Can a 69 Year Old Man Do a Handstand?

I started working out in earnest way back in 2007 just as the mortgage crisis hit full swing.   As a counterbalance to the business problems from that time,  I hired a business mortgage coach who, from our very first session, told me he wouldn’t coach me unless I lost at least 40 pounds (I weighted 247 pounds at the time) and unless I went to the gym and/or worked out with a trainer at least 3-4 times per week.   He frankly, unequivocally, and categorically told me that there was no use in coaching me because I’d probably not be around much longer.   With the amount of stress that I was under, and with being overweight and having hypertension, he just didn’t think I had much time left on this earth.

Needless to say, I was way beyond pissed off, but I knew he was right.  And besides, I had let myself gain way too much weight; my sugar, chocolate and peanut butter addition had gotten the best of me.  My coffee habit didn’t help much either: the  4 (and sometimes more) grandes per day  caused my already high blood pressure to spike even more, and the worry about losing my business was an ever present  threat.

My office at that time was in Park Slope so I joined a local gym  and got myself a trainer there (and I still work out with him to this very day).  We started slowly—we really had to because I was completely out of shape.   I had no idea what a squat was and it took seemingly forever to get into that position.  I was weak, flabby, and lacked flexibility and stamina.  In a nutshell, I was a complete physical train wreck.    Already 53 years old at this time, I knew that my mortgage coach was right—if anyone was a candidate for a heart attack or stroke, it surely was me.

I may have been a  247 pound weakling, but what I lacked in strength  I made up for it in will power.  I was hell bent to save my business and get healthy.   So, I followed up on every recommendation —from foam rolling at home, to going out for walks in between training sessions, to going to yoga classes, to buying some weights and kettlebells for home use.   And I took up bicycling on the weekends,  And all of this was in addition to 3 or 4r sessions with my trainer per week.   Decades of inactivity had morphed me into this “blob” and I knew that I wouldn’t have overnight success.   I was smart enough to to know that things just don’t work out that way at all.

Of course, the weight wasn’t just going to come off without dieting as well, so I tried Atkins, then South Beach, then the Zone, then my own combination of all three.  My head wasn’t into the details and specifics of which diet was healthy (none of those are) —all I was concerned with was the weight. And, boy—it was amazing—all 40 pounds came off within that first year and a half    I literally was a new man —my stamina improved tremendously and I looked and felt amazing.

I’m way too embarrassed to show the world my “before” photo, but here’s my “after” photos:

I got so strong and fit, and with the weight off,  Ilya (my trainer) recommended that I try out new adventures that never in my wildest dreams would I ever have thought possible.   Besides encouraging me to start jogging (it took me 6 years to do my first half marathon and then by the 7th year —2014–I ran the full NYC marathon), he recommended long hiking and backpacking trips.  So, just a couple of years later, with a 35 pound backpack on my back I hiked up Half Dome in Yosemite.  A year after that, it was the Grand Canyon.  These three things were some of the most memorable events in my entire life.

What stands out, in addition to all my adventures, is that I came incredibly close to performing an unassisted handstand.  Yes, me!!  I had the upper body strength by 2014, I had slimmed down quite a bit, and from a cardio perspective, I was totally fit.   So, Ilya and I spent months and months and months trying to perfect the handstand.   We came SO close and to this day, I can’t remember why we abandoned our efforts.   I wasn’t so afraid of being upside down anymore, I could perform a headstand all by myself (get into position, throw my legs up against the wall, and then be inverted for at least 45 seconds.  I was able to repeat it over and over again.

I got as far as this:

And so, 7 years later and post Covid, I’m going to do it again, only this time, I’m going for the gold!  Join me in my goal in getting a fully unassisted handstand done by December 1, 2023.   I’ll post it the second I’v accomplished it.   Wish me luck!!