Did the life you envisioned in beauty school come true? Mine didn't. Nope. Success was nothing like I imagined. The house, the car, and the trips morphed into a desire to conquer what money can't buy and rare moments words can't describe.

During my long career, it took years to realize the effect bending, holding my arms up for hours, and standing all day was inflicting on my body. Common amongst hairdressers are repetitive motion injuries from wrapping perms, doing highlights, and blow-drying as we force our muscles, tendons, and ligaments into awkward positions. At first undetectable, the damage becomes self-evident in time—unless you take action to avert it early on—now.

There comes a time to put on our big pants and address physical and mental health. The choice is clear: you either struggle with the discipline of exercise or put it off and deal with the pain of immobility and illness later. Your career and quality of life depend on your courage to admit you need to get healthy—then do something about it—I got you. Keep reading.

More than any form of exercise, weightlifting is a proven method to offset repetitive motion damage. Strength training fits a salon professional's busy schedule because you don't need to
spend hours every week to see the benefits. Twenty minutes of dedicated resistance exercise will ease your stress, anxiety, and depression.

Start easy. Here's what I did after years of never doing one exercise...

1. I set aside the time for me to go to the YMCA three times a week in the morning. I'm seventy-seven, and my bones do better in the afternoon, but I like the energy rush that
lasts the whole day.

2. I started with machines and later onto free weights. At first, I didn't add any weight and just made the motion to familiarize myself. Instantly, I felt a rush of good energy. That
night I slept like a bear.

3. The result surprised me, so I started going five days a week. (Incredible to all)

4. I'm in my second year, and there's no stopping me now. FYI: Exercise will build strength and stamina for salon work. I've never lost any actual weight, just exercising—that comes from carb and insulin management, not fad dieting. My topic for next month.

And he lifted heavily ever after…

Carlos Valenzuela is a bilingual writer, past global beauty educator, and stylist with a master's in international business. He writes about positivism and success for Modern Salon
and is the author of the multi-award-winning novella Letters to Young Carlos and its sequel, Camaleón,
The Lost Years Living in the Closet. ***.carlos-valenzuela.com