AS A PHYSIO and personal trainer, I tend to work with a lot of clients who cross over between the two disciplines.

So many of the people I work with don’t purely need physio but need more than just a personal trainer. It’s what makes my work even more interesting and enjoyable.

I’ll give just two examples. Brian broke his back two years ago. His spinal cord was severed at T9/10.

In simple terms, this means he can’t walk, has no core stability and no control of his bodily functions. He spent a year in hospital, spending a lot of time doing rehab work and learning to function as best as he could.

When he first came to see me his aim was to be able to transfer from his wheelchair to a bed or his sofa and back again, a task most of us take for granted. We achieved that fairly quickly.

Then he told me we were going to carry on. He learned to do wheelies in his wheelchair, we played ball games, and last week he was using the battle ropes in the gym (big heavy ropes that we get clients to slam down, spin around and generally work hard with).

Every week Brian’s fitness levels, and what he can do, improve. He’ll never run a marathon but will be as independent as he can.

Sharee McPhail has Cystic Fibrosis. This is a genetic condition that affects the lungs, and many people with the condition need a lung transplant to extend their lives.

Sharee worked with me when she was on the transplant list – my task was to improve her fitness as much as we could with her limited lung function. This improves the outcome of any surgery.

In August 2012, she got the call. They had a set of lungs for her. After the surgery, which turned out to be complicated even by lung transplant standards, she began the long road to recovery with a goal in mind; to complete The Great North Run – a half marathon.

We worked together again preparing her for what is a fairly difficult event for most people. It wasn’t an easy undertaking and quite daunting for us both to be honest.

In September 2013, 13 months after a double lung transplant, we stood together on the start line with 13 miles of running ahead of us.

Three and half hours later we crossed the line, and even sprinted through the finish. Along the way we were interviewed by Denise Lewis and had a chat with Tanni Grey Thompson.

Sharee is still active and keeping fit.

These are just two examples of individuals with every reason not to really bother exercising. But both continue to do so because they know what the benefits are.

So the only question this week is – what’s your excuse?

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