Case Study: How to Train Someone Recovering from a Spinal Fusion
Kaleena
Hey Gymnazo listeners. I’m here with member Kenzie Kitson who has had a rockin road with us for the last year now, just over a year and she’s going to be talking with us today about her spinal cord injury and surgery and recovery process and how she’s managed that through Gymnazo and is now on the road to living a normal, normal, healthy, active lifestyle. Again.
Michael Hughes
Welcome to the Gymnazo podcast where you get to peek behind the curtains of what it takes to create and run a seven figure fitness facility that ranks in the top 5% of boutique fitness studios for revenue. But to be honest, that’s the least important thing about us. Founded by me, Michael Hughes, Gymnazo has created an ecosystem of services that blend performance with restoration techniques and attracts top coaches to its facility hosted by its owners Paden, and myself and our top coaches. This podcast shares our best practices on everything, from how to build a sustainable fitness business, to how to program for maximum results to how to build a hybrid training module that’s online and in person. We have marketing secrets, movement, innovation, and breaking down trends in the industry. If you’re a fitness professional or fitness business owner, this is where you learn how to sharpen your skills and to see maximum results.
Kaleena
Kenzie, welcome on in.
Kenzie
Hey, Kaleena, glad to be here.
Kaleena
All right, I would love you to kind of walk us through what happened. What happened with your injury, how it happened? What the prognosis was, yeah. Tell Tell us about that.
Kenzie
Sounds good. So yeah, about two and a half years ago, I was rock climbing and I was in an accident a little bit closer. And I was in an indoor gym, and I was doing a route I was about 15 feet high. And when I was coming down from the route, I was trying to get a little bit lower, so that I could comfortably jump from the wall onto the mat. And I was as I was coming down, I actually missed one of the rocks that was in the route and fell about 13 feet onto the mat. And in the fall, I actually landed directly on my butt and flew forward kind of in like a car accident motion almost. And on the way back from that I basically, compressed one of my vertebrae is into multiple pieces. And yep, and was then horizontal my back. So
Kaleena
yeah, that was that’s gnarly. And we just didn’t take you out the ambulance and everything.
Kenzie
Yeah. So initially, when I hit the ground, I heard like a loud cracking sound. And I initially thought that my like a tooth had come out. And so I like, ran my tongue along my mouth to check. And then once I realized that was gone, like I realized that there was back pain starting. And so at the time, I was like, totally flat my back, like, couldn’t get up, couldn’t do anything. And there was just like a voice inside my head going, don’t get up, don’t get up, like stay down. And so there was like people that rushed over right when they saw the fall. And they were like, alright, like, do you want us try to stand like, how do you feel? And I am so glad that I didn’t do that because it would have made things worse. Yeah. And so but at that point when I was like, No, I can’t stand they decided to bring the ambulance. Yeah. So yeah. And so I was rushed to the hospital at that point. And that was when they got the scans and everything. And they realized then that I’d had a burst fracture to my one. And so it had broken into seven pieces. And yeah, and one of those pieces was impinging on my spinal cord. And so they were just worried. I was within like, 30 minutes rushed into surgery at that point. Wow.
Kaleena
And could you like move your legs until your toes after the like, right when you fell or?
Kenzie
No. So I was kind of like, you just your brain kind of goes. It’s not logical at all. It just like completely went out. There was a lot of adrenaline that rushed in for me. So I didn’t really realize how hurt I was and I was kind of people kept kept asking me like, how much pain are you in? And I couldn’t really answer the question. I just knew that something was wrong and that, but you also kind of tried to downplay it too, because you just don’t know how bad it is. So I was like, Oh, I probably pulled a muscle or something,
Kaleena
pulled the muscle.
Kenzie
And I actually called my family from the gym and told them that I probably pulled a muscle and they were just still hold that conversation against me.
Kaleena
Yeah, I mean, like shattering your L one into seven pieces is totally different than pulling muscle. Exactly. So after, you know what was the surgery, like obviously you weren’t awake but no, what did they ended up doing to help prepare it?
Kenzie
Yeah. So they did a couple of different things. First, they had to sort of fix what was going on with my Oh, one vertebrae. So they put some bone cement into it, which is I don’t know if that’s a medical thing. But yeah. And they kind of put as many pieces as they could back together. However, there was like one piece, they couldn’t get to kind of fit into the vertebrae. And that was the piece that was hitting the spinal cord area. And so what they did was they removed part of my spine at that point, like one of the bones in the back, sort of to give them more room for my spinal cord to essentially move. Yeah. And then they fused five of my vertebrae together. So from L three to t 11. They put in two metal rods and a bunch of metal screws to kind
Kaleena
of hold it together. And that’s permanent, right? Those aren’t coming out
Kenzie
permanent heads never coming out. Some hardware in there. Yeah, some serious hardware, looking at the X rays after I was like, Oh, my gosh, yeah, that’s
Kaleena
gnarly. That is a lot of it’s a lot of mobility that gets taken away from your body. Yeah. You know, take us through, you know, what, what were the first few weeks of recovery? Like, you know, like coming out of that, obviously, you’re not moving too much. You know, what was it? What was the recovery? Like? What was waking up? Like? What was the first steps of PT for you, essentially,
Kenzie
yeah. So when you first wake up, you can’t move at all. So you’re like, hooked up to a catheter, everything’s like taking care of you. For you. I had to even call a nurse to get me to like, roll onto my side. So for the first like, five days, that’s kind of your reality. And then they get a brace for you at some, some point along that. And it’s, I was in a clamshell brace, which is basically a huge plastic brace that covers your whole top half of your body. And until they get that you really can’t move at all. So and at that point, they didn’t know if I was gonna walk. So it was kind of just like, we’ll see what happens. We’re, you know, waiting these first couple of days, we’ll see once we get the brace, like how you can move. And so that was the first week really, and you’re on a lot of painkillers, and there’s just so much going on. And so, for me, it was really like an out of body experience during that time, like I was watching myself go through it all. So
Kaleena
what was the original prognosis? Like, What did the doctors say?
