Client Spotlight: Or Yedidia
Or means ‘light’ in Hebrew, and I think Or is a bright light.
This post is about one of my favorite training clients Or Yedidia. I had a GREAT time coaching him and watching him develop physically and mentally. Today is his birthday!
When Or started with me he had just celebrated his 14th birthday. Now he’s turning 16. The difference is amazing. Check out the graphs below to see the numbers of change, but keep in mind that those charts can’t show the whole picture.
Near the end of 2015, I was approached by Or’s father about some coaching for his son’s health and fitness. Or and his family had moved across the planet from Israel, and Or’s fitness routine had changed after their arrival in the USA. Or had a good habit of basketball and martial arts but after the move, he played a lot of video games rather than sports.
We started with my initial Health & Fitness Screening and physical assessment tests. Or told me had joint pain, a weak back, and was on medication. He told me that he wanted to be more muscular and wanted to have more energy in the mornings. Or ate a diet like many of us, too high in carbs and treats...with little fruit and not many veggies...and told me himself that he ‘ate too much food’.
I was most impressed by his mind. Or was great at listening and would often get a questioning look in his eye as I spoke. At first, I thought it was because he didn’t understand me, but I soon learned it was because he was putting pieces of information together in his head--taking what he was hearing from me and comparing it with what he already knew. I was really impressed by how often Or would ask me about ‘C’ after I told him about ‘A’ and ‘B’.
As we worked out together, Or always had TONS of questions. We covered everything about health and fitness, muscle anatomy and function, nutrition, workout program design, mindset and mentality; through to his school work, classmates, politics, coding, and robotics! And we talked scientific details of these topics, not just light overviews. I drew MANY whiteboard pictures of fat molecules, muscle fibers, graphs, etc to explain these concepts to him.
Our workouts contained a lot of teaching because I wanted to give Or the knowledge he would need to keep his health and fitness routine even without me. I believe trainers should ‘work their way out of your life’ after fulfilling their role. I told Or this and it really stuck with him. I gave him some book recommendations and we swapped podcast and YouTube video suggestions. Or always did a good job listening to my advice and teachings.
We had a good time in the gym during our sessions. I always looked forward to workouts with him. It wasn’t always science talk and weightlifting. Sometimes we would play a handball game called ‘Gaga’ which he taught me. Ultimately we had to adjust the rules of Gaga because we both improved so much!
Over the course of our training Or became something of a mini-celebrity at the gym. He had this giant ‘fro’ of hair that everyone recognized...and he came in for workouts so frequently that everyone knew him by name. He worked out with me week after week even when he didn't feel great.
When the day came for his family to return home, he gave me one of my favorite gifts. A framed canvas image of him before and after our workouts together, complete with sayings and quotes from our time together. This wasn’t a typical before-and-after picture though. The original picture was taken at a family outing and then Or replicated the pose and added his favorite quotes from our time together.
This gift from him is now on my bookcase along with many other important memories.
Scroll down to see a close up of this great gift.
Now Or is leaner and stronger. When we started, his weightlifting maximum was an 18 pound (8.5 kilograms) kettlebell. His last Personal Best was 125 lbs (~57 KG)
Now he is smarter and tougher. He remembers ‘the wall’ and his armed & armored T-Rex dinosaurs. (A mental game we played to foster toughness against the burn of working muscles during workouts).
Now he participates in cool events and activities like rock climbing, downhill skiing, and indoor mountain biking/jumping.
Now he spots movement / technique issues in other gym-goers. He knows the right way to do the important weightlifting movements AND he can spot the movement flaws in others.
Now he is back in Israel and writes his own workouts.
I’m proud of everything he did with me and I’m sure he will do great in his life.