‘Fitness Was No Longer About the Six-Pack – It Was About Being Able to Live Independently’

As a Royal Marines Commando, Mark Ormrod was used to fighting difficult battles but nothing compared to adjusting to life as a triple amputee, after stepping on an IED. Through an adaptive approach to fitness he’s found a new strength, going on to win four gold medals at the Invictus Games.

This story is part of Men’s Health’s #FitForEveryBody initiative, which aims to explore the challenges that keep men from participating in sports and fitness – and what training communities can do to foster greater inclusivity.

Fitness and physicality were my passion. So you can imagine what it was like to be lying in a hospital bed as a triple amputee after stepping on an IED (improvised explosive device) in Afghanistan – with the thought that they might be gone from my life forever.

Rehab helped me develop a basic understanding of the new way my body worked – the things that I could do and the ways I could adapt exercises. I was determined to get my old self back. Being physically fit is essential for being an active father, an engaged husband, a productive member of society. It was difficult though, because once I left rehab, I didn’t have the same level of support.

mark ormrod jiu jitsu

What I did have was a friend who owned a gym. He gave me a key so I could go in and exercise at 5am – not because I was embarrassed, but because I knew it would take me a long time to get on and off machines with my prosthetics, and I didn’t want to ‘hog’ equipment. As a triple amputee, it’s difficult to set up exercise stations, so I needed someone who could work with me. In the end I found an experienced coach who was a huge help.

My body is very different now, so I had to learn to move it in different ways and take some unusual approaches to exercise to get the results I wanted. It took six months to find my confidence and figure out what worked for me.

Before I became a triple amputee, training was all about the way I looked and feeling strong – function wasn’t really a consideration. Afterwards, I understood that for me to be independent, to be a full-time prosthetics user who doesn’t need a wheelchair, and to enjoy life to the fullest, I needed to have a different set of priorities.

The moment I knew I’d found a way of training that worked was the first time I was truly exhausted after a gym session. It was an awesome sensation. Mentally, it opened up a new world and gave me something back that I thought was gone forever.

I used those first six months as a foundation to explore and experiment with other disciplines I never would have tried before. I’ve gone on to compete in adaptive CrossFit events, I train in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and I’ve had the honour of representing Great Britain at the Invictus Games twice, winning four gold, four bronze and three silver medals as well as the overall best athlete of the games in 2017.

Now, I train every day and I truly believe that I’m capable of living a longer, happier and more fulfilling life.