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For over 30 years now Sean Wilson, aka “Mr FGS” has been interested in the research, scientific evidence and practical application of exercise and nutrition altering the morphological and functional trajectory of how we age. In fact, truth be told, he strongly believes that even the very old amongst us could significantly improve and transform their physical capabilities and functional capacity if provided with the best evidence, information, guidance and support.

For Sean, “FitGreyStrong” is a culmination of a journey that we will try to explain below. The word “Grey” is used to symbolise that which is most evident as we age with “Fit” and “Strong” virtuous characteristics as one grows older (see here for a full deconstruction of the FitGreyStrong logo). His blogs will be of interest to you if you’re middle-aged and older. We would also hasten to add that his articles won’t appeal to everyone. If you are truly seeking a better understanding of the biological, psychological or social influencers on ageing, we suspect that you will want to understand more about where you are going and will search out information that delves much deeper into the science and issues.

Consequently, FitGreyStrong wants to explore, critically appraise and discuss the scientific evidence that is available so that you have the opportunity to really engage and understand the practical things you can do to make a real difference in your life. Sean does not want to provide blogs or commentary that are just superficial or cursory.

We would now like to tell you a story.

It was around midday Saturday 16th November 1957 that a young, athletic, vibrant Australian teenage boy was admitted to Ward 3 of Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in Victoria, Australia with suspected poliomyelitis. Within a few hours, after blood tests, reflex testing and a lumbar puncture analysis, he was diagnosed with polyneuritis or more specifically, acute idiopathic polyneuritis also known as Guillain–Barré syndrome. 

Guillain–Barré syndrome causes damage to the peripheral nervous system with rapid-onset muscle weakness a telling feature. This autoimmune disease is caused by the body’s immune system mistakenly attacking the peripheral nerves and damaging their myelin insulation. It was identified in 1916, during World War I, by three doctors, André Strohl – a French physiologist – Georges Guillain and Jean Alexandre Barré – both of whom were neurologists – and they were all serving in the Neurological Centre of the French Sixth Army. They all witnessed and documented that two soldiers had an unexpected amount of spinal fluid protein production after suffering from muscular weakening and pain along with paresthesias. Strohl performed the electrophysiological tests on these soldiers and this was instrumental in quantifying the particular physiological characteristics of this illness. In the same year Guillain, Barré and Strohl reported their findings in a medical journal.

In 1927 H. Draganesco and J. Claudion coined the term “Guillain-Barré syndrome”, unfortunately overlooking Strohl’s contributions. Consequently, you may sometimes see this disease referred to as Guillain-Barré-Strohl syndrome and this rightly acknowledges the key role played by Strohl when initially investigated.

The devastation and distress that were to follow for the young man in Fairfield Hospital, especially for his Mum and Dad, and the effect these events were to have on his future were profound and far-reaching. Most afflicted by this syndrome go on to make a full recovery with some having some residual weakness, however this was unfortunately not the case here.

As an aspiring and promising athlete contracting this disease would have a catastrophic effect on his neuromuscular system essentially “ripping away” all his lower limb muscle tissue and causing major damage to the peripheral nerves that supplied his legs. This would leave his lower limbs the remnants of what would be more akin to that of a Prisoner of war than that of a fit, muscular young teenager. His battle with this very rare syndrome – which affects less than 2 per 100,000 people per year – would bring him close several times to meeting his maker during the first few weeks in hospital. In some ways, the experience would leave him feeling disconnected with his sense of self, like there was a thorn in his side, wondering about what was and what could have been.

After the initial acute hospitalisation and dramatic muscle wasting that ensued, the physical and psychological rehabilitation was unfortunately next to non-existent and archaic compared to the treatments that are available today. Maybe with modern treatments a significantly greater restoration of his physical capabilities could have been achieved? Maybe.

