Mike Everhart has been a member of Industrial Athletics almost since it started. Mike can be found mostly at 7:15 in his corner completing the workout of the day. He is always a friendly face and welcoming member, focusing on making himself better inside and outside the gym. It took Mike some time, but he eventually realized that he does not have to try to obtain the “perfect” body or master all of the improvements to find success and to feel good. He has fought through injuries and has been making improvements along the way. This month we will hear from him about his journey that led him to Industrial Athletics and how the gym has helped him overcome his anxiety.
Age is Only a Number
At 61, I’m probably one of the oldest – if not the oldest – member of the gym. Each week, I feel very blessed and fortunate to be here doing the workouts to the best of my ability. I am at a place in my life where I can feel proud of the work I put in to maintaining an active lifestyle. Getting to this point hasn’t been easy. Like many others, I’ve dealt with body positivity issues throughout my life that have impacted my physical and mental health. As long as I can remember, I always felt insecure when it came to my body and physical fitness. In high school, I was never as physically fit as others in my class. I never played team sports and lagged behind.
Obsessing Over the “Ideal look”
In my late 20s, I took up running thinking that would help me cut weight, get leaner, get to my ideal look. I still didn’t see the change I was looking for. So I doubled down and decided to run more frequently and longer. I eventually started to train for marathons. I was able to run long distances but still didn’t see the transformation I was looking for. So I went down the supplement route – fat burners, creatine, etc. – to get the transformation I was looking for only to see the negative side effects instead of the physical results. I remember being at breakfast with friends after a half marathon and looking down at a bowl of raisin bran, not being able to eat more than 3 tablespoons. My friends called me out and told me to get off them, which I did. I continued to hit the gym, continued to run. I started to get more compulsive with both, and found myself doing doubles – run then lift or lift then run. I’d be out in 10 degree weather, running 10-15 miles at a time. I did get a sense of accomplishment from my efforts – I ran about 15 marathons during this stage, but my body still didn’t look the way I wanted it to.
Finding CrossFit
Enter my CrossFit days. Not getting the results from my gym and running routine, I decided that I needed some other type of routine to shock my body and get to where I need to be. I drove by a local box several times and finally broke the seal and dropped in. I left that first workout with the shock results I was looking for. My arms shook as I held the steering wheel driving home. Other parts of my body were energized like never before. I figured this was it. This was what I needed.
Comparison is the Thief of Joy
While I enjoyed this new workout, I found myself surrounded by people who were bigger and stronger than me. And younger than me. I felt like I should be able to do what they did if I put in my best effort. The result? Three injuries in the first year. It didn’t help that the coach did not try to pull me back. At times, he called me out for not doing things properly. Despite progress in some areas, I just could not do some movements like the Overhead Squat. It frustrated me that I could not get the technique down. I felt inferior to most others in that gym and figured working harder would get me to where I needed to be. I would master that movement, throw a 20-lb wall ball 50 times, get to unassisted pull-ups.
Bad News on the Horizon
I eventually found out that I had degenerative arthritis in both shoulders. The doctor told me that it was rare to see this in someone under the age of 50. He told me I was going to need shoulder replacement at some point, but to hang on as long as I could. So now I had a physical disability that prevented me from getting where I needed to be. But it didn’t slow me down. I continued to push myself and look for unrealistic results.
Finding Industrial Athletics
After a few years, something clicked in me. I was talking to a fellow gym member, and she told me, “I’m never going to R’x any workout, nor do I want to. It’s not about that. It’s about getting as much as you can from the workout that your body can handle.” At that point, I started to get less obsessed with doing the max reps, throwing around the max weight. I started to work within my limitations. About 10 years ago, I eventually left that gym and got to Industrial Athletics, finding a safe space. I saw the workouts posted at four levels – Platinum, Steel, Brass and Bronze. Seeing these levels showed me that everyone works at a different level, and that’s okay. It allowed me to work within my physical limitations that my shoulders and my age brought. It allowed me to adjust the workouts and feel good about what I was doing. Over time, I did feel good about what I was doing.
Invest in Yourself
As I moved into my 50s, I got to a place where I became less obsessed with the physical results. I now walk into the gym with such a different mindset. It comes from the realization that it’s not about the perfect body but rather doing your best every day. Part of getting to that mindset is this gym and these coaches. They talk to you, they watch you, they encourage you. Getting this attention day in and day out makes a difference both physically and mentally. The coaches make you feel valued. The tagline of Industrial Athletics is “Invest in Yourself.” The coaches “Invest in You.” I am grateful and appreciative of Industrial Athletics, as it has helped me in more ways than I ever expected from any gym. It got me to a happy place in terms of physical fitness, and a stable place in terms of mental and emotional fitness.
It’s been a journey, but I’m so happy with where I am at this stage in my life.
