For the past two years, I have been experiencing non-specific back pain. I had tried out several different options such as physical therapy, taking time off work, and consulting with a medical doctor. Not only was my pain persistent, but the advice I was getting, "Don't lift heavy things in the gym", "You need to stretch more", and "You are wearing out your back", led me to become more frustrated. During my search for a remedy for this problem, I came across pain science and Dr. Ray's work.
Dr. Ray's work made a lot of sense to me, but I was still unsure of the process as it was very different advice from what other medical professionals had told me in the past. My back pain was negatively affecting every area of my life so I decided to give Dr. Ray's approach a try. I purchased a consultation with Dr. Ray and explained my situation and past experience dealing with my back pain. He told me he was happy to help and we had a Zoom meeting where we discussed the process and first steps towards getting back to doing the things I enjoyed. Communicating with Dr. Ray was very refreshing because he really wanted to understand my experience and wasn't just telling me all the things that I did wrong and how they were influencing my back pain. After the Zoom meeting, I felt a lot of relief and I felt confident that he could help me get back to all the things I enjoy doing.
At the beginning of this process, Dr. Ray scheduled me to go to the gym twice a week and work on re-introducing some of the movements that were causing me this back pain. These movements were the following: Kettlebell deadlifts, Body-weight Squats, Crunches, and a Machine Chest Press. As simple as these exercises were, I hadn't realized how much of my fear of more back pain restricted my everyday movement. Dr. Ray really helped me overcome my fear of doing these exercises by gaining my trust. I knew that if he was telling me to do these exercises it was because he knew I could handle it and it would help me get back to more movement. Dr. Ray also helped me realize that it is okay to "poke" at my pain and to feel a little uncomfortable at times in order to re-introduce these movements back into my workout routine. During this process, I started experiencing more good days than bad days. Even when I had bad days Dr. Ray encouraged me to trust the process and that I was headed in the right direction. In fact, on the days that my back had irritation, I noticed that when I would do an exercise that I was previously fearful of, my back would feel better. This contradicted what I previously believed about back pain and it encouraged me to keep going.
After several weeks, I got back to benching, squatting, and deadlifting and was progressing rapidly. My wife started to notice how much my mood was improving, I had much more capability to do the things I enjoy, and I was getting stronger and more confident in the gym and my everyday activities. While working with Dr. Ray we have kept ongoing communication that has been extremely insightful and helpful during times I wasn't so sure. Not only has Dr. Ray helped me get back to movement and activities I enjoy doing, but he has also helped me understand my experience and some previous misconceptions about back pain. Even though I am self-reliant, I have learned that getting help from someone like Dr. Ray is okay. Dr. Ray does an outstanding job of understanding an individual's experience versus trying to separate the pain from the person. I am very excited about my movement, my outlook is positive, and my strength has improved to the point where I hit a 395lb Squat, 240lb bench press for three reps, and two paused deadlift reps at 340lb. I look forward to seeing more progress. Thank you, Dr. Ray! - Remote client, Sam H.
Check out Sam's recent progress. Squat of 405# x 1 and Midshin Pause Deadlift 340# x 2 reps.
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