The Worst Thing I Ever Do!

The Worst Thing I Ever Do!-DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training

If you have read our blog for any time you have probably heard me talk about my low back. Yea, you might even be TIRED of hearing about it;) To be honest, it really is an important story. I can’t tell you how many emails we have received from people thanking us for sharing because they were in the same position and didn’t know what to do. Jessica and myself both having really bad backs has given a lot of people confidence to actually try and actually changing their lives. 

So, while it might sound like I am writing this to pat ourselves on the back, that isn’t my point. In fact, I had a very hard last few months. With disc herniations, severe stenosis (is the narrowing of spaces in the spine which causes pressure on the spinal cord and nerves.), extrusions (disc extrusion is a degenerative spine condition where the nucleus material of an intervertebral disc seeps into the spinal column and potentially compresses a nerve, causing neck or back pain, among other symptoms.), and a metal plate in my neck (whew, that does sound pretty fun right?) I found myself not just functioning but excelling. 

I NEVER wanted my injuries become my limitations

I never wanted my low back to be an excuse to not achieve and for a large part it hasn’t. I’ve done 50 reps with the 100 pound Burly Ultimate Sandbag on the DVRT Clean and Press, I have done all the challenges and workouts we send almost daily. Ironically, I’ve never gotten hurt from training in our DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training system. However, I do have a nemesis, SITTING!

Long sitting has always been uncomfortable with my injury, but not really debilitating. This year though is seeing me spend the most time on the road ever teaching DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training. Over 35 weeks I am on the road and that is awesome from the growth of DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training. At the same time, it has become the biggest problem for my back. 16 hour weekends standing teaching, then sitting for hours and hours in travel aren’t a wonderful combination. 

Watching me the next day after a great DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training weekend is not often pretty. I’m hobbling, I’m walking funny, I’m in all honesty, in pretty bad pain! With all this going on, it might be good for me to do nothing, there are many days Jessica recommends just THAT!

Nope! Not going to do it! Really for two reasons. The first is that I know there is a solution, I know there is a way to be better. Second, I want to be honest about DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training. I’ve always said, if it isn’t as good as we claim, I will stop talking about it tomorrow, SERIOUSLY!! 

So, if there wasn’t a way to use DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training to make me get back to “normal” then what are we pushing for? Well, that is why I was so excited when DVRT coach, Gin Gavran, approached me some months back with her idea of building Resiliency. 

The first time Gin took me through some Resiliency movements it was more than humbling!

I knew that Gin had been through some rough stuff herself, but instead of doing nothing, she took action and fought. She fought so hard to come back through some serious life challenges to really begin to regain what she had lost, her image of herself. I could really relate to Gin. When you begin to take away the thing that you have always had be one of the most important in your life, when the thing you used for stress relief, confidence building, and overall well-being seems impossible, an interesting thing happens to your psyche. 

The idea of building DVRT Resiliency wasn’t just a cool “stretching” program, but something deeper. What if we could use our experiences of losing our functionality and build something that could be used for a multitude of reasons. Well, who best to practice it on that ourselves?

You might be surprised that my first few days at home aren’t spent doing Clean and Press challenges, monster squat workouts, or anything of the like. Rather, using the same workouts we present in DVRT Resiliency to help build my body back. 

How well does this REALLY work? A few weeks ago,  I did go see a back specialist. We wanted to make sure there was nothing REALLY bad going on. We waited and waited for the doctor like so many of you have I am sure. When he came in looking at my file and finally glancing at me he looked confused. After a few minutes talking I found out why!

The doctor simply couldn’t believe the guy in the chart and the one in front of him were the same person. He went on to ask me what I do and when I explained it to him he went into deeper disbelief. I didn’t know why, to be honest I thought my training had tempered down quite a bit from what I was use to. What came out of his mouth was priceless though, “you shouldn’t be able to do that stuff!” The doctor went on to say that he was surprised I could get around like I did and even more so that I wasn’t heavily medicated or at all!

I share this with you because it does make me realize what we are doing when we are sharing DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training. It isn’t just another workout to us, it isn’t just another tool to us, it is the ability to change many things in someone’s life, to give them the ability and empowerment to do amazing things. 

When you look at DVRT Resiliency don’t look for how hard you can make it, how you can crush yourself, look to see how you become better at well, everything! Check out some of these videos from Gin to see what I mean!