The Transformation Fit Podcast

77, Diabetic & Unable To Walk - How Strength Training Gave Maria Her Life Back

• Josh Rylatt - Transformation Fit • Season 1 • Episode 4

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0:00 | 6:35

Think strength training is only for the young or injury-free? Think again.

In this short and powerful episode, Josh shares the story of Maria—a 77-year-old woman with diabetes, high blood pressure, sciatica, and limited mobility—who reclaimed her independence through just one hour of strength training per week.

This is your reminder that it's never too late to start, and you're never too far gone to get stronger, healthier, and more mobile.


  •  Intro: The myth that strength training is dangerous for older adults or people with health conditions
  • Meet Maria: 77 years old, diabetic, sciatica, hadn’t walked or driven in 2 years
  • Her Starting Point: Couldn’t sit down without support
  • The Turning Point: One hour of strength training a week
  • Her Progress: Walking, driving, weight loss, lower blood pressure and glucose
  • The Mindset Shift: Why she didn’t give up and how her independence came back
  • The Lesson: Resistance training is scalable, safe, and essential
  • Final Message: You’re not too far gone—you just need the right support and starting point


  • Strength training for older adults
  • Sciatica recovery
  • Weight training and diabetes
  • Fitness over 70
  • Regaining independence through exercise
  • Gym for injuries
  • Resistance training with health conditions
  • Transformation Fit Podcast

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[0:00] Intro: Strength Training Can Change Your Life

Hey guys, welcome back to this week's podcast. This week's episode is going to be a short and sweet story about how strength training can change your life. One of the common objections we get when we speak to new clients or maybe people who don't feel they can come in to one of our programs and start working on their health and fitness because of the methods we use is that they feel strength training specifically using weights is somehow going to be detrimental for their specific medical condition, right? And I want to kind of debunk that myth for you today because for most people within the general population and even most people with specific health conditions, strength training, using weights, using resistance, using your own body weight, can be one of the most powerful uses of your time to improve your health and fitness.

[1:00] Maria's Story and Initial Challenges

So I want to talk to you about a lady that I'm working with at the moment named Maria. Now, when Maria first came to me, she was 77 years old. She had a car accident in the past which had damaged her body. She had crippling sciatica. She had diabetes and high blood pressure. She hadn't walked or drove a car in over two years before coming to see me. Now, if you're a lady of 77, 78 years of age, and you had all these medical conditions, you might just be willing to throw the towel in and say, well, it's my age. I'm not going to do anything about that now, am I? In fact, you might know people with that mindset. But with Maria it was a little bit different. She was determined to try and get herself back walking, get herself back driving become more independent so she can spend time with her granddaughter, take her to school, take her on the park, go and visit her friends. She's a very independent woman, so having these disabilities just didn't sit right with her.

[2:00] Starting from the Bottom

So when she first came to me, bless her, she could not even lower herself down onto a chair from a standing position to a seated position without desperately gripping on to some kind of support apparatus. And you might think that somebody with that many medical conditions and such a lack of strength in that moment should avoid doing strength training. But in actual fact, the only type of training that we have done with Maria is strength training, okay?

[3:15] Maria’s Remarkable Progress

And I'm very pleased to say that within nine months of exercising with me for one hour a week, we've been able to get her back walking. We've been able to get her back driving. She can go and visit her friends, she can drive herself to hair appointments to get her hair done she can go and pick a granddaughter up or go and visit a granddaughter and drive back whenever she wants. She's totally reclaimed her independence now. And the only method of exercise that she employed to be able to do that was strength training, lifting weights.

[4:30] Health Improvements

And does she still have sciatica? Yes, that sciatica plays up from time to time. But the fact that we've built up so much strength over that period of time has meant that when she does get sciatica flareups, it's nowhere near as bad and she's still able to remain mobile and remain independent. Her blood pressure has come down. Her diabetes, blood glucose readings have dropped. She's lost weight. And if you just look at her, you see a difference in her demeanor. You see a difference in how she thinks and you see somebody who's achieved incredible things with just one hour of exercise every week.

[5:30] The Essential Nature of Strength Training

The main message that I want to relate to you is, you're not too far gone to begin training. You're not too far gone to begin resistance training. A lot of people think because of their injuries they can't lift weights or they can't go to the gym. But I'd flip that on its head and say that you can't do the things that you love doing in your life because you're not resistance training.

[6:30] Final Encouragement: Start Where You Are

Everything has to be regressed down to the level that you're at now. Just because we have to regress exercises for you when you first come on board doesn't mean you're getting anything less out of your training sessions. That means we're giving you the appropriate dosage of resistance training at a suitable level for you. Once we start, we begin building strength, we begin building momentum, and we can increase the weights and intensity as time goes by. Don't let your injuries or illnesses stop you from making a start on your health and fitness. You can do it. You just need the right support, the right knowledge, and the right guidance. Take care, guys, and I'll speak to you soon.

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Josh Rylatt

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