Transformation Tuesday with DDP: You're never too old for a self high-five

Diamond Dallas Page has made a living out of helping others.

The World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Famer has been changing lives for over two decades with his DDPYoga program, a fusion of yoga for men who “wouldn’t be caught dead” doing yoga.

He developed it after he suffered a broken back, and soon realized that his workout regimen couldn't just enhance lives, it could save them.

Since 2004, Page has been seeing his program work miracles. We'll look at this Jersey Shore boy’s most inspirational stories through our Transformation Tuesday feature. All have a story of how DDP YOGA changed, and in many cases, saved their lives.

Dianne Kusztos Wilson was someone who used the program to better her life. Since she was older when she started it, she's now reaching out to others who need the same encouragement she did when she started.

Dianne Kusztos Wilson

Born: Barberton, Ohio

Live: Spartanburg, South Carolina

Age: 74 years YOUNG!

Highest weight: 144 pounds

Lowest weight: 113.5 pounds

Now: 117.5 pounds

At 72 years old, Dianne Kusztos Wilson’s mind was still as sharp as ever, still running her own successful advertising agency.

She has always been young at heart, and really didn’t like to think of herself as “old” — but one day, looking at her worn, wrinkled hands, she got emotional. They were a reminder that she was no longer as young as she used to be.

She was noticing more and more the signs of aging — trouble climbing stairs, getting up and down, and one of her friends, a nurse practitioner, had told her that they don’t release their senior patients unless they could get up off a toilet on their own. Kusztos Wilson was ashamed to admit it, but she was also having a lot of trouble getting up off the “john” as she calls it. That made her feel even older.

While seniors experience these signs of aging, many just accept it. They do less and less, and are able to do less and less over time. But Kusztos Wilson did not want to accept this.

"My muscles were atrophying,” Kusztos Wilson said. “I was too embarrassed to say anything. I was just desperate, I just wanted to get stronger, and I was scared."

That's when her daughter and her son-in-law stepped in to help.

They knew of Diamond Dallas Page, better known as DDP, his professional wrestling career, and had seen the remarkable comeback stories.

Transformation Tuesday with DDP: The power of community helped one, inspired millions

At the time, Kusztos WIlson had no idea who DDP was. It didn't matter to her that he was a three-time world champion or a WWE Hall of Famer. She didn't even know what the letters “DDP” stood for.

"I went to one wrestling match my entire life," Kusztos Wilson said. "People were screaming and yelling. It wasn't for me."

But she had nothing to lose. Neither did her family, so they got her help through the program.

They hoped it would be life changing.

They had no idea.

"That Mother's Day, my son-in-law signed up for the program,” Kusztos Wilson said. “He thought I could go into the DDPY app and see what was involved if he signed me up. We clicked around the app, and I really saw some cool things."

Her daughter Amanda and her husband figured if they signed her up for the program maybe it could be a starting point for regaining her mobility.

Kusztos Wilson was introduced to workouts that would meet her where she was and daily inspiration that would keep her going.

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She even joined the DDPY Positively Unstoppable Challenge, a yearly contest that pushes people to make significant changes in their lives. She started seeing progress quickly, and she was optimistic until a knee injury stopped all of her momentum.

"I've always been one who tries to avoid doctors, but it was so painful I had X-rays taken,” Kusztos Wilson said. “The orthopedist said it would take four to six weeks to heal. I wasn't happy with this news, but this 'obstacle' made me realize, 'How could I prove to myself and others that I am unstoppable if nothing ever tried to stop me?' I made an attitude adjustment and remembered DDPY had developed workouts you can do in bed. And that's what I began doing.

"I put on my heart rate monitor and was surprised to see I could get my heart rate up and burn calories while lying in bed!"

Kusztos Wilson went from the workouts in bed, to workouts in a chair, to the standing workouts. She started to really get engaged with the DDP YOGA community on Facebook, and saw a “knee dropper” challenge which she decided to join.

As they all pushed each other to be consistent, and do small increments of “knee droppers” each day, she saw rapid progress. She couldn’t believe how much stronger she became. The challenge of doing something every day seemed to be working.

Within just 9 months she was able to do things she hadn’t done in years. She no longer had trouble climbing stairs — she could run up them. One day she was getting dressed and realized she could put her pants on without sitting down. She could stand on one leg while putting the other in her pants.

She was stunned at what she could do at “72 years young.”

Although she submitted her story to DDP YOGA and they didn’t choose her as one of their challenge “Champions," she was invited to Smyrna, Georgia, to tell her story.

She was so thrilled at her progress and the recognition she received, and honored to visit the very place that she’d been watching on her iPad at home.

She met Page for the first time, and thanked him in person for changing her life.

But not long after, she received a call from her doctor — they found a growth in her lung from her X-rays.

When she went to the doctor with her daughter by her side, she was told that they had two options. They could just observe the growth and “wait and see” over the next year, or they could do surgery to remove it from her lung preemptively.

More: From a broken man to another fight, Butterbean credits DDPY with new lease on life

At 72, the thought of having lung surgery was scary, but Kusztos Wilson didn’t expect to hear what her daughter said next.

“Do the surgery now,” she said. “My mom is in the best shape of her life.”

Amanda was never more certain.

While maybe an exaggeration, Kusztos Wilson knew her daughter was right.

She hadn’t been this fit in many years, so she opted to have the surgery. She had a third of her lung removed, and it was a major setback. Afterwards, she couldn’t help but feel depressed and discouraged that she would have to do all the hard work all over again.

Then her phone rang.

It was Page calling to check on her. But he was also excited to show her the video his team put together of her story. After receiving the link, Kusztos Wilson and her husband cried as they relived the incredible journey she’d been on.

More importantly, it relit her spark. Her own story was the proof she needed. She believed she could do it again.

In less than a year, not only did Kusztos Wilson get back into incredible shape, her lung function was back to 100%, and she was selected as a 2023 DDPY Positively Unstoppable Champion by DDP and his team. Kusztos Wilson credits the DDPY Facebook Group for much of her success.

“If you go through a rough patch, you’ve got other people pulling for you," she said. "I would not be here sharing this story if it wasn’t for all those people cheering me on. This program is different than anything I’ve ever done before.”

Now as a Positively Unstoppable Champion, Kusztos Wilson is proof to so many others that you are truly never too old to change your health, improve your mobility and your mindset. Kusztos Wilson has proved that twice in her 70s.

“I’ve had people say that I found the fountain of youth and I’ll say if you think I found the fountain of youth, Diamond Dallas Page gave me the road to it,” said Kusztos Wilson.

For more information on DDP YOGA visit DDPYOGA.com or PositivelyUnstoppable.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Advertising exec, 74, never felt younger thanks to DDP Yoga