Louise – Went from Chronic back pain to full strength in 8 weeks
Introduction:
When I Louise started training she had a chronic back problem which had troubled her for over 3 months, during this period she had been to see several therapists with no luck.
Louise’s back would constantly ache and get very sore if she performed any exercise particularly any form of upper body. She was unable to work and was faced with the possibility of losing her job if she did not improve.
Results
Week 1 – After just one she had almost completely got rid of the pain
Week 2 – Pain gone
Week 3 – able to use arms (lightly) with out hurting back
Week 4 – No pain and getting much stronger
Week 6 – Started Kick boxing!
Week 8 – Back to full strength – able to do press ups and much more.
How we did this:
Firstly Louise deserves most of the credit, she was very determined and worked hard to get the results.
Louise injured her back pulling something heavy. This had caused her back to go into shock. It was clear to me that her body was very sensitive and cautious with exercise. This is why any exercise was causing it to lock up, because the body was still in shock.
The first stage was to get her back confident that exercise wasn’t going to hurt her back, also improving the balance and co-ordination of her feet, ankles, knees and hips. Also concentrating on stretching, as her muscles had become tense and the tension was unbalanced.
I was then working on reprogramming faulty muscle patterns. When injured and through bad habits the body will often be using the wrong muscle to perform an action, causing chronic problems.
So we assessed most movements and reprogrammed these muscles were necessary.
We didn’t just concentrate on core stability, each joint has its own stability, so we concentrated on each of these, building a strong and complete core unit.
I was incredibly satisfied with Louise’s results, the fact that she now does Kick boxing shows how strong and confident she now is.
What Louise says:
“It was great training with Duncan in that he observed and understood which muscles were not working within my back and my whole body structure. Up until that point I had spent a few months knowing that there was a muscular-skeletal issue, but not knowing how to stop it from getting worse. It did feel as if my body was a problem that was in control of me, and not that I was in control of my muscles fully. When we started training, Duncan did a full assessment of what was happening in my back and the rest of my body and I immediately had faith that the problem would be solved.
We started the program with gentle exercises, and week by week we upped the tempo. I was given simple exercises for core strength to do at home in between sessions. Every step of the way Duncan gave explanations as to which muscles were being employed, how each exercise would move my fitness forwards and exactly how it worked. Therefore I started to feel more in control of what was happening in my back and gained in confidence rapidly, both consciously and unconsciously.
I now feel back to my previous level of fitness, if not stronger! And as Duncan said, I have now taken up kickboxing, which also bears testament to the fact that I have made a full and efficient recovery.”
Duncan Boltt – Cambridge fitness Personal trainer