08 Apr 10/20 For Life

By: Will Kuenzel

I’ve worked with a lot different groups and demographics over the years. Athletes are fun to work with. You can do anything with them. Agility and sports specific drills are pretty cool to incorporate. Working with powerlifters is always great because who doesn’t like to get stronger and see those numbers go up. Training bodybuilders is another great group. These folks train hard and watch their diet impeccably. Seeing almost daily changes in their physique is incredible. Despite all these rewarding scenarios, the most rewarding for me is training older clients. The geriatric group is by far the most rewarding.

[wa-wps]

Probably the one example that stands out to me the most was when an 81 year old man came to me and told me his reason for training was to stay out of a nursing home. He wanted to spend as much time as he could in his own home. He enjoyed his freedoms and it was just his desire to stay home as long as he could. He had never done much training so we worked together several times a week to make him stronger and more mobile. Instagram and YouTube are full of guys and gals posting about grinding and never taking a day off. These people have no idea what grinding is until stopping will completely have a huge negative impact on your way of life.

Another good example is a former military gentleman that came to me when he had just turned 80. He’d been active his whole life. He had worked hard to be in as good of a shape as he could be but had started to run into injuries. He knew that he needed to continue to work out so he could keep doing the things he enjoyed (fishing, shooting, spending time with great-grandkids, etc.). We worked on narrowing down his exercise selection and incorporating deloads into his normal training regimen. Between his age and his amount of work volume, these deloads were critical to his longevity.

I have a couple that come to see me once a week. They go to another gym on their own 3 more days out of the week. Both were very active before coming to see me. Both have developed lower back pain in recent years from neglecting primary movements. They got caught up in the whole machine fad and took many years off of squatting and other free weight movements. By incorporating the McGill big three we’ve been able to get them back to normal activity. She enjoys the spin classes and he’s an avid photographer.

These are just three of several examples I can give where using the 10/20/Life principles and philosophy will apply to folks of all ages and walks of life. Getting stronger for life is more important than just setting PRs and winning meets. Of course that means a lot to us now but years from now I want to be able to get down on the floor with my kids and grandkids. I want to be able to enjoy life and live it under my own circumstances. #TeamNoDaysOff can kiss it. Let me know how you feel when you’ve accomplished nothing but debilitating injuries and setbacks. The strongest of us are those that show up week after week healthy. Guys that set world records 5-10 years ago are still doing it. The guys winning the big meets are the healthiest. Proper planning for a long life will lead to more consistent strength gains and in that, living a full life and doing what you want to do all the way through your 60s, 70s and hopefully 80s and beyond.

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Low Country Strength

Will Kuenzel is the owner of Lowcountry Strength (www.LowcountryStrength.com) in Charleston, SC. Will started his athletic endeavors as a pole vault; finishing up his collegiate career with a best vault of 16’9” at a whopping 160lbs. He the track and field world to pursue bodybuilding, his first show in 2005, he won 1st place in Men’s Novice as a middle weight. One year later he took 2nd as a Men’s Junior heavy weight. Since 2007 he has been a competitive powerlifter and totaling elite as a 220lber. His best lifts in multiply equipment are a 710lbs squat, a 605lbs bench press, a 615lbs deadlift and a 1930 total. In 2008 Will started Lowcountry Strength out of his garage. Since then it has moved into a 16,000 sq/ft facility and shares space with a mixed martial arts studio. With all disciplines of powerlifting, strongman, MMA, jiu jitsu and other sports in the Charleston area getting trained under one roof, Will heads up the strength and conditioning for a wide variety of athletes and clients.

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