Kenzie
Yeah, it was really unknown at first because they, they thought that it was impinging upon the spinal cord, which was why I was rushed into surgery so quickly. And then with a spinal cord, specifically, it’s hard to know like, what kind of damage you’re going to have, because everybody responds really differently. And it’s just hard to see on X rays, exactly how much damage has occurred. And so the prognosis was kind of, we’ll see once you can actually walk, and we’ll see how much your legs are moving. Um, after surgery, my left leg was like not responding super well. So they were mostly worried about that. But yeah, that was kind of the first couple days.
Kaleena
Yeah. How was that mentally for you? What was what was your state of mind immunity to you out of body experience? But once kind of, do you get past that point? You know, what was your mental state?
Kenzie
I think complete shock is like the word that I really use, I think you’re, you kind of feel a step behind everybody. Because everyone is telling you these things, and people around you are processing them. But really, for me, like I couldn’t get there as quickly as everybody else. So, you know, I remember my parents being there and really emotional about not being able to walk, but I was kind of like still catching up to the fact that it had even happened to me at all, you know, and so you just kind of it’s shock, it’s, you know, you’re also trying to survive this massive surgery that just happened to your body. So you’re, like, focused on that. And just dealing with the fact that you can’t move, it was just, it was really overwhelming. And also just like, totally, you’re just survival mode.
Kaleena
So when did it kind of hit you like, and what you were 27 28 28 28 breaks your back? has now these spinal rods in place? When did it kind of like occur to you like, my life might not be the same? And like having that? Because I’m sure there was like shock and then probably some fear and anxiety. Well, yeah, walk is like, when did that hit? When did that happen? Yeah.
Kenzie
I mean, there’s definitely moments in the hospital for sure, where you have this kind of, like, Oh, my life is never gonna be the same. But I would say like getting so when when I left the hospital, we, my family had to fly out to take care of me because you either have to do that or you have to like move into an assisted living place for like a couple of months. And I think getting out of the hospital was like one of the hardest things that I had ever done because you have to like get into a car somehow, even though you’re not allowed to like, bend lift to it. And so I think during that car ride was really like when it hit me like, Whoa, my life is not the same. Yeah. And it’s not going to be the same for probably at least a year and a half if not forever. And yeah, but there’s so many more means like that, that it hits you. Because your like lack of independence for the first couple of months is just ridiculous. Like, you just can’t do anything by yourself. So you feel definitely not 28. But you also feel like you’re three again. And you Yeah, it’s just a big life shift. So,
Kaleena
how long after before? Or how long after your surgery? Did you start physical therapy?
Kenzie
So I think it was about seven months after that I had my first physical therapy session, but I had occupational therapy in the first you know, three, four months.
Kaleena
Yeah. What what did you do for the the occupational therapy?
Kenzie
So a lot of it was like teaching you how to just survive without bending, lifting and twisting, which those motions are like you do in everything? Yep, literally everything. And so they would come and they would show me like, Okay, here’s how you can get milk from the fridge. And here’s how you can get into the shower, even though I couldn’t shower for the first like, month or so. But it was like after that they were teaching me like Okay, so once you go to do this, like, here’s how you’re gonna get over the side of the tub. Here’s how you’re going to like deal with, you know, this part of the shower and it just like literally your basics. Yeah,
Kaleena
like how to lift your leg and get up and over and wash your hair. cook, cook for yourself. Wipe your own butt. Like just all of it. Yeah. Oh, man. And so how long were your parents, your parents ate with you this whole time? So they were there with me for three months. Okay, yeah. And then after that is that kind of went occupational therapy kicked in, and the like, you have to start kind of on your own figuring it out.
Kenzie
Yeah, it was kind of a mix of both. Like they come in initially and teach you like the basics, because you still have to like, learn how to sit up and lay down and like do those things by yourself. So they came in for that. And then my parents took care of a lot of the time where I was not doing anything at all. And then yeah, they came back in and helped me again after like the official two month, three month timeframe of being down.
Kaleena
Looking back, what was maybe like the hardest thing physically you had to do? Solo? You know, in those first couple of months, when mom and dad aren’t there anymore, and you’re learning how to get milk out of the fridge? What was the hardest, like, physical physical thing for you to do?
Kenzie
Yeah, so like actual motion. I remember one day, because it usually was like one of them was with me, and one of them was gone. And I remember wondering, like, both of them were out of the house. And I like wanted coffee, like so bad. And it was like maybe in month two. So I was like, aware enough that I could get up and do some things. And I started like determined to make coffee by myself. And I went to do it. And I dropped one of the filters. Like the filter that I needed. Yeah. And so I like went to go pick it up. And I just remember, like, I don’t even know how to do this. I had to like grip myself on the side of the table last slowly, slowly, like not even bending over trying to stay so still on the top of my body. Like to get it and it was just I mean, it was just the hardest. It’s one of the hardest things that I had to do. But I mean, yeah, it was just because I hadn’t done that motion. And yeah,
Kaleena
yeah, I mean, I think most of us would have been like, you’re just gonna live there now. There’s gonna live there, and I’m gonna figure out something else. Yes. Some things that we don’t always talk about is the mental state of things and what your mental support group is like, how did you mentally get through all this? This is a lot to process at 28. And you know, not being able to bend over and do something as simple as pick up a coffee filter, you know, tie your shoes, and you were super active before, you know, what was your mental support? And how did you get through this like crazy hard time this probably what first year of your recovery?
