Charles Piper believes he’s the man he is today because of the U.S. Army.
That includes being a healthy and fit 54-year-old.
LESLEY YOUNG/SPECIAL TO THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
Charles Piper, 54, of Collierville has remained fit throughout his life since joining the Army at age 19. “I learned that physical fitness made me feel good,” he said.
“I owe everything I have to Uncle Sam,” said Piper, a retired federal agent.
Piper joined the Army at age 19 as a chubby, undisciplined youngster who hated school.
“When I was 19, I was not in good shape. I couldn’t run a full lap without stopping,” he said.
He came out understanding the benefits of fitness and ready to earn a degree.
“While I was in the Army for seven years, fitness was a part of my life whether I wanted it to be or not,” he said. “It teaches you to strive for improvement.”
Over the years, while earning a degree in criminology and becoming a detective and then a federal agent, Piper maintained a fitness routine that at one point got him down to 155 pounds.
“I learned that physical fitness made me feel good, both mentally and physically,” said the Collierville resident.
These days, Piper has no fitness tests to keep him up to standards, so he knows how important it is to stay disciplined.
Five or six days a week, he either lifts weights or runs on the treadmill.
“I usually run sprints. I’ll walk a minute, then sprint a minute, until I cover two miles. I get pretty sweaty,” he said. “I can stay excited doing one-minute sprints. It’s fun. To me, exercise should be fun.”
Piper says at his age he knows the importance of maintaining muscle tone, so he lifts weights on the days he doesn’t sprint.
“It’s what you need after 40, because your muscles start to deteriorate. If you don’t do some type of resistance training, you will lose muscle,” he said.
Focusing on the positive keeps him in the game.
“I’ve learned to concentrate on what you can do, and not what you can’t,” he said.
As he starts a new career as a private investigator, Piper believes fitness is important to how he presents himself.
“Image is important as a professional running my own business. It says that if I take care of myself, I take care of my job,” he said.
“You have to work hard if you want to succeed. And if you don’t do it when you’re 45, do you think you’re going to do it when you’re 55?” he said.
Have you lost weight and kept it off, adopted better eating habits, started exercising or had success living a more healthful lifestyle? E-mail your story to sunyata00@gmail.com.
Charles Piper
Age: 54.
Hometown: Collierville.
What he did: Piper learned the importance of fitness when he joined the Army at age 19. Now he lifts weights or runs sprints on the treadmill five to six days a week.
Advice: “This is a quote (by William James) I looked at every day throughout my life, ‘Compared to what we ought to be, we are only half awake. We are making use of only a small part of our mental and physical resources.'”
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