By David Tepera, June 17, 2020

When I was 11 years old, I started mowing grass for a few people in my neighborhood. This was around 1972, so I was charging $5 per yard.

There was one particular neighbor that made an impact on my young work ethic. The owner of the house told me that she would pay the $5 for the mow, an extra dollar if I edged the driveway and another dollar to include raking.

The yards in my neighborhood weren’t that large, so the opportunity to make $7 was attractive because I could buy a pound of bubblegum with extra money.

Remember, the electric weed-eater wasn’t invented yet, so edging was done with a hand clipper and a hatchet. Yes, I still have all my fingers.

It was the first time that I was challenged to give my best effort to earn more money. I worked on that lady’s yard for hours. Once completed, the lady came out and gave a full inspection of her beautifully manicured yard. She was pleased and handed over the $7.

The impact that experience gave me was knowing that if I stepped up my game in everything I did, I would be rich with pride. Starting at that age, I knew money and success would come from a strong work ethic.

How about you? Are you truly worth your paycheck? If you’re making minimal wage, are you giving the effort to earn an extra dollar per hour? If you are, your bosses are taking notice and will put you in a position for more income. Just know, if you’re not putting in the effort, you’ve already reached your peak position and income.

How about other areas of your life? What level of effort do you put into your diet, exercise, sports or even marriage?

Could you lose the extra pounds with more discipline? If you want the starting position on your team, are you getting up early for skill training and lifting weights? Are you outworking your competition?

For couples, have you settled with a minimal wage relationship? Do you both continue to grow together with a set of goals, spiritually, along with love and respect?

Whatever your current circumstances may be, just know, with a little more pride and effort, you’ll make it to the top.

By David Tepera, June 10, 2020

Research shows there were approximately 1.6 million hip and knee arthroplasties performed in the United States in 2017, of which more than 966,000 were knee replacements.

Just know, most knee reconstructions are categorized by total, partial or revision. In the knee reconstruction business, the knee is considered by three compartments. To keep it simple, this is the inside (medial), outside (lateral), and middle (patella femoral) parts of the knee.

A partial knee replacement is only replacing the compartment that is damaged, which could be any one of those compartments. Your orthopedist will replace one compartment if the other compartments are intact.

A total knee replacement consists of all three compartments of the femur and the entire tibia.

A revision is performed if a partial or total knee fails. This could be from a variety of reasons too long to explain in this column, but it happens.

At Ageless Muscle Fitness Center, we have nearly a dozen clients weight training post-knee replacement and physical therapy. Most of these clients come to us because they’re still having issues with flexion, extension and muscle atrophy. They are required to bring me their X-rays to understand the alignment, type of replacement and potential problem areas.

We have a special weight training formula that helps build muscle and resolve other issues. We’ve even been able to prolong knee surgery for others because of strengthening the muscles around the joints.

Now, before I continue, you must speak with your surgeon before starting any weight training program. If utilizing a personal trainer, make sure they are experienced in knee replacement therapy before lifting any lower extremity weights.

So, if you’re ready to get started and get those legs strong again, here are some do’s and don’ts.

Some of the most popular leg strengthening machines typically at every gym are a leg press, leg extension and leg curl.

Leg press machines are in a sitting position pressing both feet against a platform. It’s important to keep your feet high on the platform, so you don’t overstress the patella tendon. Also, don’t go into a deep flexion, keeping the knees no deeper than 90 to 100 degrees. This is the one machine you can test the weight.

A leg extension is concentrating on the quad muscles. Since your feet are not compressing against a platform and pulling the weight from the front of your ankles, you must keep the weight relatively light. Heavy weight could cause stress on the knee implant and ligament stability.

This is the same situation for a leg curl, which concentrates on the hamstring muscles. It’s good for strength training, but it’s another must to keep the weights light. Remember, your pulling the weight from the back of your ankles.

There’s much more detail to all of this. I just wanted to give some insight to know it’s still possible to strengthen legs after recovering from knee replacements.

If you need additional information or have questions, please email me.

[email protected]

By David Tepera, June 3, 2020

Yes, you read that title correct. Today’s article features one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.

Having lived for more than a century, it will be difficult to put Leonard “Pater” Johnson’s whole story in one article. The following are a few highlights of a man born in 1918 who loves to lift weights.

Several months back, Pater didn’t ask, but told his family that he was going to start working out with me to improve his strength and balance.

His son Greg, who’s been training at Ageless Muscle, brought Pater in to test the weights to see if this was possible. It was a nonissue because Pater isn’t your average century man.

You see, Pater’s motto is “keep moving” which all of you know is part of my famous catch phrase of “keep moving and improving.” So, we bonded immediately.