Kenzie
Yeah, I think there isn’t much about until health support really, like a lot of the support you get from medical professionals is all physical, right? There’s not a lot of, it’s not like you get a psychologist that comes in and then helps you with all of this processing that you have of the super traumatic injury. So for me, it was really dealing with it on my own and kind of relying on friends and family to listen to some of the stuff but I didn’t even really like to do that that much. Because nobody really understands it like you are really on your own with it. It’s just this massive thing. And I did sort of seek out community for people that had had injuries like mine, but it’s also pretty unique that you’re not paralyzed from this injury. So there was a hard part to finding community within that as well. But for me, the hardest thing to deal with by far was the fear. Just I think once somebody tells you that you’re not going to walk again and then says, Okay, actually you can walk but be really careful. Don’t mess this up, because you might then not be able to walk.
Kaleena
Yeah, talk to us. Talk to us about what your doctors said because, you know, we’ve had conversations and it’s kind of like blows my mind as to the state of you know, obviously they they have concern for you, but it didn’t always feel like it was coming from this place of compassion, and feeling more about hearing what you couldn’t do versus what you could do.
Kenzie
Yeah, so I feel like most of my medical professionals really took a mindset of fixing me first and foremost. And then second, don’t take any risks like that was just such a common.
Kaleena
Me. So when you say fix me, like structurally Yes, like structurally like, okay, so
Kenzie
you have a broken bone, we’re going to just fix that. But what you can do after we fix that good luck, we don’t know, you know. So that was really hard for me, because you are so broken at that time and in so much pain, and just so many things about your life have shifted, and so you’re wanting guidance and help and just the medical professionals didn’t really give me that it just wasn’t part of their plan, their their job was surgery. And that was what they did. And so I had a lot of surgeons tell me like, Okay, you’re gonna get to a year or a year and a half. And that’s where you’re going to be for forever. So whatever you can do at that point is where you’re at. And that was so hard to hear. Because, you know, you’re and I a year to a year and a half seems like a long time. But also, at that point, I just really didn’t have very much back. And so yeah, yeah, where
Kaleena
were you at a year post op?
Kenzie
Yeah. So, gosh, a year post op, I think I was still only walking and had only done like a couple of like three mile walks most and I had bending and lifting and twisting back. But I was in so much pain at that point, like, everything caused me pain, it was a lot of like, nerve pain that was was happening. And so yeah, I was freaked out at a year. I was like, if this is gonna be the rest of my life, like
Kaleena
wobbly. Who wants to live like that? Yeah.
Kenzie
So and I had a lot of surgeons also telling me that like, being active was not an option, right, there was a lot of fear, like in their eyes, and just they I feel like they feel responsible for you not making you know, choices later on that, you know, result in more pain or result in more injuries. And so they basically tell you don’t do anything, right, stay away from anything where you could get hurt again, you know, and for me, somebody who skis and bikes and hikes and does all these things that was just like, wait, what, like, you can’t tell me that
Kaleena
this outdoor active Colorado born raised girl who’s now in the peak of California with all this fun outdoor stuff. And just to be told, like, by the way, you can’t do any of that ever again.
Kenzie
Yes. And I had just moved to California, like a year, like not even a year before the injury. So like, I had just taken my first surf lesson before this happened, like just things that, you know, I wanted to do wanted to see. And then here are these, you know, qualified people right telling me like, Nope, never gonna happen. Yeah, good luck.
Kaleena
And it’s such a relatively young age. That’s just defeating. demoralizing,
Kenzie
yes, because then you picture your whole life, which I mean, hopefully is a long time, but you know, you think about those things, and you’re like, wow, so I’m never gonna be able to get on my road bike again, I’m never going to be able to do that. And, you know, you have to make this decision between like choosing to live in fear and listening to, you know, these medical professionals or trying to figure out some alternative.
Kaleena
So let’s get into how, when they shouldn’t say, when did you start with Gymnazo? How far postop? Did you start with Gymnazo? And how do you how did you find out about us?
Kenzie
Yeah, so I started with Gymnazo, about a year and a half exactly after my surgery. And I found out about Gymnazo, actually, through a friend. And at that point, I had really exhausted like, all of my options in the Central Coast, I had been to a couple of gyms and a couple of like, personal trainers in the area. And a lot of them were like, scared to work with me or just didn’t know how and so I was feeling really frustrated, and express that to my friend. And he was like, Well, have you heard of Gymnazo? You know, it’s a really great place. They do a lot of pain management work. They do a lot of recovery work from injuries, and I thought, Okay, well, that sounds great. Yeah. And so, so I like remember googling gymnasts and seeing on the website, like all of the, you know, information in regards to pain management, which was really appealing to me at that point. But then also that it was a real gym, it was doing this work that you know, was also focused in physical fitness and getting health back to Yeah. But what really stood out to me honestly, was that there was like mention of the mind and how it affected movement on the website. And for me, like, that was just not something that I had seen anywhere else. And that was a big deal to me, right? Because I’m sitting here with all this fear about being active and what to do. And all the personal trainers I had met with up until that point, were just as scared as I was. And so I’m thinking like, Okay, I need I need somebody who’s not as afraid of me, you know, I need someone that’s going to help me get through that and so I was hoping that Gymnazo would be that Yeah, yeah,
Kaleena
it’s I think it’s written somewhere in this building Mind Body Soul. That is our our mantra for how to how to train, you know, you can’t train the body without training the mind. And that’s good for the soul. But all it’s good for the soul. What was your so I believe you you worked with Michael first he was your first you know, he’s the guru. So he was the guy when when you say we need to find somebody who’s confident working with somebody like that Michael’s easily hands down most experienced by far. And I always say he’s, he’s the best he makes you feel? Great, at least personally. What was your first experience walking in these doors? Meeting Michael? And like, talk us through that first session?
