My Freestyle Wrestling Comeback - and a 30 Year Old Grudge Match

 The van full of wrestlers was about a half an hour from Calgary en route from Edmonton. The assistant coach Vang looked back from the front passenger seat and made an announcement. "The dual tournament starts at 6:00 pm. We are running slightly behind. Start warming up as soon as we arrive."  The he looked right at me and said "Are you pumped Bobby. After all these years, its finally Show Time!"
   My head quickly snapped up from a relaxed, recline position. Peaceful travel bliss was suddenly replaced by physical shock.  " B-b- but I thought the duals were only for the varsity wrestlers. I'm just a club wrestler. I don't suit up until tomorrow!"
   "We knew how raring to go you were." replied Vang. "We got you an exhibition match." 
A stomach churning, sickly, overwhelming feeling of impending disaster suddenly possessed my whole being - body, mind, and soul!  "It's just that I was mentally prepared for tomorrow." I protested.
"Re-prepare yourself!"  a veteran varsity wrestler shouted snidely. Easy for him to say. This would be my first wrestling match in over 15 years and at a much higher skill level.
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The van pulled into a dilapidated looking recreation center in a seedy part of town just south of the Calgary stampede grounds. I felt like I was on my death march as I trudged from the van across the parking lot. I looked to the west. If it were daytime and clear, the Rocky Mountains were be visible on the horizon. That's where a sane person my age would be - off in the mountains skiing, not trying to be a middle aged gladiator. We walked down into a basement area of the building into what would surely be the site of my last days in this world. It felt as though I had descended into a barbaric scenario of human cock fighting. I could envision high dollar wagers being placed against me like a short trader betting against Nortel stock. "Gadzooks! What have I done!" I said to myself.
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How had it all come to this? Blame it on a mid life crisis! My government job was Dullsville! The last relationship had hit the rocks with extreme force. My track and field and road running days were in decline. Beer league hockey and the weight room were great but for some reason I longed for more. I kept thinking back to my high school days in Ottawa when I was the city novice wrestling champion. My university had no wrestling team. Maybe amateur wrestling was my true calling, even after over a decade and a half. Maybe I could've been a contender!
 One day I ran into the then University of Alberta wrestling coach, Mike Payette, by the running track.He was from my hometown of Ottawa. I inquired about working out with the grapplers. "We always need fresh meat and more throwing dummies!" Mike replied. "Every one is welcome." That was enough encouragement. I was all in!
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A mid life crisis or a driven man on a comeback mission?

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I reluctantly trudged towards the schedule on the wall of that wretched dungeon basement to view the match order. As I was reading it, Shaun, the new head U of Alberta wrestling coach came over and inquired. "Who do you wrestle?"
"Some guy named Podlog." I answered.
"Ah, Mad Dog Podlog! He's a ferocious upcoming young stud." coach Shaun informed me.
"Mad Dog Podlog." I muttered. "Why do I so not like the sound of that?"
Coach Shaun pointed over my shoulder. "That's the Mad Dog, over there."
I reluctantly turned to look and immediately wished that I hadn't. The focus of the pointing glared back at us. I was staring at a cauliflower - eared, muscular mutant with a shoulders like mountains and upper arms like cannon balls. His canyon - like abdominal ridges must have been caused by a combine plow running over his midsection. The Michelangelo that had chiseled his body from granite had forgot to include the neck. 'That's great!" I muttered. "That's just great!" 
"Shaun, there''s no way that that guy is in my weight class. He's immense. Maybe I should bow out and rest up for tomorrow." I pleaded.
   "Sure, go ahead and bow out. You will be my sparring partner all next week. You also be first man up for the shark bait drills!" the coach threatened.
Getting the coach's infamous, vengeful cross face blocks across my nose during leg take down practice was not appealing. Being the man in the middle for shark bait and attacks by a succession of wrestlers was also frightful.  Some choice: Punishment by broken nose and gang beating or punishment at the hands of some psycho-eyed hooligan named Mad Dog! 