The physical effects of course were very disabling and frustratingly so.  After becoming a Father twice in his mid-20s, many of the things that able-bodied Dads do with their kids were a real struggle or simply not possible. His son and daughter would sometimes play chase with him which was always great fun for them but they just didn’t understand. They would say, “come on Dad, if you really try you will be able to run, just try Dad, you’ll see.” When his son was young he would play kick-to-kick with an Australian rules football. The thing was, that when his son kicked the ball to him but the kick went astray, he would lumber over to retrieve it which would take some time before resuming their play. The upside of this was that his son learnt how to kick with point-blank precision almost every time. These were frustrating reminders of his past, a painful past that had stolen the future. A future that had promised so much. A future where anything was possible. And so like many where a random and chaotic world see rare things happen to individuals without rhyme or reason, the question remains and always arises for him: Why me?

As the years progressed, the disabling weakness in his lower body became more pronounced and his joints started to rebel against the ravages of time. Day-to-day activities became both tremendously and dangerously challenging. All the things we take for granted because they are so easy for us to do – like raising yourself out of a chair, getting in and out of the shower, climbing up & downstairs, crossing the road, getting over gutters, going shopping, dealing with uneven walking surfaces and the like – became major negotiating events that required pre-planning and initial assessment, ongoing evaluation and continual focus on the task at hand.

It is hard to really understand what this is like when you are an abled, strong and healthy person. However, Sean has had first-hand experience of how difficult part of this journey has been because this young teenage boy we have described to you and who Sean loves dearly is his Dad and his name is Peter Wilson. Sean’s experience of his Dad’s journey has had a major influence and effect on the creation of his blog and, health and fitness service, FitGreyStrong. Sean also wholeheartedly believes that the only reason that his Dad is still able to walk and stand – albeit with a little trouble – is that he has, over the years, regularly performed exercise known as weight training.

Strength training is another name that is often used to describe this type of activity but in scientific circles most refer to it as “Resistance training”. Sean has strong memories over 25 years ago of helping  his Dad in the garage of the house they lived in at the time.  He use to get his Dad to do eccentric bench squats (the lowering part to the bench with legs either side of the bench) so Peter didn’t fall to the ground and Sean would assist his Dad during the up (concentric) phase whereby Peter would lower again until he could no longer control his descent. From these halcyon days his Dad has continued to ‘hit the gym’ and this has paid very good dividends, staying strong enough for Peter to remain on his feet although that is getting more difficult with each passing year. Nonetheless, Sean is quite sure had Peter decided to forgo his resistance training sessions he would have been confined to a wheelchair many years ago.

Sean would admit that he does have a bias towards resistance-type exercise for everybody over 40 because the benefits that have been documented are especially impressive. What is known – and as far back as 1945 – is that exercise could dramatically improve patients with considerable atrophied muscle and severely compromised function. Thomas Delorme – who was a physician at the Gardiner General Army Hospital in Chicago in the mid-1940s and who had earlier used weights against the advice of his doctors to rehabilitate himself after Rheumatic Fever – found in 1944 that progressive resistance training rapidly rehabilitated injured US servicemen compared to traditional methods which were failing miserably. Delorme’s story is a fascinating one and is pivotal in the history and development of resistance training as a means to substantially and dramatically improve physical function.

Similarly, the seminal work of Maria Fiatarone and colleagues over 25 years ago demonstrated that progressive resistance training could lead to significant gains in muscle strength, size and functional mobility among frail nursing home nonagenarians. These are the type of dramatic improvements and scientific evidence that  FitGreyStrong hope to bring to the fore. Sean will, of course, canvass other areas of interest too, such as endurance-based exercise, nutritional considerations for older adults, and how social influencers affect perceptions of age-appropriateness of physical activity. So be rest assured FitGreyStrong intends to leave no stone unturned. Sean’s goal is to provide the best information from a biopsychosocial perspective toward enhancing the health, fitness and nutritional practices for those over 40.

His motto is very simple: To be liberated from the shackles of ageing – “Don’t Stop Moving“. He very strongly advocates that as a society we could be doing much, much more to keep the older amongst us strong, fit, mobile and healthy. The big picture outcome from this, apart from the benefits to each individual – is that there would be substantial benefits socially, economically and politically. Whilst not wanting to explore these claims here – he will leave that for another time – reducing falls in those over 65, for example, and the associated reduction in morbidity and mortality would have massive implications at all levels of society.

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