Kenzie
Yeah, absolutely. Well, so I actually signed up with Michael because he was the owner of the gym. So I was like, anybody knows this, like it better be him. And so I remember walking in the gym and meeting him initially. And the first 30 minutes of our session was like, just him asking me questions about my life, right? Like, how is the surgery impacted you? How is your movement now like, really just getting into the depth with me. And honestly, like, that meant everything in that first session, because so many people hadn’t really cared or didn’t know how to talk about it, or just didn’t have the like vocabulary and words to do so. And so that made a lot of difference to me, initially, and then, yeah, we walked through movement at that time, and it’s like the 3d movement assessment that you all do. And I just remember barely being able to get through like basic movements. I mean, like the lunge warmup, for example, I think Michael took me through the, you know, all the different places, and there was literally parts of the warmup that I couldn’t even do, like couldn’t even especially like bending anything that were involved, like, bending over backwards kind of was just not an option. Yeah. And so yeah, and I remember being so sore after that, which is so funny. Now I do the lunge warm up, like every day, you know,
Kaleena
yeah. Not pain, but just sore from just doing that little bit of movement. Exactly. Oh, love it. And then so after that first session, like what was like, tell us about how this was like a beacon of hope. You know, why? Why was it that way? Why, why pick us? Why stay with us?
Kenzie
Well, I think part of the first session and ongoing throughout that month with Michael and then even transitioned over to being coached by you like, one thing that consistently always impressed me was like, how much knowledge you all had about the body in general, like, I felt like I learned more about my injury and what had happened to me and how it was moving from that first two months with you all than I had in almost my entire injury before, which sounds wild, but it’s just that in the medical field, they’re not always educating you on how the body moves, or why it might be acting a certain way. And I feel like Gymnazo did such a good job for me of saying, this might be why this isn’t working, or this might be an option for helping you, you know, move better. And so, yeah, that was huge. And so that’s like, one of the reasons that I’ve stayed or, you know, stayed with Gymnazo. But as far as it being, like, a beacon of hope, I think there’s a lot I mean, there’s so many reasons that that was there. I think, like I said, nobody was really willing to work with me, but also just, I think, work with me to accomplish the goals that I wanted to achieve, right to get back to skiing and hiking, and all of those things. Like really, there was just no other way that I knew how to at that point, besides doing it by myself. And so it seemed like alright, well, I’m going to take a chance on this place that just might be able to help me and then you know, just has been so helpful. Sounds so good. Yeah.
Kaleena
So I think my first interaction with you is through semi private just popped into my class was like, sweet Michael had a sheet written out for you. And I don’t know if I like just didn’t read over like the details. Or Michael didn’t lay it out in depth. Because usually, you know, you have somebody who’s got such a major injury. We’re like, Hey, guys, by the way, like she’s popping into your session. Here’s the rundown. This is what we’ve been doing. And that didn’t happen. But obviously Michael is comfortable enough like we’ve got this handled like she’s gonna be just fine. So I think we worked with you. We said we looked back February 18 2020 was my first session with you. And then pandemic hit and I think maybe we had to in person sessions and they were just like, oh, normal sessions like walking just goes right through the program. Okay, tweaking for things that didn’t feel right. And then we started doing virtual all virtual through the pandemic, we got you set up for your equipment at home, like it’ll tell Polly the dormitory background like, Okay, here’s what we go and I very distinctly remember, like, at one point, like, oh, you said, Oh, my back is some sort of injury and I was like, Oh, well tell me about it. And then when you feel like Oh, I’m fused, I shattered my back’s like, I’m sorry. What? How did I because it you had so much joy and you still move like you were stiff, which is just like we get a lot of people who are just stiff and don’t have good hip mobility, thoracic spine mobility. So that’s what we focused on was getting those things moving better. But never did it come up that you were like this completely broken person at that point in time. And I was so like mind blown, because you were always so happy and had so much faith in yourself. And we’re just happy to be there happy to do the work. Like you have never known that you had this, like, physically and mentally debilitating injury happen. And then it was like, oh, man, now I actually got even more excited because like, Will, she’s getting better every day, we were like finding new things and finding new ways to tweak and going, Okay, this doesn’t feel good. So what’s going on here, and really like with your injury and where you’re fused, you know that that kind of that major, lower half of your lumbar or the whole lumbar spine, thoracic spine, you know, there’s nothing we can do about that. There’s nothing we can do about the rods, those are just there, you know, we’re only going to get so much motion from those vertebrae, or none at all. But we can keep the muscles around it moving well, we can keep the hips moving. Well, we can fix like the upper thoracic and your cervical spine. And just through the science of understanding how those work, we came up with all these badass programs to help you move better. And your goal was man and Marie, your very first goal is like clean, I want to I want to hike, like I want to hike again, without pain. And he said, Okay, we’re gonna build up your strength, we’re going to build up your mobility, you know, getting you up hill was a whole lot different than walking on flat ground. So it was a whole different kind of training process. And then kind of just seeing you succeed. I very distinctly remember getting that first text review, like clean up. I just hiked Madonna for the first time with no back pain. And it just one of the big I know you had a big smile on your face. But I had the just the biggest smile because I was so happy for you. I think one thing that people don’t always realize if you’ve never had an injury, or had something that stops you from doing what you love, like pain is a major driver. But we take movement for granted 100% of the time. And until you experience something traumatic. It doesn’t have to be a back injury, even knee injury where you can’t do something as simple as hike. And then you get that back. It just is such a big relief. Like how did you feel after that first? Hike those those that first big win because I think that was one of the first big wins you had.
