Remember BACK PAIN IS NOT FOREVER (If you do the work)
Well done Rupert!
“When I first went to see Brian I was at my wits’ end. I’d had lower back pain for three years. By that I mean I was in pain every hour of every day for three years.
It was hell and I hated it. I couldn’t sit down for longer than ten minutes without a deep pain radiating out from my lower spine. That meant anything – working, eating, watching TV, going to the cinema – was an issue.
I became an expert in chairs – what ones would hurt a lot and what ones wouldn’t hurt so much. But I didn’t want to be an expert in chairs, I wanted to not be in pain every waking hour.
Some days that was all I wanted, to not be in pain. It doesn’t sound like a big ask but it was.
I went to maybe ten different physios in four different countries – I went to massage therapists, lower back specialists, chiropractors, acupuncturists and pain specialists. I use iced packs and rollers and I took every painkiller under the sun.
If you told me to boil a sock and inhale the fumes I would have tried it. I was desperate. And it wasn’t just the physical pain – it was the emotional fallout and the stress as well. I was terrified. I thought: ‘Am I going to be in pain for the rest of my life?’ I was 36, and I plan on living a long time, so the prospect of being in pain for 50 years did not fill me with hope. More like dread and extreme anxiety.
So I went and saw Brian I told him I would do anything – ANYTHING – to not be in pain, and he put me to work.
When I went to physios etc, I always felt the treatment wasn’t strong enough. They sent me away with a few stretches and I knew those stretches wouldn’t do shit. And I was right. With a lot of weights Brian rebuilt my core and my glutes and all the muscles in my hips.
It was tough at first – I basically had no glute strength whatsoever, just a flat white dude butt. I made progress but then I went on a plane and slipped back. I got angry because I needed this to work. It took a while and Brian was really patient and kind (and sometimes tough), and now my back is pretty much pain free. My entire posture has changed as well. My body feels different, more upright, when I walk. I didn’t know how much I hunched before and how every little thing I did was contributing to my pain.
I still do the workouts he designed for me – I lift more weight every week and I like getting stronger. But most of all I like knowing that if the pain comes back, I have the tools to manage it. The pain is no longer in control of my life. I’m not afraid of every little niggle and where it may lead. It’s a completely different, and much healthier, state of mind.”