How many people start Spanish classes at the age of 97? This wasn’t online classes. No, he drove himself to College of the Mainland each week. Pater taught me to count to 20 in Spanish for the reps in our workouts, so now, I must be bilingual.

Pater comes to our fitness center twice a week, and only uses a walker for balance. He has never had any major surgeries or injuries. His health is impeccable, and claims using raw honey for the past 30 plus years enhanced his immune system.

Over these past few months, Pater has become much stronger, improved his walking gait and has more energy to enjoy each day.

What a treat for me to listen to the wisdom from a man who lived and experienced the world from the 1920s to present day. His wit is quick, along with endless hilarious jokes. Pater stays up on the latest news and has a strong opinion of what’s happening in our country.

Pater was drafted and served this country in World War II as a sergeant in the Armed forces for four years. Once he finished his service, Pater became a self-made man by building a successful valve company that’s controlled and owned by his son Greg. It all started from selling out of an old used green army van, along with a hard work ethic. At 101 years old, Pater still brings that work ethic into the gym.

For a man who believes in “keep moving,” his hobbies include ballroom dancing. He even had a dance floor built into his house. Some of Pater’s favorites are the foxtrot, waltz, rumba, tango and cha-cha. I’m sure he can cut the rug much better than most of us.

There’s no doubt, Pater is an inspiration to all of us. Whatever excuse you’re using today, it’s time to throw it out the window and get back into this game of life.

Let’s all be like Mr. Pater Johnson because all it takes is to “keep moving.”

By David Tepera, May 27, 2020

Who knows what it’s like to get hit by a fast-moving pitch? Have you ever caught a ball with your face? How bad were the multiple bike wipeouts you experienced?

I’m sure many of you have a story or two to tell when it comes to crash-and-burn from an activity or sport, including the scars to prove it.

I hope, the biggest lesson from those experiences was that you got back up and attempted that feat again. And, after a period of time, you mastered the skills.

What about adult knockdowns? Have you experienced divorce, unemployment, bankruptcy or coronavirus shutdown?

Well, my friends, quit waiting on the right time to get back up because that is today. My family and I have agreed that we don’t accept this idea of the “new norm.” Nope, to us, it’s “get back to normal.” We acknowledge that this will take time, but if we have a positive mindset and don’t allow others keep us down, we’ll get back up.

I, like many of you, have been knocked down, but you can’t knock me out.

Don’t let divorce sour you. Do your best to mediate, accept your losses and get back up. If not, only the attorneys win.

Too many people have lost jobs and income over the past few months. Let go of your ego and explore the new job market, even if it’s a lower income than before. At least you’re pulling in some money until other opportunities become available.

That’s why it’s important for all of us to get back up. It will create opportunity, or at least, bring back jobs.

Now, I’m only sharing my opinions based upon my experiences, but sitting there doing nothing is accepting defeat. At least, get your step-by-step plan ready that puts you back on your feet.

At the Ageless Muscle Fitness Center, not only are all clients back, but we are signing many new weight training clients as well. What’s exciting for us is that all the new clients are from 50 to 70 years old. These people want their lives and health back, and we deliver.

Now, if you’ve been down too long and sick and tired of wasting life away, get back up — now!

By David Tepera, May 20, 2020

Throughout my entire life, there were, and are, many people whom I respect and admire. For each of these people that I spent time with, I would try to mimic certain quality characteristics. My goal in life is to become a better father, husband, friend and person each day.

Of course, through my childhood, Dad was my superhero, so when I became a father, I mirrored his teachings and expressions of love. Believe me, Mom was a huge part of all this, too.

When I played multiple sports, I studied the older players with more experience. I would take a strong point from each and mold it into my arsenal of athleticism.

Many moons ago, during my martial art competition years, I was interviewed about my skills. I told the reporter that I was a combination of kicks and punches from each of my fellow black belts. My sidekick had the power of Grand Master Al Garza and quick delivering ridge-hand from the late Mike Tucker.

During the 1990s, as a La Marque High School football coach, I studied head coach Alan Weddell. He was a master when it came to the community, administrators, referees, assistant coaches and, of course, the players. I mirrored those skills as the head soccer coach. And yes, we made the playoffs, too.

Once I left teaching and coaching, I furthered my education and spent 20 years in orthopedics. There were many surgeons I mimicked from their surgery skills.

In case you’re curious, part of my job was training surgeons how to perform specific knee replacements and biosurgery procedures on cadavers. I easily dissected more than 500 people and was involved in about 4,000 actual orthopedic surgeries.

I hope you noticed that none of my mentors were movie stars, superstars or professional athletes. The only way to truly pick up strong traits from others is by spending time with them.

