By: Cody Ringle, Director of Locations
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- At 70, Jerry was bone-on-bone in his left knee, leaning on six to eight Tylenol a day, and had been warned he could be in a wheelchair within 5 to 10 years.
- He didn’t want surgery to be his only option, so he looked for something that combined focused training, coaching, and real accountability.
- Active Life assessed his whole body — neck, shoulders, spine, hips, and knees — and worked on the cause, not just the painful joint.
- Within two weeks he went from six to eight Tylenol a day to about six pills total in the months since.
- At 70, he says he feels ten years younger — confident, out of pain, and able to get down on the floor with his grandkids.
For years, Jerry told himself his knee was "fine." Then "fine" turned into six to eight Tylenol a day and a warning that a wheelchair could be five years away.
Jerry, who turned 70 this past August, had been active his whole life. But a left knee that had gone bone-on-bone slowly pulled him into being inactive and sedentary — and the problem didn't stay in his knee. He came to Active Life in Port Washington looking for a way forward that didn't start and end with the operating room.
When "it's fine" stops being true
A knee replacement looked inevitable, but Jerry knew he'd let the muscles around the joint deteriorate, and that rehab would be brutal because of it. Meanwhile, from hobbling for so long, secondary pain had crept into his right hip and beyond, and he was depending on Tylenol every day. The tipping point was personal: when his grandkids wanted him down on the ground to play, he was struggling — not just to get down, but to get back up.
"It's like, if you don't do something, Jerry, you're going to be in a wheelchair in 5 to 10 years."
Looking for more than surgery
Jerry wanted a program that combined focused training, coaching, and the self-discipline that comes from having someone in your corner. A clip about Active Life popped up, and it looked like exactly that. From the very first conversation and assessment with a coach named Cody, he says it was professional start to finish — coaches who understood the body, listened, and adjusted his schedule around both his long-term goal and whatever was going on that week.
Treating the whole body, not just the knee
The assessment showed Jerry how tight he'd become — and not just in the knee and hip. It was everything from his neck and shoulders through his spine and down. Jerry works in sales but does problem-solving for a living, and he recognized the approach immediately: listen, diagnose the real cause, and build an action plan you actually commit to.
"They didn't just focus on the knee, and they didn't just focus on the pain. They focused on what, throughout the entire body, is actually causing it."
Two weeks that changed the math
The relief came fast. Within the first two weeks of starting the stretches and exercises, Jerry went from six to eight Tylenol a day to — in the months since — about six pills total. He hasn't missed a session, because even on the mornings he doesn't feel like going, he knows how he'll feel walking out. At 70, he says he feels at least ten years younger, and it's as much mental as physical.
"I'm not going to go run a half marathon like I did 30 years ago. But I am confident to get down on the ground and play with the grandkids. And I feel at least ten years younger."
Dealing with pain that surgery alone won't fix? Finding the real, whole-body cause is the first thing we figure out with every person we work with.
Pain shouldn't be the thing deciding what you can and can't do. Find out if we can help:
ON LONG ISLAND? CHOOSE YOUR LOCATION > ANYWHERE ELSE? FIND A PRO NEAR YOU >FAQ
A: Everyone's situation is different, so talk with your doctor about what's right for you. What we can say is that Jerry focused on strengthening the muscles around his knee and addressing his whole body first, and it changed how he felt day to day.
A: No. It's coaching and training built around a whole-body assessment, with the accountability that helped Jerry stick to the plan week after week.
A: Jerry started at 70 and felt a difference within two weeks. The work is built around where your body is today, not where it was 30 years ago.
A: It starts with a whole-body assessment like the one Jerry had, with an Active Life coach who maps out where you're tight, weak, or compensating — and builds a plan from there.
Adapted from Jerry's Active Life story. Watch the full video above.
Active Life | Live More. Hurt Less.®
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This article is a taste of the bigger idea. Live More. Hurt Less. by Dr. Sean Pastuch is the full playbook for living with less pain and more capability — the same thinking, start to finish.
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