Precision Athletics' Newsletter

Rinat Kamaletdinov thought core muscle training sounded a bit boring. But he was in terrible pain and couldn't walk more than half a block at a time so he was willing to give Elisse Miki's approach a try. Rinat has Sciatica from an old injury and last fall he had a nasty flare up. After a couple of months of constant pain and treatment, it was suggested to him that he find a personal trainer who specializes in rehabilitation. That's how he ended up at Precision training with Elisse.

He's been working with her three times a week since February. She started him slow with very low weights and small ranges of movement. Even then Rinat saw a positive effect quickly. As his core muscles grew stronger his pain came under control, and he was able to do more. In addition to his three training sessions he now also does low impact cardio on his own twice a week: walking, rowing machine and swimming.

Elisse and Rinat have been focusing on strengthening his core muscles.

Rinat learned that rehab training can be a slow process, by necessity. Once training started moving a little too quickly and the sciatica flared up again -but he and Elisse went back to a gentle approach for a few weeks and got things quickly under control again. For Rinat the experience "proved that the training was indeed what had got the sciatica pain under control in the first place."

"I'd done weight training on my own before my big flare up last fall, but had thought I wouldn't be able to do any more until I'd dealt with my Sciatica; not only was I in pain, I was frustrated that I couldn't be active" says Rinat. "I started training with Elisse because I wanted to get the sciatica under control, but I saw what a huge improvement core training had on my overall well-being, and that it would allow me to continue to build the body I wanted, which hadn't been possible while I was in pain".

For Elisse, clients like Rinat are one of the reasons she became a personal trainer: Rehab combines her love of fitness with her academic expertise. She loves to help people, so a dedicated client who appreciates the difference training can make and enjoys the process is very rewarding.

Trainer Tip from Elisse: A Strong, Stable Core is essential for rehabilitation and injury prevention.

Your body core is the midsection of your body, from your groin to your shoulders and includes the pelvis, abs, back and chest muscles. Every movement you make originates there so if the core is not properly conditioned it limits your physical abilities. If the core isn't stable muscle groups are pushed into over activity and the risk of injury increases.
Therefore, building up core stability is the key to rehabilitation - a strong core reduces risk of re-injury and takes strain off injured muscles that were overcompensating.

Slow and steady wins the race - if you take the time to lay the right foundation with core stability you will achieve much greater and longer lasting results in any training program, not just when dealing with an injury.

If pain or injury restricts your activity come in and meet with Elisse Miki for an assessment session to talk about how you can build a strong foundation to manage pain and get you active again.