Kenzie
Totally Yeah. And it’s funny you say like the biggest smile on your face, you know, but it’s it Gymnazo was like, once I started with you all you were with me when I was doing those milestones, you know. And so like we I remember working on hiking, and it was it was so cool in session to see like, okay, Kaleena is thinking about the muscles I need to make stronger here and which part of the body needs to be able to do this so that I can successfully make it up this mountain without any pain. And so then I’m on the mountain actually hiking and I’m like Kaleena is there with me, doing this accomplishing helping me accomplish this huge goal. And I feel like that has it was just so true in that moment, and that you were like one of the first people that I wanted to text after because I was like you made it possible so that I was prepared to do it. Right? It was like I walked. And it’s funny because I remember even walking up to that hike, being like, I know, I can do this, because we’ve done all of these things in session that were there that have prepared me for this moment. And that’s something that Gymnazo has always given me since that moment, too, is like, anytime I go to face something new, it gives me this confidence, like, No, we’ve been working on this in session, I know I can do this. And then the actual activity ends up being so much easier because we’ve done all this work prior to even getting there. Yeah. And that was just huge. And so yeah, like, and then the community that comes with it. I mean, just having people that believed in me, too, that helped me face these new challenges. Because for so much of it, you’re on your own most of the time. And when you’re really injured, you really like don’t have people that are there with you helping you figure out all these small choices. And so Gymnazo was so great, because I could come into session and be like, Hey, this is what’s hurting and not, you know, like, I want to be able to do this. Can you help me get there? And then you would and then I’d go do it? And it would be like, so easy. And that was just amazing.
Kaleena
Yeah, yeah, we focused a lot on training your body for what we call out of sync motion. So your hips go one way and your thoracic spine goes the other way, which actually is biomechanical what happens when we walk. So like hiking or running is actually going to be probably a more intense version of that because our body wants to load in rotation to give us more help, it’s easier, but with your body. We don’t have a lot of that we’re locked in that was something that we tried to focus on. We broke it down into bits and pieces, starting with the hips, just being able to mobilize them starting with the thoracic spine, being able to mobilize it as much as we could. And then building strength around that then starting to drip in more kind of what we call out of sync or being able to get you to rotate one way versus the other way with the with the upper and lower half. And we progressed for I’m hiking to then it was running we wanted to run. How long had it been since you had done any running until the day we got you to actually just go for a run?
Kenzie
Like, I think I a year and a half for sure. I think a year and a half I had like slightly jogged down a hallway at most. Yeah. And then that was when we started training for it. So it was it was brand new to me. And yeah, I remember telling you like, oh, yeah, like, I went for a run, or I’m going to try to run and you’re like, okay, okay, we’re gonna write that into that we’re like preparing for that. And I was like, Oh, good. I should probably tell her when I go to do these things next time. And that was, but it was another one of those moments where I was like, Oh, they care like what I’m doing outside of the gym, too. Yeah. So
Kaleena
we have to prepare your body, you know, for, for what it does. Our philosophy is like, you have to train the motion in order to be able to do it, if you don’t train it. And then you’re not gonna be able to do it successfully, you might want to do it, but not very successfully outside of here. So for somebody who’s gone as gone through as much as you had, like, let’s slick moderately prepare for impact running as impact, you know, we had not done any impact. Anything that was jarring that could possibly be jarring for your back at all. I’m like, Okay, well, we gotta at least get that going more more power, because again, that spring phase, going from one foot to the next foot. Definitely gonna get in there. Because the last thing we want is for you to come in on Monday, me like, I can’t, you know, or to hurt all over. for that. I remember one of the another big moment was doing that. Taking a viper and just doing a wrap around doing the going behind the head and that whole wraparound and I was on virtual, and I had you do it, and we had been slowly prepping you. That’s kind of the beauty of some of our workouts is we disguise it. You know, we might do it with a single arm reach, but biomechanically, we know your spine is going through all the motions of what we’re going to the end product, which is a wrap around, and we prepare you for it for like three to four weeks. Then all of a sudden, like okay, Kenzie, hey, I want you to take the Viper and watch you do this big ol wraparound. And I remember seeing your eyeballs like looking at me on the computer screen. Like, she’s freaking crazy. There’s no friggin way. I’m doing this, it was like, just go slow. Like, we’re gonna take it nice and easy and a little wraparound. And then you did it. And your eyes popped out of your head again. And then you but you were smiling. And you were like, I cannot believe that. I just did that. Because it just took a lot of motion that again, like you what, six months prior couldn’t bend over to pick up a coffee filter. And here you are wrapping around 13 pounds. Like it’s no big deal.
