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Fitness & Health

17th Jun 2015

US blade runner Blake Leeper in the most inspiring training video you’ll see today

Blades of glory...

Ben Kenyon

If you’ve ever made a lame excuse not to go to the gym, then you’d better watch this latest Nike training video.

JOE has heard every excuse in the book (we did in fact write the book on foolproof excuses for shirking Monday workouts).

But US 100m Paralympic world record holder Blake Leeper doesn’t want to hear any of them.

Doctors told him he would never be able to walk – never mind run.

Double congenital amputee Leeper rather poignantly says “For me the only true disability is life is a bad attitude”.

Does having no legs stop him training like a maniac? Does it hell.

2012 London Paralympics - Day 9 - Athletics

“Yes I miss my legs,” he says. “It’s terrible, it sucks. I know. But I got to get up, put my prosthetics on and I’ve gotta go train.”

The lad hits it hard too – pounding away on the spin bike, hitting heavy squats, doing quadruped hip extensions and hip bridges, then barbell bench presses. That’s even before he slips his blades on.

“The only things you can really control are your effort and your attitude. If you really want to be that elite athlete or you really want to be the best in the world you have to look at yourself in the mirror every morning and say ‘no excuses’.”

What’s your excuse again?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MefjoGxS_TU&feature=youtu.be