86-Year-Old Avon Man Creates Total-Body Home Workout Device

When the phone rings at the radio ranch, you never know what it will lead to.

Last week it took my co-worker, John Uran, and I out to the back roads of Avon to see a new workout device invented by an 86-year-old man.

We didn't have a whole lot of information to go on when we left. We knew that the creator's name was Edwin Stich, he was older, and he couldn't describe it on the phone, we just had to come out and see it. So we did.

When we arrived at Edwin's home we immediately saw these heavy-duty yard swings lined up in the driveway. I figured this guy must have come up with something pretty interesting to show us based on the quality of those swings alone.

We met Edwin, and were invited into his home to see his new equipment in motion. This "total-body-workout", oddly enough, involved sitting in a chair.

The piece of equipment is a board with a PVC pipe screwed into it. You sit in a chair with your feet on either the board or pipe and rock back and forth, simulating a sit-up or crunch.

When you rock back you are supposed to point your toes, and when you come forward you drive your heels down. It's obviously working because Edwin is getting around pretty well for a 86-year-old.

Edwin told us that when he retired from running backhoe, he was in such rough shape that he was using a walker. Instead of working on a tractor or a car in his retirement, he chose to work on his body. He changed his lifestyle, remains active, builds things in his shop, and is getting around better than anyone his age I have ever seen.

Keep on being creative and creating, Edwin. You're setting a great example of health and that age is just a number.