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RECOVERY: Customer Aaron Silva Achieves the Impossible
Aaron Silva defies all the odds with plenty of guts and a little help from his Total Gym.
Mr. Silva is an inspiration to us all. Below is his story.
Dear Total Gym,
My name is Aaron Silva. I am from the island of Maui. I suffer from a neuromuscular and autoimmune condition all-in-one called Myasthenia Gravis. And this is a testimony about how Total Gym assisted me in taking back my life—which this illness had robbed me of.
About a year ago I was weighing in at about 260lbs before working out with Total Gym. One day I made up my mind and was determined to loose my weight. I also wanted to be able to do something that was unheard of for people who suffer with Myasthenia Gravis, and that was to ride a cross-country style mountain bike up very steep hills along with single track trails.
So, in April of 2008 I started working out on an older Total Gym model that I had already purchased about 1 year before. We never really used it all that much. That model was the Total Gym XL. Within the first week of using the Total Gym XL, I added walking around Napili park into my workout plan. I could hardly complete one lap around the park.
Within the second week I had lapped it twice and then by the third week I was lapping the park 4 laps which is about 1 mile and it seemed that I was getting stronger each time. The park is very hilly so I got a good burn too. In a period of six weeks, along with working out on the Total gym XL, I wasn’t just lapping the park four times, I was doing it within 25 minutes and I managed to drop about 35lbs in 6 weeks.
By the 7th week I started riding my bike for 30 minutes, 3-4 miles every other day. The whole time I worked out on the Total Gym XL my body kept on changing and getting stronger. One day in May 2008 I was checking out the Total Gym web site and I came across the Total Gym 14000. It is one of the smaller, older designs of the upgraded models and it seemed to be what I needed to assist with the fitness goals I had to reach along with the price being just right. So I went for it.
I spoke with a Total Gym representative and he assisted me with my purchase. He was totally awesome and with his help in that purchase he did have a major part in me [reaching my] fitness goals. After I upgraded to the Total Gym 14000 I started to loose more weight. I incorporated more bike riding over the summer of 2008. In the fall of 2008 around the month of October—as I call it ROCKTOBER—I took my bike off road for it’s first mountain run. I was out of breath as I hit the wall on the trails but it felt good. And every time I managed to hit the wall I was getting stronger and stronger.
And now here I am one year later I am weighing in at 158lbs. 102lbs I lost—what a change. I can even ride up very steep hills close to 2000 foot level at the top. And those totally cool single track trails are fun to ride. I am still cranking out strong sets on the Total Gym. And the keg that I once had for a for a mid section has been traded in for in a six-pack. I still have Myasthenia Gravis but at times, I don’t even feel it.
The Total Gym is everything that Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley said it was and more. It assisted me in taking back my life. Thank you for allowing me to share this with you. As we say in Hawaii, Aloha. Oh yeah! Please tell Mike Gold I said Mahalo again for helping me with my Total Gym purchase. And the next trail run Mike is for you DUDE!!!!
-Aaron Aliiloa Silva, Total Gym Customer
