Do you remember what it was like when you didn’t have to warm-up to go for a 10 minute walk? How about to stretch for 10 minutes before you make it 5 feet from your bed in the morning? How stupid do you feel when you can’t get out in the yard or pool and play with your kids or grandchildren?

At first many of my clients view coming to see me as a chore or inconvenience. It’s an hour out of their day they’d rather be scrolling Facebook or watching television. They view my homework assignments like pulling teeth and my nutrition advice to be too strict. Everything is just too much and it’s like being in a fitness jail cell.

I quickly point out their current life is the jail cell. Just because something is familiar doesn’t mean it’s good. 99% of my clients when they first come to see me are in pain. 80% are considered obese. The limitations these two aspects have on a persons life are staggering. Thirdly, being in pain and obese has a huge strain on your mental health and outlook on life. Yes, they are in their very own, personally made jail cell.

For the few that stick with me and and follow the lifestyle changes I prescribed they quickly realize something. That the discipline of fitness gives them freedom. No longer do they avoid staircases. No longer are they afraid to enjoy the summer weather and go for a hike. No longer do they need to take a laundry list of pills. No longer do they need to pay for numerous doctor visits. No longer do they lack self confidence because of the way they look and feel. No longer do they spend time taking a midday nap because they now have energy. No longer do they bring office work home because they now have the focus to get it done during the day.

The fitness lifestyle isn’t for extremists who like to torture themselves and deprive themselves of the better things in life. Quite the opposite. They actually know what the better things in life are.

The discipline of fitness gives you freedom.

Mark Radio serves as the manager, exercise physiologist and nutritional counselor at BE. He graduated in 2008 from Bloomsburg University with a bachelors degree in Exercise Science, is a CPT through ACSM, and is a certified nutritional counselor through AFPA.