Kenzie
Yeah, I remember that day, too. It was a big, it was really big win for me. And I remember exactly that, like feeling of just clean is gonna make me do this. Not in like a I can’t do it way. It was just, uh, oh my gosh, this is this is new. This is something but again, like, once I did it, I was like, of course Gymnazo prepared me exactly for that moment, just like it does every time, you know. And so it was just it was so cool. And being able to share that, especially in a virtual space. Because at that time it was, you know, the pandemic. Yeah, it was this weird time, but being able to share that again with you and be like, okay, yeah, like I can do these things. It’s possible.
Kaleena
Yeah. And then even like, I mean, we’ve had those milestones. Gosh, rope flow was such a cool milestone and be able to kind of freely flow without having to hold a lot of tension, you don’t realize like when people are in pain, we just hold on, we tense up because we don’t want to experience that. So our body can’t necessarily relax or then relaxing almost becomes uncomfortable because your tissues are so used to holding tension. Didn’t even know how to relax anymore. But getting you to rope flow was like this. Oh, whoa, it was the it was this mindless movement where you didn’t have to think about holding tension, like and now you talk about how much you love rope flow.
Kenzie
Yeah, I It’s my favorite activity that I’ve learned from Gymnazo. Just because I think every time I do it, I learned something new about the way that my body is moving, right. And it kind of almost feels like it’s opening up another section of my body each time I practice or especially when I learn a new move within it, right. And that has just been such a relief for me and a way to be really mindful with my movement. I think post injury, like you really have to focus on everything that is happening with your body more than you ever have before. Because you don’t want to get hurt again, you want to be really careful. And so for me, that’s something that’s been a huge part of the journey and then to have this activity that sort of just allows you to be like totally in it with your body and like it’s you and your mind and you’re moving and it’s just you’re focused on it 100% And for me that was just like this meditative like special place to be and so I think that playing around with that has been amazing and learning the new moves is like this new challenge that I also am just like totally committed to doing and I want to figure it out with my body. So it’s just been it’s just been really cool. Yeah,
Kaleena
yeah, well, cash now there’s so many good milestones. I keep remembering paddleboarding. Oh my gosh, how the morning. You know, with pandemic there’s only so much that we can do and being outside paddleboard was one of them and we said, Okay, this is new. This is going to be a good challenge feeder locked in upper body has to rotate. But I think we can get you to go and do this. Walk us through because your programming was designed for paddleboarding. Walk us through how that prepared you walk us through, you know we hit a little snag in some places, and then getting back onto paddleboarding.
Kenzie
Yeah, so paddleboarding is one of those activities where I wish I had informed you earlier on that I was gonna start doing it too because I jumped into paddleboarding pretty quickly and had actually been out on the water and had hurt myself a little bit and my low back like pulled a muscle or some something was going on, and then had to get back to shore. And I remember the whole time I was paddling back to shore, like just I was thinking in my head, like I should have told CCleaner that I was going to do this. But yeah, so a slight setback like in the beginning, just kind of dealing with a new motion. But then we started building strength for it. And the cool part was, like you said earlier, like Gymnazo disguises like what they’re doing sometimes just so that you’re as you’re building strength, you don’t even know you’re building strength for a certain activity. And that’s how it was for me it paddleboarding. Like sometimes it was obvious we were like doing actual paddling. Yeah, but other times we were building core and like doing these other you know, muscle groups that really was, you know, crucial to being successful at the sport, but I just didn’t know it at the time. So, so yeah, so we worked on it what for like three months, and it was I would say like I tried again, like a month and a half into it and was able to like successfully get out there with no pain like yeah, muscle pulling. And it was just I mean, it was amazing. Yeah, that was a huge victory, especially because paddleboarding, like it uses your spine area, your back area so much I took that for granted, like how involved the spine was in it. And so to be able to like bend down, rotate, and, you know, pull yourself through the water. It just took a lot. And so, yeah,
Kaleena
well, what was cool is that you had enough confidence in your body to just jump into it. So I mean, but that’s, you know, you talk about how you think about everything. But you were at this point, you’re like, Oh, I could do this, you know. So it is cool that you have that confidence in yourself or like I can do this again. So and then we got to go paddleboarding. And I took out the Chi, could you count the paddle board and we had a great session. No pain just rocked it
Kenzie
totally. And that was the first time in the ocean with you as well. That’s right, a fun, fun milestone.
Kaleena
And then your most recent milestone, which I think was a lot more mental, as somebody who grew up skiing in Colorado, just always out there every year and then having this traumatic accident now what almost three years ago, and just got onto the slopes again. Two weeks ago, weeks ago. Yeah. And how to mentally and physically prepare you I remember actually, when you were like, Hey, I’m going to try skiing. I was like, why did she not tell us like three months ago? We’ve been doing Whoo, a more skis. Civic training is it’s a whole different ballgame. And I just thought it was like, alright, we’re totally gonna. We’re gonna dial this in now. We got like, it’s like, how long do we have three weeks? Yeah, okay, Kenzie. Thank you. But, but we made it work, and we rocked it. What was it? Like, you know, even in your training in here? What was like, mentally? Where were you at?
