🧗♀️ The Wall Doesn’t Care How Old You Are: Precerpt from Grandma's Ninja Training Diary (Leaver)
Reflections on Strategy, Gravity, and the Art of Falling at 75
I haven’t been back to the rock gym in a while—it’s thirty miles out, and other demands have crept in—but the wall is still in me. I think about climbing often: the problem-solving, the weight shifts, the quiet math of reach and momentum. What stays with me most, though, is this truth—climbing walls don’t care how old you are. They don’t care if your arms are short, your knees creaky, or your ID says you’ve been around for seven and a half decades. All a wall asks is: what’s your next move?
🦵 Planning Beats Reach
I climb slow. Not out of hesitation, but precision. I have proportionally short arms for climbing, so getting high means using my legs as leverage—sometimes even when there’s no foothold. That’s where strategy takes over. I’ve learned that leg pressure can transform vertical surfaces into temporary holds. In biomechanical terms, it’s dynamic friction: your momentum temporarily overtakes gravity, letting the wall behave like a brace point even when there’s nothing obvious to grab.
It’s not brute force—it’s forethought, adjustment, and trust in body intelligence.
🍑 Master of the Fall
My climbing instructor once used me as the demonstration model for how to fall safely. No training required—my padded backside is pre-programmed for optimal descent. Anytime I fall, whether bouldering or just missing a step at home, my butt hits first. It’s textbook technique: protecting your ankles, knees, and spine by letting your glutes absorb the impact. For me, it’s instinctive. Call it a gravity-optimized asset.
I may be a tad (just a tad) over ideal weight, but it turns out that little extra cushioning is a secret weapon in fall resilience.
🌗 Middle Zone Mastery
I stick to the middle zone—not too easy, not absurdly hard. It’s where real learning happens. Every climb is a negotiation: How will I get from point A to point B with limited reach? Can my legs push with enough force to override gravity on a blank wall? How do I keep moving even when the route stalls?
That instructor invitation—to join her and a few other climbers—didn’t pan out, but I cherish it. She didn’t ask my age. She saw how I moved. That was the invitation.
💥 Aging Strategically
Climbing has given me more than grip strength and bruises. It’s shown me that aging well means aging strategically. You assess, adapt, and ascend—without apology. You trust muscle memory, fall smart, and plan five steps ahead. You honor the body not for what it once did, but for what it still can.
Grandma’s Ninja Training Diary is the inspiring true story of a 75-year-old grandmother who dares to dream big—by training for American Ninja Warrior. Teaming up with coach and trainer Brittany Renz, she embarks on a three-year journey to build strength, resilience, flexibility, balance, and endurance—starting from scratch.
Told in a dynamic mix of diary entries, coaching insights, and behind-the-scenes reflections, this book chronicles the ups and downs of late-in-life athletic training. From gym workouts to rock climbing, yoga to injury recovery, sleep to mindset—every aspect of the transformation is explored with honesty and humor.
Grandma shares what she’s learning; Coach Brittany explains why she’s right—or wrong. Together, they offer a realistic, encouraging look at what it takes to pursue an extraordinary goal at any age.
Part training manual, part motivational memoir, Grandma’s Ninja Training Diary is packed with practical tips for readers over 50 who want to improve their fitness, health, and confidence. You’ll also get insider insights into the world of American Ninja Warrior, strategies for balancing real life with ambitious goals, and hard-won wisdom about success, failure, and the joy of simply showing up.
To purchase copies of any MSI Press book at 25% discount,
use code FF25 at MSI Press webstore.
Want to read an MSI Press book and not have to pay for it?
(1) Ask your local library to purchase and shelve it.
(2) Ask us for a review copy; we love to have our books reviewed.
VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL OUR AUTHORS AND TITLES.
(recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, author advice, and more -- stay up to date)Check out recent issues.
We help writers become award-winning published authors. One writer at a time. We are a family, not a factory. Do you have a future with us? Find out at www.msipress.com.
Turned away by other publishers because you are a first-time author and/or do not have a strong platform yet? If you have a strong manuscript, San Juan Books, our hybrid publishing division, may be able to help. Ask us. Check out more information at www.msipress.com.
Planning on self-publishing and don't know where to start? Our author au pair services will mentor you through the process. See what we can do for your at www.msipress.com.
Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book in exchange for reviewing a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com.
Want an author-signed copy of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.Julia Aziz, signing her book, Lessons of Labor, at an event at Book People in Austin, Texas.
Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our Authors' Pages.Steven Greenebaum, author of award-winning books, An Afternoon's Discussion and One Family: Indivisible, talking to a reader at Barnes & Noble in Gilroy, California.MSI Press is ranked among the top publishers in California.
Check out our rankings -- and more -- HERE.
Comments
Post a Comment