If I were to ask you what true beauty is, what would you say?   Can you define it in simple terms, or do you need to think about it for a while?  Is it an emotion; an appearance?  Can it be created; or does it exist only in places where it was meant to be?  Are you beautiful?  Am I? The notion of beauty, and its seduction, is with us our entire lives; but do we really know what it means?  And can we have it?  Sophia Loren, one of the most beautiful women in the world, said this, “Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes.” 

 I believe that Sophia Loren is right.  What is on the inside will indeed show on the outside, and you can’t hide from it.   It is what photographers mean when they say, “The camera doesn’t lie.”  Our emotions always come to the surface.  But I also believe that there is another side to the story:  What is on the outside will affect how you feel inside.  So that together, our innermost feelings and outermost selves form to make us complete.   When both of these parts are fulfilled and connected, it becomes a circle of beauty.  Our emotions, our bodies, and our souls are all one.  There is no distinction.  To favor one over the other would be to deny living fully; and in beauty.

To deny the soul is to deny the body.  And to deny the body is to deny the soul. 

The ancient Spartans understood this.  From a very early age they began training for their life’s work by strengthening the body, and the mind, by engaging in intense debate over the philosophical questions of life and death; honor and love; and following a diet and training regimen that would challenge even today’s Olympians.  They considered the body to be a sacred gift, and believed that it was given to them by the gods for the sole purpose of serving and defending Greece.   And they believed that living honorably and fully were the only true monuments.   They weren’t perfect, but neither is beauty. Before battle, in anticipation of death, they would exercise, then comb out each other’s long hair and oil their bodies, so that they were ready to be received by their gods.  They believed that their bodies, and their souls, would live eternally, and they treated them as such.

For the past two decades, I have worked to create an environment in my fitness studio where people from all walks of life could come to develop their bodies and their minds.  The Spartans, I think, would appreciate its simplicity and lack of fancy equipment.  I know they’d love the music!  My preferred “tools” are simple dumbbells because they know no prejudice.  They have the same relationship with gravity regardless of who is holding them.  They don’t care if you’re rich or poor; male or female.  A fifty pound weight is a fifty pound weight.  It’s that simple.  And the stark reality of lifting heavy weight gives us the opportunity to improve the mind by training the body.   We feel good when we accomplish difficult things, and we can accomplish difficult things when we feel good.  It’s a continuum that has no beginning and no end.  Just like beauty.

In the end, we are all beautiful if we choose to be.  But we must first resolve to be committed to it, and to do the work.  The tough work.  The stuff that requires looking inside by looking outside.  And when looking at ourselves is too difficult, it is important to find others who can, and who are willing to share with us what they see.  

I have always enjoyed my conversations with Salvatore Minardi because while they tend to be lighthearted by nature, they are also thought provoking and truthful.  I look forward to my visits with him in his small salon because the environment there suits me.  It is simple, friendly, and beautiful.  A rare thing to find these days.  I believe that in order to discover our own beauty we need people and places like Salvatore and his salon.  What Salvatore and I have most in common is our constant desire to learn and to be challenged; and then to teach what we know.  And what we know is this:

Unless you’ve been holed up in a secluded hut on an island in Malaysia, you know that Dara Torres is the triple silver medal winning mom, who at age 41 is the oldest U.S. Olympic swimmer in history.   In fact, she won her first medal in 1984, the year before Michael Phelps was born!  What?  Who’s Michael Phelps?!  You’re kidding, right?  Even the folks holed up in huts in Malaysia know who Michael Phelps is.

But what they may not know, unless they have seen her photo, is that Dara has an absolutely rockin’ body!  At age 41, Dara has thrown the rules for getting older book out the window.  Thank you Dara!

But she isn’t the only one.  Fifty-six year old Olympic shooter Elizabeth Callahan, who is the oldest female Olympian of all time, and 49 year old French cyclist Jeannie Longo, have written their own books on what it means to be middle aged.

And what exactly does it mean to get older?  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  As Dara points out. “Age is just a number.” 

