This is another success story I’d like to share with my readers and anyone interested in what I do.  This case really illustrates the gradual use of resistance to create tension and hold positions for spinal issues and how they can be improved.

Randi came to me through a referral from one of my local MAT practitioners.  Often when these people are receiving treatment they require someone who has my skills to help increase their strength once their body is able to fire muscles properly again.  Having this combination is a really great way to enhance your gains in strength and allow your body to develop at a much more rapid pace.  By the way, I highly recommend MAT to anyone looking to improve their physical self, you can find more about it HERE.

When I first assessed Randi it was a challenge.  In a nutshell, everything we tried caused pain in her back, localized mostly around the right SI joint area which was indicated as the main issue.  This had been going on for almost eight years and caused her to give up a lot of things she enjoyed doing, like hiking, cycling and even caused her problems while walking her dog.  She had trouble with simply standing in proper posture, which put pressure in areas that her back “didn’t like”.  This became a frequent gauge of her pain levels during our first few sessions.

Doing what I do, I will at first admit that I miscalculated and didn’t realize how much Randi’s back would react to my initial movement pattern assignment.  After our first session she was okay, but after the next couple her back was sore for four days to the point where she couldn’t do normal everyday activities.  This is after doing much movements as simple hip flexion, mild bracing, some basic extension (ie hip hinging) and trying to integrate her hips with her shoulder girdle.  I was surprised, but glad that Randi (after she recovered) allowed me to try again.

The lesson here for both you and myself, is that you can reduce any level of force to an appropriate one for any person.  So what did I reduce to?  Randi started out most of her subsequent sessions with postural holds (bracing in a standing position), walking in proper alignment, and then going through various drills and movements unloaded in order to teach her body to facilitate coordination without any load.  Loads were added eventually, but using angles of her body and longer ranges of motion, not weights.  This Is a very broad description, but it worked.  Before long, Randi’s body was to the point where she could endure long car rides, do sustained long activities she enjoyed like cooking and was able to think about buying a bicycle for her main goal.

Randi’s main goal was to be able to bike 26 kilometers for her trip to the Canadian Rockies, something she had wanted to do for a long time.  The first step was to get her back on a bike again.  She lasted for only 45 seconds the first time we put her on one.  Then, through gradual application and increasing of mileage not only did we get her back onto a real bicycle (after finding one her body could tolerate) but we got her to the point where she could bike for over an hour (with breaks) and while her back was tired, she was able to recover quickly and function normally afterwards.  Progressions were done weekly and she was also given specific technique rules and ways she could approach what she was doing on the bike to take tension off of her back.  With some movements, it is a matter of reteaching the body how to move.

One interesting weekend Randi pushed herself a bit too hard, not realizing that a 15km route (which was prescribed) was actually a 20km route with hills.  Her back reacted accordingly, but the great thing was that she recovered fairly quickly.  Recovery time is always a great marker for performance improvement.  Normally what would have done her in for a week had her sore for a couple of days, which is fairly normal when you’re doing something you haven’t done in eight years.

I’m happy to say that Randi has made incredible progress.  Not only did she successfully ride the trail in the Rockies, she is now dead lifting up to 50 pounds, performing movements like lunges and pulldowns and planks, and is able to recover from workouts quickly.  Her MAT therapist has seen a significant change in the way her muscles hold onto position.  This is all in a period of about six months.

Once of the best parts of my job is helping people like Randi and sharing in the results.  Here’s a picture she sent me of her on the bike out in the Rockies accomplishing her goal:

Randi’s goals have moved away from reducing pain and into more typical goals like weight loss and strength gain, which is fantastic.  Everyone has to start somewhere, and the great benefit that I tell my clients is that if you can teach your body to tolerate forces, then it will always improve.  If you have any specific questions about my work with Randi (or anyone else) feel free to contact me through this site or at paradigmfitnessottawa@gmail.com.  I’m always willing to help if I can.