My TELOS Experience Has Now Become One Part of My Pre-surgical Preparation…

I joined TELOS in 2003 needing to drop some pounds and get myself back into shape. At that time I was four years into learning my left hip had fairly advanced osteoarthritis (the breakdown and eventual loss of joint cartilage). My doctor advised me to eliminate high impact activities to preserve what cartilage remained, so it had been a while since I had done my regular favorites like running and basketball.

TELOS was the perfect place to regain the conditioning I had lost and it worked great from me. For the first several years as a member I was fairly self-directed with my workouts. I would rely on a TELOS trainer to design my program and show me proper technique then I would exercise on my own until time to update. Group classes like yoga added variety into my program and helped me maintain some flexibility despite the arthritis effects.

Since last summer however, I changed that approach and much to my benefit started trusting my entire routine to TELOS Ortho-Kinetics® Trainer/Therapist Paige Cervantes. With severe arthritis now in both hips I was at a point where the workouts I tried on my own were causing more pain than they relieved. I was struggling to maintain some level of fitness and unsure what options I had when Paige approached me one morning, offering her help if I ever needed it.

Fortunately I took her up on her offer and over the course of several sessions Paige constructed one of the most challenging workouts I ever experienced. (I joked it was my pre-hab routine). She built a program of exercises incorporating the same machines I had used countless times before but in completely new positions and postures. She started challenging muscles that long ago “shut down” as she puts it, but that she knew were vital to me regaining functional mobility and range of motion. We celebrated together on those mornings where we got one more degree of hip rotation and went back to the design stage when some new muscle group quit functioning. Paige also introduced me to the joy of MAT (Muscle Activation Technique). Yes it hurts, but what a difference it makes on those days when nothing else works!

Paige’s efforts were miracle work and even other members and trainers said they noticed I was moving better and limping less after just a couple months. I wish it were possible to permanently reverse the effects of arthritis but despite our gains I have finally scheduled the joint replacement surgery I have dreaded and delayed for so long. I am having both hips redone in one day (in fact, with an orthopedic surgeon I met through another TELOS member and good friend). My TELOS experience has now become one part of my pre-surgical preparation and with Paige’s perseverance in keeping my ever changing program aligned with my arthritis challenges I know she will have me ready. There isn’t a resource better equipped than Paige or TELOS to help me overcome this hurdle and reach my goals.

And lastly, one final comment about what makes TELOS so special for me – it is the friendships and company of so many of the 5-to-7am, weekday members, trainers and staff. Knowing all those familiar faces will be there day after day makes the dark morning drives so much easier. It’s like exercising at Cheers (without the beer of course) with your friends from The Breakfast Club, and it is these friends who make TELOS a truly special place to belong.