It’s game on for Rob Gronkowski and Matt Iseman on the Live Yes! With Arthritis Podcast.
This was not your typical discussion about chronic pain and arthritis. There was laughing. There were singing and dancing. There was even juggling. It was just what we needed to cut through the isolation of the new coronavirus world. Former pro football player Rob Gronkowski – known by fans as “Gronk” – teamed up with Matt Iseman, host ofAmerican Ninja Warriorand a longtime friend of the Arthritis Foundation who has rheumatoid arthritis, to share their stories and some laughs on the Live Yes! With Arthritis Podcast. Together they will be hostingCOVID-19 Celebrity Challenge – Survive & Thrive: Together in Isolation, presented by CBDMEDIC™ to benefit the Arthritis Foundation, on Facebook Live.
Gronkowski’s team took three championship titles in his nine years as tight end. After multiple surgeries and years of chronic pain, he announced his retirement last year, and has since been showing up everywhere fromThe Masked SingerTV reality show to WWE WrestleMania 36, where he claimed another title. In addition, he has partnered with CBDMEDIC™, which produces CBD-based products designed to ease pain.
He and Iseman joined Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast hosts Rebecca Gillett and Julie Eller to share their stories and talk about the upcoming Celebrity Challenge, where participants will get a little insight into the challenges people who live with arthritis face every day – as well as a chance to be together and to have fun!
Here’s a sneak preview of thepodcast, where Rob and Matt swapped jokes about Rob’s performance as the White Tiger inThe Masked Singer:
Rob:学习如何在一起唱歌和跳舞绝对是一项艰巨的任务。这是另一种水平的调节和有氧运动，在与身体协调的同时使用大脑肌肉。我必须经常练习。我对艺术家、歌手、尤其是舞蹈给予了更多的尊重。
Matt:Britney Spears is the greatest athlete on the planet, is what Rob is saying.
Rob:They are athletes for sure. Doing those dance moves, doing that type of body movement, helps break up scar tissue from all my football hits. It helps out the arthritis, I would say.
Matt:运动是乳液!罗伯，当我被诊断患有类风湿关节炎时，我不能做任何高冲击力的事情。我不得不停止打篮球，甚至停止慢跑。所以，我开始做瑜伽，低强度游泳之类的。既然你已经远离了足球，你是怎么保持身体健康的?
Rob:I got away from that hard impact. You want to be that guy on the field that is dieseled-up and ready to go. I got away from that to heal up. Body-weight workouts, [resistance] band workouts and yoga, and also getting treatments like massages to help me recover. It’s been like a year now, and I’m feeling really good. It feels great. I feel kinda like I have a new body.
你知道吗，当你疼痛的时候，连散步都不舒服。我全身都在承受巨大的疼痛，全身都在做手术。我的前臂做了手术，背部做了三次手术，我也做了MCL和ACL手术。疤痕组织已经形成，当我的身体发炎时，它会加重疤痕组织。当我退役的时候，我不能走路。现在一切都好了，说实话，我觉得我再也不受限制了。我觉得如果我想去踢足球，我可以去。我的信念是，无论发生什么，你都可以回来。但你不能再做你的老套路了，所以要找到新的套路。
Matt:Man, it sounds like you’re feeling better than you have in so many years so… any plans for a return to football?
Rob:Oh yeah. Big time. I’m gonna be a mascot.
Rebecca:你们觉得你们的歌唱和舞蹈，以及你们运用的幽默，对你们的应对技巧有帮助吗?尤其是现在?
Rob:我学到的是我在一天的练习或表演后的感觉，从唱歌和跳舞-这太棒了。就像一场比赛后，你会有内啡肽激增的感觉。
Matt:For me, standup comedy has been one of the best things emotionally and physically. I don’t care how tired I am, how sick I feel, how sore I am. When I get on stage and do standup, and I’m in a room of people laughing, I feel like I’ve just won a title. It is such a good feeling. We know there are endorphins released when you’re doing these things that you love. The emotional side is so important to tend to when you’re dealing with chronic pain. Right now, it is easy to focus on the problems, and it’s important to actively choose things that stimulate you and give you that natural high.
Rob:The natural high, that’s what it’s all about.
Rebecca:Pain can feel really isolating, right? We’ve all experienced it, and we know that a lot of people with arthritis report feeling isolated and anxiety and depression. And being stuck at home really makes that amplified. Do you guys have any ways that you would suggest to people how you’re coping that might help them?
Rob:You’ve got to FaceTime friends. You’ve got to keep the brain active. I got this new game called Ruzzle. It’s challenging! And just going for long walks in nature, getting fresh air, getting fresh oxygen. That definitely has helped me big time, man. I just love that.
Matt:I found some online courses. I’m learning how to cook. I’ve cooked more during this time of isolation than I have in my entire life.
Rebecca:In this celebrity challenge, if you want to test out those new cooking skills, maybe you should do the cookoff with Chef Ming Tsai.
Matt:那就太好了，因为我可以在47分钟内做10分钟的鸡肉。
Rebecca:Our event is called the COVID-19 Celebrity Challenge–Survive & Thrive: Together in Isolation. CBDMEDIC™ has been great to come to the Arthritis Foundation, along with Rob, and say, “Hey, we want to support the Arthritis Foundation.” One hundred percent of the fundraising proceeds are going to the Foundation and our efforts. Rob, what are you excited most about this event?
Rob:I’m just excited to chat with everyone, to hear everyone’s stories, to see what they’re doing during this time to keep their mind occupied, to keep their body healthy.
Julie:Camille [Kostek], your girlfriend, is also going to join the celebrity challenge.
Rebecca:卡米尔，跟大家分享你的话题吧。
Camille:Never not dancing!
Rob:Every once in a while, tensions get up, and then that’s when we go and start dancing.
Matt:我喜欢听别人的妙招，尤其是在关节炎社区。这就是为什么我喜欢我们在关节炎基金会建立的社区，在这里，所有这些人都理解我们面临的挑战。
Julie:这个活动有很多有趣的挑战，我们可以一起应对——54个挑战，因为有5400万美国人患有医生诊断的关节炎。在Facebook直播活动中向世界和彼此展示我们是如何克服这些困难的，这只是我们作为一个社区如何共同做到这一点的一个小象征;我们如何实现我们的“是”。很高兴你们能来。活动将在美国东部时间4月22日晚上8点举行，我们迫不及待地想在Facebook上看到你们所有人。
Tune in now to the Survive & Thrive with Gronk & Matt Live Yes! With Arthritis podcastepisode to hear more about their stories of living with pain and what they do to manage and stay healthy.
Join Gronk & Matt, along with other celebrities, as they goFACEBOOK LIVE for the Celebrity Challenge Event – Survive & Thrive: Together in Isolationon the Arthritis Foundation’s page on Wednesday, April 22 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
