House of Pain and Do It Again

House of Pain, Let’s do it Again

James Simmons is sitting on the seat near the shoulder pull down machine and he just shakes his head responding with “I call this place the house of pain.” James, who happens to be partially paralyzed on his right side, is a regular at the Hartsville YMCA. He is there Monday, Wednesday and Friday even as he arrives in some pain and leaves in some pain. His physical pain is offset by the mental and spiritual gain he feels on the other side as he knows that a few years ago, “I was unable to move - I couldn’t do anything. I did not want to live.” A broken neck suffered in an at-home fall in 2012 had him paralyzed and being told he would probably never be able to walk, exercise or move again. He says he has been blessed in recovery since then.

Now James Simmons is putting in sets of reps on weight machines regularly at the Y during workouts that will go more than an hour. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays he walks putting in laps at the Thomas Center in Hartsville or around the Byerly Park tracks. It is physical pain aggravated by nerve pain but “there is a thrill in my being able to do these things and to look forward to doing them again and again – because there was a time I could not do them and that time will probably come again,” says James. So, he has become one of the many unassuming role models for the power of movement to make living more meaningful, more productive and more possible.

While he calls the Y the House of Pain, it is obvious that the time at the Y is one of his keys to maintaining joy in life. First proof – he has been on his workout schedule since at least 2015 and if he misses a day others notice. Second proof, “I talk to a whole lot of people here and many of us are on the same page - working out to keep being able to move and live. Often we do not have to talk, just a head nod lets us know we are in this together,” says this 68 year exerciser.

He has worked his routines for some years and comes to his dedication to the daily work from high school sports that taught him the basics of consistency and effort to get and stay in shape. He also has a history of commitment as he went through 12 years of school in Pinehurst, NC without missing a day. “I have learned a lot of lessons throughout my life that have made it possible for me to negotiate life with the daily stress of constant pain. Showing up for workouts in one of the important lessons, he notes.” Prior to his fall in 2012 he had spent most of his working career as a lineman both with the power company and Sprint.

He can’t find a ‘favorite’ in any of the exercises. From the treadmill to the chest machine, to the shoulder and bicep machines they are all tools that hurt to use but which cause more pain later if he fails to get in the workout. “It is pain but there is also that thrill of being able to do it again that is the major payoff,” says Simmons.

James and his wife live in Hartsville and he is a member of the Second Baptist Church where he is active in the Church ministry. He says he doesn’t talk much to others about his active workout life because he has come to learn that when it is an accident or illness it is personal. He hopes that when others see his daily dedication they get a little of the good feeling that he gets when he watches others at the Hartsville Y go through their own daily workout routines. “The Hartsville Y is one of my real life lines,” says James.

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