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At 51 Rob lost 12% body fat, Fixing Chronic Back Pain in four months.

Fixing Chronic Back Pain with Strength Training

Rob has suffered from chronic back pain for most of his adult life and had never been in a gym or done weight lifting or strength training. He came to RAW as we have over a decade of experience Fixing Chronic Back Pain with Strength Training with safe and effective personal training programs.

A potential cause of this chronic back pain could be traced back to his youth. Rob lived on a farm in Australia and grew up helping out, which meant doing a lot of heavy lifting and physical work from a relatively young age. This repetitive lifting of heavy objects without the proper form or support attributed to Rob injuring his back. He experienced chronic back pain as an adult, which may have contributed to him developing scoliosis.

Now 51 years old, and after training at RAW, within 4-months, he has finally found relief from the chronic back pain that he has grown up with since youth.

Rob is no stranger to endurance training, as he grew up running cross country and was a competitive runner. However, as Rob had no experience with strength or resistance training, he was looking for a Personal Training Gym that would cater to new beginners.

Rob had also gained close to 10kgs of unwanted extra weight due to the repeated “lockdowns” and social distancing restrictions imposed in Hong Kong due to Covid-19. So, in addition to Rob’s back pain and postural issues, he wanted to lose weight.

He decided to train with RAW as it is the recommended gym for new beginners in Central Hong Kong. At RAW Personal Training, we focus on providing our clients with the knowledge and proper foundations to get the most out of strength training includes pain management and weight reduction.

Rob started training at RAWin October 2020. Within just 4 months of starting Personal Training at RAW, he achieved the following results:

Lost 12% body fat.

Lost 7.5kgs of fat mass.

Gained 9kgs of muscle mass.

Increased strength level – he can perform 12 pull-ups, deadlift 140kgs, bench press 90kgs and squat 110kgs.

As part of our initial assessment of all new clients at RAW, we discovered Rob’s unique challenges when designing his tailor-made training program,which was designed aroundfixing chronic back pain with Strength Training.

Rob could not perform a single pull-up and be only able to do 10 push-ups.

The strength endurance of Rob’s core muscles did not meet our usual standard, which was lower than most other beginners.

Rob had major strength discrepancies between his left leg and right leg, further contributing to his lower back pain.

Rob’s posterior chain muscles, which is made up of the erector spinae muscles, gluteus complex and hamstrings, were extremely weak. These muscles are responsible for extending the spine, hips and maintaining an upright posture.

Due to these issues, Rob’s back, hamstrings and upper shoulder muscles felt constantly tense and painful.

Best Personal Training gym in Central Hong Kong helps 51-year old Rob lose 12% body fat and cure his chronic pain in 4 months

Our step-by-step approach means that RAW is the recommended gym for new beginners in Central Hong Kong.

Assessments: We regularly assess body composition, body mass index, mobility, movement efficiency, core endurance and take photos to track progress. This enables us to establish a baseline, track improvements and design a continually evolving personalised training and nutrition plan. Seeing numbers changing is a motivating factor for all our clients. It provides evidence that clients are improving weekly. We re-assess body composition, strength, movement efficiency and overall work capacity every couple of weeks.

Design training programs tailored to address our client’s weak links: “Weak links” are defined as a group of muscles that either work as joint movers or joint stabilisers. This “weak link” may be the source of pain or contribute to a lack of movement efficiency due to low resistance to fatigue. Common weak links are the lower back muscles, the gluteus, the scapulae retractors, the rotator cuff muscles and the anterior core muscles.

Injury prevention. Many novice trainees do not know how to begin their training journey. Under the guidance of inexperienced personal trainers, they may perform advanced exercises they are not ready for physically because the training program is not bespoke for novice trainees but generically designed for elite athletes. This may lead to client injuries and a halt in progress. This has become a common occurrence in personal training gyms around the world. At RAW, we prioritise keeping our clients safe and injury-free by using a step-by-step progression. If a movement cannot be performed with the correct technique and tempo, we regress the client to a slightly simpler and less challenging movement. This allows our clients to make steady and regular progress while minimising the chance of injury.

Tracking: We keep a detailed record of all client workouts: Our specially designed training software allows us to track all the variables of every workout our clients perform at RAW. Details such as speed of movement, rest periods between sets, the angle of the bench used and the type of handles used are tracked. There are many different ways we can challenge our clients. Most trainers solely focus on increasing the weight. We use various tools such as changing tempo, adding pauses and using different sizes or shapes of equipment. This enables us to vary the workouts so that our clients do not get bored or injured and make steady progress.

Monthly progress photos: Noticing visible changes is a great way to stay enthusiastic about training. At RAW, we take photos every month to track progress and changes in physique. The photos are sent to clients privately every month. This keeps clients excited about coming into the gym.

Set realistic, achievable, short and long term goals: After our initial assessment, we help clients set short and long term goals according to current fitness level, time frame and the number of times clients can commit to exercising every week. Our main goal at RAW is our client’s improvement. Short term goals are typically measured at 4 weeks, while long term goals are measured at 12-16 weeks.

Achieving specific health or fitness goal, such as fixing chronic back pain with Strength Training, requires time and energy, but it can be achieved, and Rob is a testament to the success of our customised programs.

Hiring a personal trainer is also a financial commitment, so decide to train with the best personal training gym in Central Hong Kong. At RAW, we make sure that you get the maximum return for your investments.

Take your first step with Raw Personal Training today!

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