To put it simply Pilates has saved my cycling……..but let’s
rewind a bit. It requires a bit of history.
In my teenage years I played football…..constantly. I ran
and ran and ran some more. I played in a band and thrashed and rocked out with
the best of them. I loved being fit. I loved my metabolism (although being in
my youth I never appreciated it at the time).
And then?
And then my life changed forever. You’d expect something
life changing to be enormous but it was nothing. Absolutely nothing. I sat down
on a couch, felt a stab in the buttock, couldn’t lift my left leg without a
pain down my calf. I didn’t know it at the time but a prolapsed disc (L4,5) had
decided to press against my sciatic nerve giving me sciatica which was to last
2 years.
The following 2 years were hell. From the age of 19 to 21 I
became more and more in pain, more and more dependent on prescription
painkillers (tramadol, co-codamol), developed a pronounced limp, had a constant
dull ache that never let up, I ballooned to just under 20 stone and lost all
ability to exercise beyond eating and watching sport.
Multiple visits to the GP, hospital and MRI scans eventually
led me to an operation at the Southern General for a microdiscectomy of the
L4,5 disc.
What I went through in hospital……. That’s the hardest thing
I have physically endured but operated on Monday I was sent home on the
Thursday with 18 weeks sick leave. The sciatica went instantly which I will be
forever grateful for but the story didn’t end.
I received no physiotherapy from the NHS after spinal
surgery which was to have huge implications.
For 14 years I continued to suffer back pain. I managed a
full recovery of sorts to play football at university and amateur level (despite
unrelated injuries) and I found cycling.
Despite becoming an avid cyclist I was in pain with a stiff
back all the time. 2 years favouring my right hand side left my hip totally
unbalanced and muscle strength out of balance. I did have manipulation at a
physio which worked short term at times but the pain always returned.
I had constant occasions where my back would “go” and I’d be
left at the doctors with a prescription for co-codamol and diazepam to stop the
spasms. It couldn’t go on. The manipulation at my regular physio did not help.
When I was 20-30 miles into any cycle my back would be killing me, I couldn’t sleep
some nights, Id be leaning my back into door handles to try and find the spot
for relief so I thought “I need to try something else!”
I sought out a new physio who tried other things and I found Physioflexx in Stewarton. They took a whole different holistic approach to my
back and medical history. First and foremost this positive approach with
regular physio including deep tissue massage, cupping and acupuncture turned my
back from a tight knotted mess to something akin to normality.
But when I was cycling (my passion) I was still in agony. In
an unrelated attempt to support my back I signed up to Physioflexx’s Pilates.
Supported in small groups by a physio, Pilates built muscles where I didn’t know
I had them, built a core I didn’t know you could get without some leisure
centre core class and completely revolutionised my cycling.
In February I cycled 100 miles. No a sore back once. I
finished a season of Cyclocross and for the first time in 7 seasons didn’t get
a sore back in any of the races. I am stable and more efficient on my bike and
cycling further and faster with more enjoyment than I have ever had in sport
even more than when I was 16.
My back will never be perfect but for the first time in 20
years I am pain free and confident in my body’s ability. I am fitter, leaner
and stronger in sport than I was at 20 thanks to proper holistic physio and Pilates.
If it isn’t broke don’t fix it is a good maxim and I will
continue to do my Pilates, I’d even like to think I was becoming a Pilates zen
master and I will be going for my monthly MOT physio as long as I can, in pain
or not. I will always have to be more careful than others with my back but I
have finally found a routine and plan that works for my back.
I always kind of shrug off the thanks I get as a school
teacher when a parent says “ my child thinks the world of you”. I shrug it off because
in my head I think “I’m only doing my job”.
So Kate and Kelly, I know you are only doing your job but
thank you from the bottom of my core through my spine to my head for all you
have done for me. I am deeply appreciative for your professional knowledge,
expertise and care. It means a lot.
PILATES IS FOR LIFE!
