I have suffered from chronic back pain for over 20 years until I discovered Foundation Training.
Coming from a very physically demanding Military unit I returned to civilian life barely being able to put on my shoes in the morning because of the lack of flexibility and pain. I was able to maintain an active lifestyle through stretching and even some "as seen on TV" gimmicks which had some benefits, but seemed to only be temporary relief. I was even desperate enough to buy a $5000 hot tub which is very nice, but is far from the answer to back pain.
I have been determined to continue an active lifestyle and continue my career in Law Enforcement, but I began to lose time at work and about twice a year my back would "go out" and I would be completely immobilized for a week or two. Long hours of sitting in a car with duty gear pushing against my lower back and walking with the off balance heavy gear hanging from my hips had completely taken its toll and I was beginning to wonder if a medical retirement or back surgery was the only option.
I discovered Foundation Training from a fellow student on a work trip several months ago and I have been practicing religiously. It has completely turned things around for me and I expect to continue to improve and live my active lifestyle and enjoy my career indefinitely.
I have been a Chiropractor for over 30 years, specializing in Orthopedics, Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine. I was very hard on my body prior to practice, with many sports injuries, physically demanding jobs, and too much weight lifting (not the best thing for disc health). My second year in practice, I ruptured my L4-5 disc completely. It is 90% degenerated with bone spurs, etc. After retiring the practice, I have been (working even harder than I have ever worked) building a home, and as owner, laborer I did all the heavy, repetitive jobs that no one wanted to do. My back was killing me many times during the 3 years I have been working on every phase of this new home build. I found out about Foundation Training and have been doing them 3 to 5 days a week for the past 4 months and an SO GRATEFUL for Dr. Goodman's expertise, his work and research in this area. My low back is 98% symptom free and I believe these active exercises have been THE best thing I have done for my spinal health in 45 years. I am now 60 + years young, but I move, workout and work on our landscaping like I am in my 20s or 30s! Thanks for Foundation Training as a major part of my health and wellness program.
I had been planning a cycling trip down the GDMBT for a couple of years. I am happy to say that my dedication to performing a Founder based routine daily for the year leading up to the trip and then Founders anytime I was off the bike – in the rain, on mountain passes, NM deserts put me in a position where I had literally no spinal/back discomfort at anytime over the 50 days and 4500km of off-road cycling in very remote places. A strong statement coming from a 54 yr old well worn body. I even had a couple of kids imitating me while I was taking a break going thru a reserve in NM. AWESOME BODY OF WORK. It is my go to program for my patients seen daily in my Chiropractic Practice.
[Foundation Training] was the keystone to my recovery… it gave me my career back. The Foundation exercises rapidly increased my strength, flexibility, coordination, and balance quicker than I ever could have imagined… I went from having a hard time walking up and down stairs to competing in the Amgen Tour of California in May of 2010... I was not only able to meet my goal of finishing the 7 day, 812 mile race but I was also able to finish inside the top 20 and be highly competitive day in and day out. Since, I have taken these exercises to heart and put them into my training regime year round. They helped get me back to racing competitively as well as cured other imbalances I had developed after years of racing my bike and neglecting my core strength. I encourage everyone to have the open mind I did when seeking help for my injury. Follow that path and a better, healthier lifestyle is right around the corner.
After a decade of endurance sports racing it was becoming more difficult to move through life without an incredible amount of day to day pain. All traditional medical remedies were failing including chiropractic care, physiotherapy, prescription drugs. It wasn't just that I could no longer participate in athletic events - it was to a point where I was (1) having difficulty being active with my kids, and, (2) I was considering the very real possibility of having to give up my career as a flight paramedic. I came across foundation about four years ago. After reading the original publications I immediately ordered the DVD and began to feel better in a matter of days within starting the workouts. I now do foundation exercises everyday of my life. EVERYDAY. I move pain free now. I am constantly telling everyone I work with who I see suffering the same muscular imbalances and erroneous muscle recruitment systems I used to suffer from about how foundation can help remedy this. More importantly I can now be the active father my children need. Foundation training has given me a new lease on life.
I hurt my back many years ago by lifting things that were too heavy for me but managed to keep out of pain most of the time through my yoga practice. However after a fairly disastrous hysterectomy in 2015 my back became much weaker through lack of use and then when I started using it again I sat up in bed one morning in Jan 2016 and felt it go completely in the same place as the old injury. I was floored with the pain of what I suspected was herniated disc and couldn't move at first and then only with severe shooting pain down my right leg and particularly in, through and under my right hip joint. I struggled through the year with osteopathy and pain killers but as I teach yoga and play golf I knew I needed to know what was wrong and why it wouldn't heal this time. I finally had a mri scan in September which showed the disc bulging on the right handside. 'Likely to be an ongoing problem' the doctor said. I took this as a personal challenge! Having listening to a book review by Brian Johnson of True to Form and watching Eric's TED talk I bought the FT Connect programme a week before Christmas 2016. I followed it religiously and within 5 days started to feel muscles that had been long forgotten whilst protecting the damaged disc start firing and providing support once more. I couldn't believe it felt so different, so much better than it had for so long. All the training information made perfect sense and I felt empowered to make the right moves to heal myself from within. I have adapted my personal yoga practice to incorporate this. On those few days that I have not fully committed to the workout I noticed a twinge here and there returning. This is why I say that my back and hip pain is now a choice. If I do the exercises everyday I feel great and if I don't it comes back. My choice. Simple!