Kenzie
Yeah, so obviously, the fall, you know, once you break your back doing an exercise that involves falling, the, the fear of falling is really real. And so for me, whiskey, that was the thing I was most worried about was just like, Okay, how do I how do I fall? How do I get comfortable with falling? And, you know, and also, how do I not fall to you know, like, help me build the strength so that I can get down the mountain without just you know, totally wiping out. But yeah, and then you all like literally built a program for me that involves some like, of that falling and like testing very safely this way that I can kind of get through that feeling of like, fear of being out of control. Right. And so, I think we did what like goalie exercises is what you call them where we were like holding a soccer ball and kind of like laying onto the mat and like lapsi collapse and
Kaleena
collapse diving for Dizzy who ever played soccer?
Kenzie
Um, so yeah, so that was like really awesome because it got me through some of the mental side of of facing this milestone because yeah, like you said, I grew up skiing, I was, you know, slightly worried about it coming back, but I was more worried about getting up there and just panicking totally on the mountain and not being able to get down and just, I don’t know, that part was just really scary for me. And so I didn’t necessarily know if Janaza would be able to like help me with that side of it either. Even though I knew that you all you know, care about how the mind impacts movement. I wasn’t sure like, can they actually help me with fear of falling you know, I remember asking like, can you just put Just me over and you’re like, No. So yeah, but that was awesome. Because then when I went up there, I was like, Alright, we’ve done at least the small amount of getting comfortable with this motion. So you can do this.
Kaleena
Yeah. And so what was it like after hitting that first run? Home, man,
Kenzie
it was, it was amazing. And I think I got up there. And I was worried, like, just, I think the anticipation of something like that is so intense. And I remember we took the gondola up to, like, avoid the chairlift. And at the top, I was like, Oh my gosh, like, I have to get down this mountain, for better or worse, like, I have to make it down. And I like looked into my skis and like, went for it. And it was like, it just all came back. And it was right there. And I think that just so much relief, like set in after that. And then I just was like, Okay, well, we need to go do harder things. Like we need to get up and start facing more steeper mountains with no goals and all this stuff and just went for it. And I think throughout the day, there was plenty of times where I was still scared, you know, but I think for me throughout this, this journey, it’s just been a process of saying like, okay, it’s okay to be scared. Just don’t let it stop you from doing the things that you love. And Gymnazo has been right there with me and sort of saying like, okay, yeah, you’ve got not only this community behind you, supporting you, but also this like, Hey, we’ve prepped you for this physically. So like, let’s go. Yeah. And that was just just so many like good feelings coming out of it.
Kaleena
Awesome. So what happened after your first fall then on the slopes? How did that mentally invisibly go? Like? Were you lying there afterwards? Like wiggling your toes going? Okay, we’re good. Like, what happened to that?
Kenzie
Yeah. So it’s kind of just like mental game at first, where you’re just my whole body just like tensed a little bit like, oh, my gosh, okay, you’re hitting the ground off like this. Yeah, you know, scary. But I think for me, like after, yes, there was, I mean, not a panic of like, Oh, I’m in a spinal injury again, but just like, is anything hurt? You know, like, is there any feeling that I have? That’s like, not, you know, normal. Yeah. And once I like assessed the body, it was like, okay, you’re okay, this is gonna be okay. Like, you can move forward. And this is, you know, survivable. So, I think, again, that’s a tribute to like, how much I’ve dealt with facing my fear, like you said earlier, like, you know, you came into the session smiling and like, being happy about where I was out with life. And I think that took so much work to get to those things, right. It’s like it takes facing fear. It takes, you know, being able to manage the fear in so many ways. And so when I fell, it was like, Well, yeah, you’ve been practicing this just as much as you’ve been practicing any kind of physical activity. So of course, you’re ready for like this. Yeah, managing that. So
Kaleena
it’s so good. Kenzi. So good. Like I’m fully a believer in mental toughness, and you’re easily one of the most mentally tough people I’ve ever met. Because this is, I cannot say that I would be in the same boat as you. And how much work that that takes every single moment of every single day to to come in and to do the work and to not have all this not just self doubt, but self pity, or to be negative about this, like, you’re truly an inspiration to so many people in this facility, like not just us, but just people who all of a sudden hear your story or who didn’t know. And they’re like, wait, what, like, I cannot believe this. And so it’s been really incredible to see your growth over the last year, like exponential growth to like going from like coming in and not being able to press weight up overhead, like not not even a five pound 10 pound power block overhead press from going from not being able to do that to frickin skiing and have a boarding like, what an epic transformation, it’s been truly inspirational to see. But what I really want to know is what’s next? What’s the next what’s the next Fear Factor? We’re tackling? Like, what’s the next expedition that you have lined up?
Kenzie
Oh, my gosh, well, it’s a big one. So for me, I really want to climb again, it’s been a long time, obviously. But it’s also this, this action, that act of climbing just holds a lot of power right now. And I just feel like it doesn’t need to hold power because it is something that I can do and that you know, with a training and everything is not you shouldn’t even be a hard physical act, right? It’s more so the mental side of it. And so, right now just kind of wanting to prep to get there so that I can do it. And that’s that’s the next goal. And honestly, I’m really I’m pretty excited about it. I’m gonna make it kind of a big deal. Like my parents are gonna come out because they helped me so much to like throughout the injury. Yeah. So they’re gonna come out and we’re gonna like go and I want to climb where I fell as well. So going back and just doing it not in the exact same place because I want to be hooked up to a rope. Yeah, but yeah, so and doing that and so yeah, that’s kind of the biggest thing. I think there’s gonna be a lot of fear thinking wasn’t to it, but a lot of closure as well. But I’m hoping to get out of it. So
Kaleena
over this whole thing, what’s kind of been your biggest takeaway from the whole experience?
