Aging in Place at Loprinzi’s Gym
The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.
-Muhammad Ali
It’s that time of year again…along with the faithful there are lots of new faces at Loprinzi’s gym.
Walt approaches me first this morning with his ear-to-ear grin and reminds me he’s almost 90; “Can you believe it?” he says. “If it wasn’t for 56 years of working out in this gym, I wouldn’t be here today.”
The validity of Walt’s statement is backed up by the visual archeology adorning the walls at Loprinzi’s. It’s a shrine to past weight lifting royalty, which feature Walt as a young muscle man and the cast of usual suspects, including Arnold. These yellowing-glossy-white-black images hang above your head and are paid the kind of reverence afforded to stained glass windows in a cathedral. They act as constant reminders of a rich historical past.
This gym has every walk of life you can imagine—and some you can’t!
Jungian Archetypes: Aging
Swiss Psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology, Carl Jung, describe a continuum of archetypes which begin with youth and end in old age:
1. The Athlete: Youth
Identify with our bodies, what it can do, how beautiful it is.
2. The Warrior: Young Adult Life
How much can I get? Who can I defeat? Who am I better than? And how much stuff do I have?
3. The Statesman/woman: Midlife
Stop asking what’s in it for me and begin to ask how can I help? Service to others is more important.
4. The Spiritualist: Old Age
Focus now on the relationship with the infinite and non-material.
These Jungian Archetypes are played out at Loprenzi’s and all other gyms across the country each day. And if you’re familiar with gym-culture, you recognize the characters (and yourself) immediately. Like the young Narcissus in training (ipod in ears) who has fallen in love with his image in the mirror—or the business woman reading MONEY as she squeezes in a workout at lunch.
The Linear Path to Body Transcendence
Walt has moved through the Archetypal stages; he was the muscle-bound youth obsessed with his body, then the businessman who secured a comfortable retirement, next a statesman who became a caretaker for a wife with Alzheimer’s…and now he’s the spiritualist, focused on connecting with others.
It occurred to me he has reached body-transcendence, and left body preoccupation behind, unlike so many other older adults who haven’t taken the time to be healthy. On some level, his 56 years of working out now afford him the release of having to focus on an ailing body—and instead invest energy in human relations.
Ali’s opening quote describes the “private victories” which precede “public victories,” the kind you experience in the gym—that is, if you’re paying attention to more than just your body…
See
Chris Boone @ Loprinzi’s Gym
W. Dyer on Jungian Archetypes
2 Comments for this entry
Cam
I’m sorta hoping that’s true, though after 40+ years of various kinds of exercise, I think the gym has become as much a habit as anything. Kinda like drinking, but better for my liver.