I have signed up for the training in Florida, as I feel just about everyone could benefit mind and body from holding their own body in this way. Yes this goes well beyond the physical I think expanding the diaphragm in this way improves wellbeing and happiness too.
I have had lower back pain for 5 years. Just constant aggravation in the lower back. Also have had numbness in my thumb and two forefingers in my left hand. My lower back pain disappeared after just the first two sessions of learning the movements. I bought the disc set and am currently on my 3rd week of practicing the movements. My hand numbness is 60-70% better and expect that it may very well disappear in 2-3 months. I could not be more sold on your exercises and program. By the way the MRIs indicated that I have a bulging disc in my neck and a herniated disc in my lower back.
Eric has created the perfect storm, bringing together evidence-based science and functional training that is second to none. Their approach to building a solid foundation is my prescription for everyone from top athletes in the world to their mothers! Movement is life. Life is movement. And if you are limited in how you move against the constant forces of gravity, it is only a matter of time until you are injured. I know this to be true as I have experienced this roller coaster as a competitive athlete. Not until I retrained my movement patterns did the cycle of injury after injury end. It really is a thing of beauty to see such a brilliant melding of creativity and sports science built into a practical, low-tech program that focuses on posture, core, and fundamental movement patterns designed first and foremost to provide athletes with a solid foundation to apply to their chosen sport. I'll never forget what Derek Fisher said to Eric about why he chose to work with Foundation Training: "I did not hire you to make me a better basketball player; I hired you to make me a better athlete." True, true.
I have had nagging right sided lower back pain for years. My sacroiliac joint was unstable and I’d "throw it out" routinely. Now, if you've ever had back pain, acute or chronic, you know what I mean when I say that when your back hurts, it ruins everything in your life. Being an athlete with medical training, for years I stubbornly pursued many avenues of treatment, holistic and conventional. I read dozens of research articles on the subject, hunted down and visited numerous specialists in several states, and put myself through thousands of dollars of training including dynamic neuromuscular stabilization (DNS), Barefoot Training Certification, Don Tigney’s work, the Egoscue system and even Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) sequences.
In the late summer of 2013, I had an MRI and CT scan performed. My chiro looked at these and thought my spine looked “pretty bad.” My orthopedic surgeon was more admirably direct and matter-of-fact stating “Your spine looks like sh-t.” Here I was, a lifelong athlete dedicated to the pursuit of fitness and health, and I had somehow torn my own back apart in the process. I got pretty depressed.
Sensing an epiphany, I began doing the Foundation Training exercises... I do not exaggerate when I say that within a few days (< 1 week) I noticed that I wasn't throwing my back out. After a few more days, my back felt abnormal...meaning it didn't hurt. It was so strange (and welcome!) NOT to be experiencing nearly constant pain...
Since I began using the techniques in Foundation Training, I have remained free of the back pain and instability that had plagued me for years before. Interestingly, my left knee, quite commonly a source of pain, also stopped hurting. This latter tidbit may seem odd at first, but the knee’s function is strongly influenced by central (core) body control. I incorporate parts of the system regularly in my daily life…sometimes just a couple of movements and sometimes a whole sequence. For people who have back/hip/neck pain, I strongly recommend Foundation Training because it really hits at the essential components of human movement and function. For people who don’t have pain, I recommend the practice because even if you are pain-free now, you are probably well en route to developing it as pain is a pretty late sign of long-term dysfunction. To clarify, think of a car with bad front end alignment and an abnormally worn front tire. As with our bodies, the tire wear didn’t happen suddenly, but was a result of a long-standing alignment problem.
A little about me: I am an active 50 year old male in the final year of the Human Movement Master's Program at (ATSU), former Marine, currently Firefighter/Paramedic, Tae Kwon Do Black Belt, current Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner, Hardstyle Kettlebell Instructor, NASM Personal Trainer with specialization in Performance Enhancement and Corrective Exercise, DNS Sport Levels I & II, FMS I & II, Barefoot Mechanics, and just a nerd in general 🙂
Laying in bed one night, I found myself in tears wondering how many good years I really had left to workout the way I was used to, given the lower back pain I have had for so many years. Too, my body was beginning to show signs of breaking down with new joint pain in my knees.
Amazingly, within that same week I "stumbled" upon [Foundation Training]. Eric's story captured me immediately; a student of chiropractic medicine looking to avoid back surgery was totally believable.
I have since practiced the FT exercises faithfully (with amazing results) so that I now have a story to share, giving hope to others. As a certified PT in Fitness and Yoga my next step is to attain a certification in FT.
As it turns out, FT is more than an answer to the question that brought me to tears. It will no doubt be one of the best professional opportunities to cross my path. I can hardly wait to discover where this will take me and see how many people I can help! I am truly grateful 🙂