Mad Dog Podlog (black and red singlet) a human wrecking machine!

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As I was warming up I accidentally crossed paths with my psycho-eyed nemesis. I decided to try and butter him up a bit and dull his homicidal edge. Better the Devil you know! I caught his eye and cheerfully said "Looks like we're up soon. Should be fun." All I got in return was a cold, calculating stare as he retorted in a deep gravelly voice "You will not have fun!" I feared that he was right about that.
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About 5 minutes before our bout was to start I watched the Mad Dog go into the washroom. I followed him in. It was time to try a different tactic. I would deflate him psychologically before the match. I pretended to be adjusting my wrestling singlet in the mirror as he came out of the toilet cubicle. I turned to him and pointed to a mat abrasion on my stomach. "Does this rash look contagious to you?" I asked him.
The Mad Dog stepped back and for a brief millisecond I thought I saw hesitation in his eyes. Had I gotten to him? Was there a slight decrease in his homicidal intent? Did I detect a hint of fear?
But then just as quickly, his eyes snapped back to those of a cold, calculating hit man for a mafia gang.
Great! Just great! Now he was really going to do a number on me.I had taken a bad situation and made it much, much worse!
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I sat on the bench and tried to encourage myself with positive self talk. "The city is a jungle and I'm just a beast. Any other wrestler is just another feast!" I chanted to myself.
"Match number 4, Podlog in the blue and Coakley in the red, on mat B " came the dreaded announcement over the speaker. I stood up and tried to walk to the center of the mat. I could not move. My legs had turned to sugar free jello. I looked across the mat and saw the Mad Dog walking towards the referee in the center of the mat. He was now salivating as he likely contemplated chewing away at the tasty brain marrow that lay just below the cranium of my frontal skull. I still couldn't move until coaches Vang and Shaun shoved me towards the center of the mat. "Have fun." they said in unison. 
   "F-f-f-fun!" I muttered meekly. I walked towards the referee and the impatient Mad Dog. I walked towards certain cataclysm! I held out a quivering arm for the hand shake and the referee's whistle to start the bout. Then it came, from deep in my soul, that  unadulterated,, woeful sound of  fear and doom! "Nooooooooooooooooooo!"

In the red trunks - The Comeback Kid!
In the Blue Trunks  Mad Dog Podlog!

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                                            The Combatants 30 Years Later....................................

Jeremy 'Mad Dog' Podlog is an award winning documentary filmmaker. 
His homicidal instinct is now more under control with therapy.

                            Check out his website at www.rabbitview.com
29 years later, this mutant scored a silver medal at the Canadian Championships.

Bob 'Killer' Coakley -a self given moniker of course-
(center with 2 fitness protegees-cash transactions may have been involved?)         
 is now a Sports/Fitness Blogger, and Fitness Influencer
with another self given moniker 'Little Bobby Strong'

Until next time,   Keep Fit

Little Bobby Strong   

Links

https://www.mianairforce.com/

www.fitnwell.com
www.hwsafaris.ca

www.rabbitview.com

  

Will the Coronavirus Crisis Change the Fitness Training Industry?

 Most of us have never seen anything like this in our lifetime!

Due to this COVID 19 pandemic, all non-essential businesses throughout much of the world are closed. People are being ordered to self -isolate. The closed businesses include fitness centers, private fitness training studios, aerobics classes, and indoor spin and cycling clubs. They are not considered essential services.

   All businesses are affected but Fitness Trainers are especially vulnerable. What are the possible options for Fitness Trainers to continue plying their trade?

Fitness centers: Most are closed for an indeterminate time in much of the civilized world. This option is a no go for the present time! Given my experience with fitness center chains, they are unlikely to continue paying their trainers while they are closed.

