Getting started with degenerative disc issues.

[Michael Benham]

Hi all, I am a firefighter in Australia and due to previous lifting and training with hip impingements, I now have severe disc height loss in L5-S1 and I am staring down the barrel of possibly not returning to work. I love the premise of GB and signed up for fundamentals some time ago but with injury I haven't really got into it too much. I would like to know if any success stories overcoming serious back problems using GB as I think my spinal loading days are done. Many thanks. 

[Jeffrey Bittner]

Hi Michael,

Thank you for reaching out to us. I'm sorry to hear about your spinal issues as I know they can be extremely frustrating.

I, myself, have had the misfortune of dealing with spinal injury. As a gymnast, I suffered a fracture between my L4-L5 vertebrae. After getting medical clearance to begin rehab, I used the progressions found in the GB courses to re-build the extreme loss of strength and flexibility that I had because of my injury. While this has not been a short process, it has allowed me to return to activity and since the time of injury has allowed me to continue doing gymnastics. I personally had success using these exercises to rebuild a broken body.

That being said, every case of injury is different and each person's body is different, but yes, it is possible.

[Tanya Hill]

Hi Michael,

For me I have a bit of scoliosis. I have been training GST for almost 9 years. Coaches courses have done wonders for my imbalances.

One thing that has also been a life saver for me is my inversion table. I decompress my spine every morning and after GST workouts.  This has helped me tremendously and keeps me going when training GST.