Now I help people young and older to get in shape, lose weight, get six packs абс and others want more strength and muscle so they are able to transfer easier out of their wheelchair. We specialize in working with people of all ages and levels of Fitness, and not only is every strength station wheelchair-accessible, but the cardiovascular equipment is as well. I decided to do something about this, and in 2002, my wife and I opened Accessible Fitness, a completely wheelchair-accessible gym located in Santa Clara, California. I began training people with disabilities, but I realized a lot of physically challenged people were not coming to the gym because the equipment wasn't accessible. I've been doing it for 20 years." She didn't laugh, but I got the job anyway. At the time I was not as familiar with it so I tried to make a joke, "Sure, hardcore training. That is why I decided I wanted to work there.ĭuring my interview, the fitness manager asked if I knew what core-training was. When I told the manager about my mission to help the disabled community, he was very receptive. I applied to work at Club-One, even though they didn't have wheelchair accessible equipment. Sure, maybe the bathrooms and parking are accessible, but rarely is the equipment. When I went back to the gyms, I realized how inaccessible they are for a person in a wheelchair. I said to myself, "Wow! If I could tap into those muscles, it would be like having a spare tire for you car." So the way I did this was by challenging balance using a Swiss-ball, or standing on air cushions. The average person activates about 60-70% of their muscles in their entire lifetime, a bodybuilder about 75% (they're just much bigger), but a dancer or gymnast awakens about 90% or more. You don't have to worry about falling!" I also found that by waking up new muscle, I could stabilize and walk better. I thought, "What a great way to exercise- do it from your knees and challenge the balance. Before he could walk, Tyler would balance on his knees. Then, I realized that for an infant, the core muscles are the last to develop, and in a person with MS, or other neurological conditions, they are the first to go. When he was 11-months old, he would always use the couch to support himself while he walked - much like I had to do. When he was only 7-months old he had the leg-strength to push himself up to a standing position, but I had to hold him so he could balance. I also learned about core muscles by watching my son, Tyler. That was me, and that's why people with MS are always looking for something to help them balance. When these get weak, it's like a flower with a frail stem that falls over when the wind blows. I found out which muscles are primarily affected by MS - the core muscles (абс, hip, and back muscles). I decided not to believe the doctors, and went back to the gym to begin exercising. That is the worst kind- you don't get better. I wasn't sure if I could, because the doctors told me I had primary progressive MS. I told her I didn't want to and that I hated it, but she explained that I had to do something besides feeling down. I then met my future wife, Judy, and she told me I had to accept my MS. I sat in my wheelchair for a long time, feeling sorry for myself. The drugs just мейд me more tired and dejected, and my MS progressed to where I had to be in a wheelchair. Because I was feeling so lousy, I asked the doctor to put me on anti-depressants, sleeping pills, and medicines for my muscle spasms. This caused me to fall into a deep depression, and with MS, this also brought on a lot of stress. I was still going to compete, a year later, but lost my vision. In the back of my mind, however, I realized I was squatting on a Smith machine- that didn't require me to balance myself.Īs my health continued to decline, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1997. He just laughed and said, "Paul, you don't have MS, you just squatted 550 pounds!" So I laughed it off as well- there was no way I had MS. I was working out with my friend one day and I told him I had looked on the Internet and thought I might have the disease, Multiple Sclerosis. In 1994-95, I was having trouble with my balance and leg strength. I was at the top of my game, preparing to go pro, when my body starting giving me problems. Since then, I've competed in about 40 shows and won titles like Mr. I participated in my first bodybuilding-competition in 1984, at the age of 16. I never imagined that the man who so inspired me, Arnold Schwarzenegger, would one day become California's governor. When I was 13-years old, a friend of the family gave me a box of bodybuilding magazines.
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