I recently had a meeting with one of my newest clients to discuss her training program. She isn’t the usual client. She’s not in this for weight loss, she doesn’t need help tracking her macro-nutrients, or any of what I would consider the “usual concerns” of the people I work with at Primal Fitness Pittsburgh. Instead, she was referred to me by one of my my previous clients who had found a ton of pain relief from practicing Primal Move with me. Having been through several months of physical therapy with no luck of getting out of her low back and hip related pain, she was convinced that this fitness modality was her last and only hope. “I’m fed up with how people are treating me” she said. “It’s like no one out there cares to listen, cares to do something different to help. I’m at my wits end! I keep doing the same strengthening exercises, but it isn’t working. I hate leaving my doctors behind but I really feel this is right for me. ”
Boy does that sound an alarm on the personal side of things. . .
This woman has had severe hip and low back pain for a good number of years due to a compensated movement pattern she had from an accident she was involved in long ago. She also had been told that she would eventually end up on pain medication due to the chronic pain her muscle tension has created, and we’re talking about some serious nerve blocks here. Lifting at this point is completely out of the question, but the woman is determined to exercise to shed an unwanted 10 pounds she had gained from. . .well. . .just lack of movement. Listening to the concerns of this person, I knew exactly how to handle the situation.
I shared with her a story about my accident a few years back that had royally messed up my back and shoulder. I had mentioned that certain mobility practices I was certified in would, over time, help me increase my shoulder and thoracic mobility to the tune of being able to do a strict military press with a 28kg on my injured side. Of course I had to demonstrate this to my newbie, but hey! I love pressing heavy stuff over my head 
. Prospect client had asked for a short Primal Move session to see the sorts of movements I was talking about. So. . .. on a whim, I decided to run this person through a real quick Primal Move Flow evaluation too, and by just doing some basic hip rolls, this person was beginning to find out where her tension patterns were held in her body. Even more so, she felt some relief in her body after a mere 15 minutes.
“I’ll see you next week. Thank you for listening to me! No one else has been so attentive to my concerns. I wish more people actually cared. . .actually listened.”
Allow me to rant here for just a moment. . .
What kind of world are we living in here? Why are so many of us incapable of listening to people’s needs? Have our overall successes become so paramount to our being that we cannot fathom taking the time to lend a hand to those in need? Have we lost our compassion for people?
It pains me to hear stories like this, and it goes well beyond my own personal bias here. Take a step back and think about this for a second. As health and wellness coaches, our entire livelihood is centered upon listening to people’s needs and concerns, applying principles to said needs and concerns in order to . . . .HELP the individual overcome their obstacle and reach vibrant health. If you can’t do those three things, you probably shouldn’t be in the health industry. If you are working with someone who isn’t listening to your needs, then you may need to step out and find someone that does. I think about my new client, the number of YEARS she has spent in and out of physical therapy, and within a mere 15 minutes of a movement evaluation, I could identify the problem and get her some relief.
A 15 minute mobility session vs 4 years of physical therapy. <—– chew on this for a bit.
If you’re not gaining the strength that you need and you are struggling to find a way to move without pain, you may have to take a step back and work out the tension patterns in your body. Hammering out intense workouts with compensated movement patterns is a sure fire way to injure yourself all the more and create an environment in the body that won’t respond well to the stressor of the workout itself. The Primal Move system, created by Peter Lakatos, is based on the Functional Movement Screen System(FMS) by Gray Cook. The goal of Primal Move, just like the FMS system, is to document certain movement patterns and then work on those movement patterns over time in a manner that allows the body to free itself up, move more fluidly, and get the body back to its ability to move with grace and without pain. As an example, the average American sits for up to 8 hours a day at their desk job which can lead to a lot of tight hip flexors and a lack of thoracic mobility which limits the ability to walk with good posture, let alone squat well. Some of us athletes have dealt with repeated knee pain or even a lack of shoulder mobility that compromises our heavier lifts. If there was a way to free up our tension, work through the pain and stiffness in a way that was fun and invigorating, AND gain some serious strength though body weight exercises only, we would see an increase in our overall athletic performance as well as a new found love for life. Movement without pain rocks, and Primal Move will get you there! In case you don’t believe me, please read my previous post and watch the videos there.
For your more immediate viewing pleasure, here’s a video that shows how incredible your movement can become and how fun moving well can be by learning Primal Move at Primal Fitness Pittsburgh.
If you’re ready to increase your mobility and get yourself out of pain, you may email me at janelle@primalfitnesspittsburgh.com I am one of Pittsburgh’s ONLY Primal Move Certified instructors, so you can be rest assured that you are in good hands. We here at Primal Fitness Pittsburgh actually LISTEN to our clients needs, and we are dedicated to helping you look, feel and move better so you can achieve a vibrant life full of health and free of pain!
Until next time. . .
Master your instincts!