Personal Fitness Training studios: If the business is registered and incorporated it is likely closed. To try and sneak in clients on the sly could earn a Fitness Trainer some stiff legal consequences or at the very least, some public shaming as a COVIDIOT.

Visiting the client at their residence: There are Fitness Training companies that specialize in this specific business plan. The client would need workout equipment, the Fitness Trainer would need portable fitness equipment; or the Fitness Trainer would need to improvise using body weight exercises or aerobic activities such as running. Personal distance precautions would be prudent and wise.

Meeting the client at a park or other convenient neutral place: Again, there would be a need for portable exercise equipment or to improvise using body weight exercises or playground climbing bars, hills, running or bicycling. Social distancing is still a necessity.

Train your clients interactively online: This can be done using skype, digital cameras or even just e-mailing or messaging the client. The online training phenomenon is currently exploding. YouTube has no shortage of online fitness gurus pedaling training packages. A Fitness Trainer without a place to work with their clients may be tempted to try this. Such a personal training route could have some underlying issues.              

·         The online field may be already saturated. The newcomer will be jumping in against established online trainers. There are possibly more online trainers than the market will bear. It could be a slow, uphill process rather than a quick financial solution.

·         Does the client really benefit?  Internet training takes the ‘personal’ out of Personal Fitness Trainer.  I tend to share a view held by Edmonton Fitness Trainer Greg Harvey “There are visual cues that you can only pick up by being physically present while the client exercises.”  However, it might be a good way to keep the client engaged and in contact until the health crisis and lock down is over.

·         Could there be legal issues? There are potential safety and liability issues to consider when pushing a client through a strenuous workout but not being in attendance with that client. Some sort of waiver form should be a requirement but even that might not protect totally against a lawsuit for negligence.

·          Fitness Trainers should absolutely have a website to promote and market their services. However, earning a living strictly online might arguably prove to be a difficult, if not questionable, undertaking.

Workout center patrons were greeted by signs like this in mid March of 2020.

   

This current world health crisis leaves the Fitness Training industry in a crux. If the above options are not feasible, what is a Fitness Trainer to do? Some may qualify for employment insurance. Many are private contractors and may or may not have paid into the employment insurance plan. Government emergency payouts are possible but it would mean navigating through a bureaucracy in which civil service employees are working from home.  

There is certain to be a culling of those that work in this industry! This crisis seems to be growing by the day. No one can predict how long it will continue. There are many possible outcomes and questions to the aftermath:

·         Can the Fitness Trainer recover? “When the immediate threat has passed, how many personal trainers will be able to pick up where they left off? How many will even want to?” asks fitness guru Greg Harvey.

·         Will the client return to the fold? Does the client want to start up again paying a Fitness Trainer, especially if they have just finished an extended period of reduced income? If deferred bills have piled up, hiring a trainer could be very low on the priority list.

·         What will happen to Fitness Trainers that have fitness studio rent, warehouse leases, equipment and staff pay? According to Harvey, many personal training studios open and then go bankrupt within a few years year even in the best of times. “How many can weather the storm through this type of catastrophe?”

·         It seems probable that only the strong will survive. Fitness Training is close to a saturation point. There is a growing population of Fitness Trainers, but the growth of the client base is questionable. Screen time on a phone or computer appears to have the winning hand for people’s attention.

·         Expect a weeding out in the fitness industry. Harvey forecasts rough times ahead! I agree. Many full-time trainers could move on to other careers. Some might seek other jobs and keep the Fitness Training as a sideline part time gig.

·         Home exercise equipment is certain to have a resurgence when emergency health measures end and the economy begins to recover. Expect companies such as Peloton, with its interactive fitness guide, to explode with sales. I predict that the rise of the machines may sadly make Fitness Trainers obsolete. The new world order may be upon us! Please let me be wrong!

Will this become a common sight in the future world of fitness?

Until next time

Little Bobby Strong

Links

www.fitnwell.com
www.hwsafaris.ca

www.rabbitview.com