Choices are the only things that really matter.  Dara, Elizabeth, and Jeannie make different choices than most others their age.  Or any age, for that matter.  First of all, they have made the decision not to make excuses. 

And they choose to believe. 

Their minds have no limits.  They see each day as an opportunity for excellence and possibilities.  And that alone separates them from all others.

So, what about the workouts?  Isn’t it their incredible workout routines that make them so special?  Not really.  Their individual workouts  aren’t really all that remarkable.  What is remarkable is that they have been able to string their workouts and diets together day after day, year after year. 

Small choices and consistency make an Olympian – not any individual workout or routine.  It takes years, not weeks or months, to achieve excellence.  Unfortunately, most folks give up when they realize that results don’t come quickly.

Think about it this way.  I am a very fit 43 year old man.  I run three times per week and do a little weight training and cycling.  If I decide to drink a soda everyday at lunch for the next year, I will gain precisely 14.6 lbs.  On the other hand, if I decide not to have that soda and I add just one more run to my weekly routine, I could win my age group in nearly any road race I entered.  But it would take a year. 

And that’s where we lose most people.  They can’t commit to the year.  They don’t see the results in their minds.  I can picture breaking the tape in a year from now and I can also see the spare tire that would form from just one Coca Cola per day.  For me, the choice is easy.

And this goes back to belief.  You must believe first.  Call it faith, putting the blinders on, whatever you want.  In the end, it comes down to putting one foot in front of the other (or stroke in Dara’s case)  day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.  And the trick is to do it even when the results aren’t visible. 

It’s the same with diet.  It takes time for a good diet to produce benefit.  I can’t tell you how many times a client has said, “I just don’t understand it.  I had an egg white omelet and a salad for lunch and I’m still fat!”

“Let me know when you have done that ninety days in a row”, is my typical response.

My business partner, Charlene Circele, won two bodybuilding contests in her forties by eating the same thing everyday for six months.  She beat women half her age, who I guarantee you did not have the same determination and patience.

And patience is indeed an advantage that comes with maturity.  Use it.

If there is one gift that the Beijing Olympics has given us, it is that there are literally no more limits.  As Dara has shown us, we really can pursue our dreams at any age.  Legendary major league pitcher Leroy “Satchel” Paige, who threw three shutout innings at age sixty said, “Age is a matter of mind over matter.  If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.”   He also asked the question, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

For me the answer is simple.  I don’t have an age.  Not really.  I just do the things that I am capable of and leave it at that.  Sure, I know that I have been on the earth for 43 years.  And each year I add one to that number.  But two years ago, after a twelve year lay off from the sport of Triathlon, I became an honorable mention All-American.  Should I have not accepted that because 40 year olds aren’t supposed to be able to do that? 

Of course not.

When I was in my twenties I had a dream to make it to the podium at the Hawaii Ironman.  Then life happened.  Now, Dara has me thinking again.  It would take some work, but I know I can do it. 

I just need to make little choices on a daily basis.

Then, who knows?  Maybe I still got it.  And maybe you do too.  In whatever it is that you still dream of.

Let’s check back in a year.

Stand in one Spot Routine:

You don't need alot of room or equipment to get a great workout.  Try the following routine when you are challenged for space and time:

• Warm up: 10 jumping jacks/jog in place for 30 sec. repeat 3x
• pushups -8 reps slow; hold at bottom position just off floor for 8 sec. Do one more pushup./ Squat with no weight -16 reps; hold at bottom position for 16 sec. Do one more squat.  repeat this superset 3x
• Running man lunge - 15 each leg/ triceps dip off floor - 30 reps.  repeat superset 3x
• Bicycle Crunch - 8 slow; 8 fast / Glute Bridge - 16 reps. repeat 3x

There you have it.  One spot and it's all you need. For details on how to do these exercise go to: www.expertvillage.com and check out our weekend warrior series.  We are under MOST POPULAR in the Fitness Category and TOP RATED overall.  You can't miss us!