Kenzie
Yeah, this question is a great one. And so for me, I think the biggest thing is probably a, like a sense of gratitude for life. Like, it’s, it wasn’t a near death experience, but it was a near like, losing everything experience for me. And so really, in every activity that I do, like small, like getting into the shower, or big, like going on a run, like I just don’t take it for granted anymore. It’s just there’s this underlying sense of gratitude that’s just there all the time, that is inspiring me to, to work hard. And it’s funny, like in cardio workouts, for example, now, like, when I start to get tired, or my heart rate, like, you know, gets up into those high levels, there’s literally like this voice inside of my head that kicks in, like, you could be paralyzed right now, like, just keep going. And then you also think like, there are other people who are paralyzed, like, just keep working like that could have changed your life so much. And so it’s almost like this zone that I get into with it, that is just, it’s so motivates me to do the things that I want. And just like take advantage of all those opportunities. And so that’s a big part of it. And I mean, people often, like laugh at me when I say this, but like, I actually am very grateful that this injury happened to me, like I have learned so much. I take things with just such a different perspective and attitude. And I’m so much more grateful for everything that I have. And it’s just made me a stronger person for all of those reasons. And so, yeah, like, it’s crazy, but it’s real. And for sure, all of those things. And I don’t know, I don’t believe that everything happens for a reason. That’s like, not how I see the world. But I do believe that you like make meaning out of what happens to you. And you can sit there and say, like, this sucks, and it’s the worst thing ever. Or you can say like, Okay, I’m gonna get through this, I’m gonna find a way to make it meaningful. And I think the second way, that way, has made it a lot better for my life. And so, you know, it’s up to you, and you choose what you want to do with it. And
Kaleena
so powerful, surely, such a good mindset. And it’s a hard mindset. And like, you clearly put a lot of time and work into doing that not, you know, aside from the physical aspect. For anybody else who has suffered, you know, a spinal injury. What do you wish you had known or done differently?
Kenzie
Yeah, this is jords. Yeah, this is a big question. Because I feel like there’s so much during the time that you don’t know, right, like, you don’t really know how your body is going to recover, you don’t really know what’s going on exactly physically with you. In theory, like, it should be easy to figure out, but it’s just not. And so I think what I would say to anyone who’s like, in the position, in a similar position to what I was in, is just that you’re not alone. Like, there’s someone out there somewhere, especially here at Gymnazo that will help you or that wants to listen and just, you know, try to help you figure it out with help you figure it out. And I think for me, like, I just, I did lean on people some but I kind of wish I had more throughout the time and just being able to like advocate for myself and what I needed and I feel like that’s something that I’m learning at this gym to is just how to communicate my pain or communicate what I want. Because if I can communicate it, then they can help me more and just all of those different pieces. And so I think just yeah, like I would say to anyone that is going through that, like just give it a shot, like let somebody in let someone help you. You just never know how far it’s gonna take you
Kaleena
love it. Okay Kenzie, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. Is there anything else that you wanted to share?
Kenzie
I don’t think so. I just am really grateful for you all and you know, seriously like this gym has been a place that has changed my life in the best way so you know grateful for this community like especially like you said the members are you know, involved as well. It’s just been so nice to have the support from all of the coaches and all of the people here so
Kaleena
good. Well, we are constantly rooting for you and I hope to be at that you’re climbing party. I will be there for sure waiting to celebrate that moment with you because we know it’s gonna come and you know a lot of people hate pull ups but I think you’re gonna like the pull up so we have programmed into your your workouts from here on out. You’re gonna you’re gonna hate it and you’re gonna love it all at the same time. Yeah. Well, Kenzie, thanks for joining us and we’ll catch you next time.
Michael Hughes
Sounds good. Thanks. Hey all. I hope you guys enjoyed today’s episode. And if you did, please share it with your fitness obsessed friends and peers who are also navigating this world of fitness and trying to succeed the trends and misinformation. As you guys can see this podcast is basically a masterclass for trainers wanting to level up in their coaching skills and their fitness business model. We launched this in 2020 because you and your fitness tribe deserved See an unfiltered look at all the aspects of what it takes to stand out as a next generation coach, and build a successful fitness business. So, share it far and wide. And please, when you do, do me a favor, take a screenshot of this screen and share it to your social media accounts and use the hashtag Gymnazo podcast, that’s hashtag Gymnazo podcast that way we can see you and share your posts with our audience. And finally, when you’re ready to go to the next level as a coach, or in your business, and to reach more people, please go check out gymnazoedu.com. We have put together the best 90 Day coaching program on the market for trainers wanting to become a masterful practitioner, and build a business that gives them the freedom and impact. So let us help you do just that. We have online training and one on one coaching to guide you through a full 90 Day certification. We even get you training our clients live because it’s always better to work out your kinks on someone else’s clients than yours. But we promise you this, your clients will be blown away by the transformation our program will help you make you’ll be masterful at a whole new level and part of an incredible community of coaches worldwide, taking their skills to the next level. So if you thought to this episode, it had some fire to it and inspires you to take action. Wait until we see what we deliver on this program. So just go to gymnazoedu.com. And we’ll see you on the other side. Remember that turning your passion for fitness into transformation and sustainable business is critical to reaching the people and lives you were put on earth to help it matters and truly can make an impact in other people’s lives. So hope you do that. Keep sharing a passion and we’ll talk to you soon.
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