Tell me about your experience with CST if your 60+

[lnelson]

I've always judged health programs by how well they can be used to great benefit throughout the lifecycle, challenging the young and strong, but also being of great benefit to people in their 70's 80's or 90's. Yoga and Pilates are great examples of this. I cringe when I see a thirty year old guy on a book advertising "Body for Life" with a program I know is not sustainable for 5 years, much less 50.

So, I would love to hear stories from people in their 60's, 70's or older about their experience with Coach Sonnon's work.

[rbibbs]

Does 58yo and genetically scrawny qualify? CST is a developmental and a sustaining methodolgy. It pretty much unconditionally takes you from where you are, to closer to where you want to be. I started from decades of inactivity, and relative atrophy. I'm comfortable fighting guys half my age and 50# heavier, and I don't get any more 'sore' or winded than they do. And I'm physiolgically conservative, no 'gonzo jock' or endocrinological anomaly. Very conscious of practical limits, particulary in the absence of health insurance.

Yes, CST is sustainable, proportionable, and beneficial to any age or body type (as long as one's doctor approves of exercise).

[admin]

I'm 57 and fitter than many people I meet half my age. I'm also a skinny desk jockey who only started exercising afer turning 50. For five years I seemed to hurt myself continuously and didn't get much stronger until I met Coach Sonnon and began doing CST. Two years later I know with absolute certainty that I will continue to get stronger, more agile, graceful, and freer in my body for the rest of my life. CST is not only sustainable, it sustains.

I think anyone over 60 would soon recognize it as a gift, not 'just another exercise program'. Its a real charge when you realize that getting older does not have to mean getting creakier and weaker.

[Coach Gostnell]

I'm not exactly pushing 60 (when does that happen anyway? 57, 58, 59 & 3/4?) but I've been in a Warrior Wellness class/get-together for over a year with many people who may be pushing 70 or beyond, and this is some of what I've seen: A woman whose hands were so crippled with arthritis she could barely open doors, now uses one hand to pull open heavy doors, has been able to put her wedding rings back on, and comfortably rides her bike again.

Older people who were clutching the wall doing the Balance Drill moving away to just one finger touching, to freestanding for most of the drill.

People who could barely get themselves down to the floor and up again now doing so more easily AND working on Shin Box.

A lovely, striking older couple who were already fit and agile talking about how much their tennis games have improved.

A woman of 50 who had a major stroke at 25. For 25 years, she walked with a leg brace and a cane, was told to expect no improvement. After a couple years of steady attendance, she doesn't come to class much anymore - she's too busy motating around town without those devices. She appears to have better use of her left hand also, just since I've been attending.

And so on. I think many of these people attend only the class and don't do much else with it during the week, but even once a week seems to make a difference.

Our volunteer "leader" stresses to them to start slow, don't do anything to the point of discomfort, don't worry about what they look like, or what someone else is doing. There's a bench for anyone who needs to rest or take a break - one lady does many of the exercises while sitting, but she keeps coming back. Sometimes, if folks haven't been doing anything at all they mention they were a little sore the next day, but in a year, I haven't heard of anyone injuring themselves from what we're doing in class.