For Terry Dunn, progress is not about the numbers, it’s about how he feels. At 71-years-old, Dunn not only wanted to shed a few pounds, but more importantly wanted to work on his overall physical conditioning — flexibility, balance and endurance. With this in mind he signed up for personal training sessions at Star Hill Family Athletic Club in Tolland, Connecticut.
“I knew that if I set up an appointment with a personal trainer, then I would keep that appointment and wouldn’t slack off,” said Dunn.
Dunn began working with Matt Lauzier, a personal trainer at Star Hill, last November. So far he has made great strides towards achieving his goals. “He had always been active when he was younger — he would do a bunch of biking, hiking, sailing, and he missed that,” explained Lauzier. “He wanted to be able to get his body back to do some of those things. Now he is cycling again. Mobility was his biggest goal and right now he couldn’t be happier with that.”
Since Lauzier only works with Dunn once a week, he tries to make each session worthwhile by combining a little bit of everything into one workout. “We will do some resistance training, use some free weights, do a little cardio, whether it is doing a few flights of stairs or an interval on the rowing machine,” said Lauzier. “But the majority of his training is goal oriented to that mobility, so we do a lot of whole-body movements — squats, lunges — that are going to translate into what he is looking for.”
Lauzier’s training approach seems to be working. Dunn’s range of motion, endurance, strength and energy have increased exponentially. “I just recently had a physical and my blood pressure is down, my cholesterol is down and I am probably in better physical shape than I have been in a while,” explained Dunn.
Of course, tracking the numbers never hurts. According to Dunn he has lost around 25 pounds and hopes to lose a few more.
What has helped Dunn’s success in achieving his goals is his determination. Not only has Dunn consistently worked with Lauzier over the past year, but he has also changed his diet.
“Diet is a very big part of his success,” said Lauzier. “His big thing was he liked to eat cookies and he said, ‘You know what Matt, I cut out eating cookies,’ and all of the weight has come off. Also he really doesn’t have any restrictions on what he can do. That is why I absolutely love him as a client and he is seeing such good results because he can do anything.”
So after a year of hard work, what keeps Dunn coming back to Star Hill for more? “The fact that I feel good about myself and I have all kinds of confidence in what I attempt to do physically,” said Dunn. “It is just a general sense of wellbeing and health. I don’t want to give that up so I keep on going back.”
By Emily Harbourne
