Tough Love to Rid Pain!

As a trainer it is tough to see a client not feel great, there are days when they feel no aches and days when they do. When my clients come to me with an achy whatever all I want to do is asses the problem and help in the best way I know how. Sometimes I can help with stretches, or mobility work, and other times it is with words, calm understanding non stressful or worrisome words. Yesterday was a great example of what a day of pain can turn into. I have a great client that has been with me for 3 years. We have made great improvements in his workouts and lifestyle. He originally came to me with terrible back pain and we used Pilates and nutrition to cure it. This time it was different. He was coming in late, canceling sessions, and not loving exercise anymore. He needed to get out of a funk, and fast. If he kept up with this mental mushy attitude all the work we did would be gone. The only thing I could think of to get him to snap out of it is to realize that there are going to be days of pain as we get older (he is 72), we need to make the necessary adjustments to the workouts, be grateful that you can still do things you enjoy (cycle, run, hike). He looked at me quiet at first but thanked me for the verbal loving smack in the face. He left the session pain free and ready to take on the rest of the day. So sometimes it is not about the exercise to help aleviate pain it is getting out of your head and listiening to tough love.