Tina and I took all our experiences to help create a unique brand and specialty weight training program at our Ageless Muscle Fitness Center.

Now, the real question is who do you admire and respect? Are these people involved in the same interests as you? What quality traits of these people would help enhance your life?

Wherever you work, look for the leadership skills of supervisors and the people at the top. Carry yourself with confidence as if you are equal to their pay scale. Mirror their actions and treat people with respect. You’ll be noticed and better opportunities will come.

The most rewarding part of this whole process is as you grow to become a better person and leader, there will be others who will mirror you out of respect and admiration.

By David Tepera, May 19, 2020

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One aspect of life we all possess is the value of time. Our whole lives are gauged around time.

From the moment you wake up to the moment your head hits the pillow, your entire day was set according to time.

All sporting events and seasons schedule within a specific time frame. It seems like every year people set new time records for multiple events such as running, biking swimming and so on.

We all know Usain Bolt is the fastest human with speed of nearly 28 mph. Almost 20 years ago, I ran my one and only marathon for my 40th birthday. It took more than five hours to finish and six weeks to recover. Nope, you won’t find my picture in the “Guinness Book of World Records.”

If you put some thought into it, you’ll understand how valuable time is. When you break the law and hurt others, your freedom is taken away for a specific length of time. This time in your life has been wasted.

We must also respect other’s time. Think of the people who use their time to help you. All the volunteers, coaches, teachers, parents, health care and so on. Do you show them your appreciation?

The strangest part of time is none of us know how much life time is given to us. I lost my oldest son when he was 23 years old and my oldest client is 101. One was cut short and the other expanded more than a century. Who would know besides the Almighty?

It’s obvious, people were understandably frustrated that our time was taken away from us during the coronavirus shutdown for doing nothing wrong. There are many people who spent their adult lifetime building a business, a brand, an identity, but within a month, it was all gone.

I understand other’s frustration wanting people’s time to be taken away to save other’s lives, so they can have more time. There’s no winner in this argument, and that’s why we respect everyone’s opinion. But, I also believe we should be able to do what we want with our own time.

So, how are you utilizing your time? Time is something you can never get back. Once used, it’s gone forever. Today might be the time you need to mend relationships, visit parents and loved ones, or to be productive.

I’m hoping today, you’ll understand that the value of time is way too precious.

By David Tepera, May 19, 2020

Well, tomorrow has turned into today, so how did you prepare to be successful? It doesn’t matter your current situation, there must be an agenda of accomplishments per day.

We have many conversations with our clients about how to stay active outside the gym. Part of our mission statement is changing the lives of others permanently.

One example is Helen, who was extremely out of shape, had medical issues and was desperately needing help when she came to us. At 74 years old, Helen didn’t have the energy to walk around the block or upstairs in her house. She actually had given into deterioration and declining health.

After several months of training through the Ageless Muscle program, she, like many others, started receiving the benefits of overall health and reduction of medications. Helen’s strength tripled in weight lifting, she had fat loss and began climbing the stairs with ease.

But then, here comes along the stay-at-home orders from the governor. Helen and her family high-tailed it to their ranch house in another town with no restrictions. Even though Helen didn’t have weight equipment at her ranch, she started a journal to increase her walking distance each day. To our excitement and hers, Helen is up to 3 miles per day and is continuing to lose weight.

Now, what plans are you making for tomorrow? What’s your productive agenda? How do you improve not only your physical health, but mental awareness as well? Exercising will help conquer depression.

At 58 years old, I’ve accepted that my skin is more wrinkled, the hair on my head has made its way to my back, and that I’ll never run as fast or lift as much weight than before. But, I feel good, look good and I love who I am. Accept who you are and fall back in love with No. 1 because I guarantee, there are people who find you attractive.

What’s your story? It’s time to take another hard look at yourself. Are you still out of shape because someone kept you from eating healthy and exercising? Or, have you put a plan to make tomorrow better than today? How did you improve your overall being from the day before? Each day lost is a day further behind.

So now, if you haven’t made a plan, get it done today because tomorrow will be here tomorrow.

By David Tepera, April 29, 2020

Every major tragedy that’s struck our country, we remember exactly what we were doing at that moment in time. Every one of us can tell a detailed story of where we were during the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

Now, at this very moment, we are in the midst of an invisible enemy. At some point in the future, you’ll look back at this time and tell the story of how you reacted. Did you panic, stay calm or get upset with this tragedy? Will your story be about determination and camaraderie or pointing the finger at others?

Since we are professional athletes and own a fitness center, it excites us to see people outside walking, running and biking. We receive emails and messages almost daily from people asking for healthy cooking and exercising tips.

