At 72, Averil Mohammad has never felt so good about her body. And this, thanks to a gentle discipline that can be practiced at all levels. Testimony.
What if sport made you feel younger? Please note, we are not talking about physical appearance here, but about being able to move and approach everyday life more easily. This is the case of Averil Mohammad, a 72-year-old Englishwoman. In the British version of the media Women’s Health, the septuagenarian delivers a poignant testimony and a real life lesson. After an injury, she managed to resume gentle physical activity to feel good in her body: “I feel like I’m thirty years younger!“, she assures.
For Averil Mohammad, it all started in 2021 when she injured her shoulder and tore her rotator cuff (a group of four muscles and their tendons which surround the shoulder joint editor’s note). Despite strict rehabilitation and the passage of time, the Briton cannot move without immense pain: “I couldn’t sleep anymore, I couldn’t shower or even pull up my pants… at least not without excruciating pain.“, she confided to the media. A real misfortune when we know that for more than thirty years, Averil Mohammad went to the gym five or six times a week and built up his muscles with light weights.
Nothing helps, she no longer recognizes her body, subject to these ailments. Every day, she even takes painkillers. And then one fine day, the beginning of recovery shows up: his daughter offers him a voucher for a Pilates Reformer class. “Just one session was enough to convince me that I had found the sport that would make me feel better. My pain had barely improved after that first 50-minute session, but a cloud had cleared.“Better yet, after four sessions, the Englishwoman is able to sleep on her arm again, and after a year of bi-weekly classes, the pain has gone from unbearable to a barely perceptible level. She is able to perform simple movements again and credits her recovery entirely to the Pilates Reformer.”That’s not to say it’s always been easy. Pushing the pain too far can cause you to regress, while stopping all activity increases stiffness; my teachers help me find the right balance“, she explains.
And it must be said that the Pilates Reformer has many benefits: in addition to being gentle on the joints (which makes it accessible to everyone), it improves posture, corrects imbalances, relieves chronic pain and allows recovery after an injury. In fact, the resistance of the springs can be light and progressive, making this discipline ideal for rehabilitation.
Two years after starting Pilates, Averil Mohammad continues to go to his classes every week, but also practices thirty minutes of muscle strengthening per day. “I will continue to do this as long as I live“, she concludes.
