon it may be the only one we can afford. Unfortunately, it’s a cure that many people know about, believe in, but refuse to take, and millions die each year from preventable diseases. I hope to change this culture one day. Who I am is simply a total of my experiences, and my ability to succeed is directly proportional to the challenges I’ve overcome. When I close my eyes, I am five years old again with dreams born out of a childlike innocence before being taught the words, “no” and “can’t”. My vision to change how we view healthcare in this country comes from a time when I believed that I could do anything imaginable, and “impossible” was just a word grown-ups used when they haven’t figured out how. The field of exercise science is being used across the country to increase strength, power, and speed to build the ideal athlete and advance the sport performance industry. While I do appreciate athleticism, my passion lies within a separate population. I am challenged by pain, unusual diagnoses, and disease management. My satisfaction comes from helping everyday people achieve the highest quality of life. I spent three months getting my client to lift her feet two inches off the ground in order to take a few steps, and it was worth every minute. So as crazy as it may sound, bring me the sick, the broken, the pained, the diseased, and the disabled. Let me make athletes of them.
References
DeVol, R., Bedroussian, A., Charuworn, A., Chatterjee, A., Kim, I.A., Kim, S., & Klowden, K. (2007). An unhealthy America: The economic burden of chronic disease—charting a new course to save lives and increase productivity and economic growth, Milken Institute.
https://commed.vcu.edu/Chronic_Disease/EBCDES_ResearchFindings_CPAC.pdf