So, what this means is people are using this catastrophe to improve their health. I’m hoping once we can get this economy rolling again that the healthy trend will continue.

Of course, we recognize there will still be those who’ve isolated themselves and will come out from under the rock in worse shape than before. Remember, that’s your choice. No one is telling you to sit on the couch all day stuffing your face with chips and soda.

What other areas in your life are changing during the shutdown? We have a client learning to play a musical instrument and another learning Spanish online.

Truly, I’m hoping families are strengthening relationships and spiritual beliefs. The kids, Tina and I spend almost every evening in the backyard talking about the day’s quests and game planning tomorrow’s accomplishments. Each day has its own set of goals.

No, we are not sitting idle. We are striving and being productive in every way possible. We’ve been preparing our fitness center for a comeback with a new set of guidelines.

So, again, what story are you going to tell and reflect on in the future? What positives changes are you making that will last a lifetime? I feel it’s imperative for all of us to have compassion for each other. We don’t shame anyone for their choices in this matter. We each have a different set of circumstances, so let others choose their destiny. Just make sure your story has a happy ending.

By David Tepera, April 22, 2020

There are many of you who are gearing up to get back to work, save your business or start something new. Just remember, this time you’re not starting from scratch, you’re starting from experience.

In the past, I started up a few companies, and for different reasons, they ended up failing. It wasn’t until Tina and I joined together to create the Ageless Muscle brand did success finally happen.

The lessons from our previous experiences helped make our specialty fitness center different from all others. Bottom line, we learned what not to do.

I guarantee, all businesses who were forced to shut down are creating new plans. Even professional sports and venues are putting heads together to keep from falling again.

This virus came out of nowhere to give all of us a negative and catastrophic experience we weren’t prepared for. But now, the experience is with us, so what did you learn from it?

In an odd way, I was explaining to my adult children that while I was raising them, they benefited from me being older. I was almost 40 years old when my youngest child was born. I let them know, that they didn’t get the energetic young father, but they got the wiser one who could guide them with best advice possible.

OK, it’s your turn. This virus situation was your wake-up call to finally start that business, change occupations, online school and so on that you’ve been talking about for too long.

One of the main reasons we bought our gym was to control our destiny. We make all the final choices of who joins or trains with us. Just know, we’ve never turned away someone older or with medical conditions because it is our specialty.

Every one of us has a specialty that the world can benefit from. What’s yours? As long as it improves or makes lives better, you’ll find success.

Just remember to keep it simple in the beginning. Only provide one or two services or products. That way as your experiencing some failure or financial loss, you’re not too invested in that product. Once you’ve learned what not to do, you’ll move forward in a better direction.

Today, start a new life plan and just get moving. Quit waiting for the right time because the time has come, and you know it. You’ll figure things out along the way because you already have experienced life.

By David Tepera, 4/16/2020

As we all know, most sports require a playbook to help succeed in multiple situations.

Football is a good example because each succession of downs comes straight from the playbook. The team’s next move is according to stats and tendencies gathered about the opponent. These playbooks help coaches decide to either pass, run, punt the ball, etc.

Now, since all our lives have been disrupted, according to your situation, what’s in your playbook? Just like each set of downs is different, every day our lives are changing. You must prepare to succeed by having a variety of plays.

Even in football and other sports, there are timeouts to regroup and change your game plan.

I believe we all understand the most crucial days are now and in the coming weeks. Since we are all on the same team to defeat the virus, we must execute our plays together to win this game.

Just like you, my family and I need to have the numbers start declining so we can begin the opportunity for life to get back to normal. Of course, this will take some time since the economy is tanking.

Tina and I have started making a list of our local restaurants and places we used to frequent. Once they are allowed to reopen, we will give them our business to help bring them back.

Just know, restaurants are working on their playbook. They understand the importance of changing their business model. Tables and seating will be further apart, less staff, less choices of food items, but there will be many attractive specials to get us back in.

Let’s get back to your playbook. Do you have a plan to take back your life? The virus results and statistics are changing daily. Yes, we must move forward with precaution, but you must move forward.

There are many people who’ve lost their income. Open your eyes to other opportunities. I know a young man who developed his own delivery service by picking up food, prescriptions and other items needed by seniors. He even drives them to the doctor’s office, if needed. He claims that he is booked and staying busy because these seniors are the most vulnerable to the virus and need his assistance.

Right now, there are some of you saying this young man needs to stay quarantined at home, but I will argue differently. Since, he helps multiple people, he is the only one out there instead of all the others. Make sense?

Right now, the only person you can control is yourself. Get your thinking caps on and design a playbook that will win championships.