My Story: How I found my way back to pain free movement

Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to be an athlete. A swimmer. A runner. A basketball player.

While my mind was all in…my body was another story.

Early Attempts at Sports

In my early teens, I attempted swimming. I joined a local YMCA swim team and did okay. But when I tried out for the high school swim team, I could barely keep up. Physical endurance was a huge challenge.

In middle school, I joined the track team. I had no significant track and field talent, so the coach stuck me in the 800 (a half mile). Again, I was just okay at it. Endurance was a struggle once again. The last lap was always a killer. One season was enough for me. I quit!

I loved watching basketball growing up, so I considered trying out for the school team, but I never had the coordination to get the ball in the hoop. I never made it to the tryouts—I gave up before I embarrassed myself.

Finally, my sophomore year in high school, I tried out for the badminton team. It was always fun playing it in the backyard—what could be so hard? Again, I was mediocre at best but still had fun. I made the team, played for three years, and even made it to regionals in doubles. That was the peak of my athletic career. 😄

Falling in Love with Movement

I pretty much gave up my athletic dreams during my college years and early 20s. It wasn’t until my late 20s, looking ahead to my wedding day, that I joined my fiancé at the gym. He was working with a personal trainer, so I decided to as well.

To say the least, it was life-changing.

I fell in love with movement because I learned how to move in a way that felt good for my body. I wasn’t striving for any athletic goal or achievement, I just moved because it felt good. 

It also became a social activity. I started taking fitness classes with friends. We hiked on the weekends. My physical strength and endurance kept increasing because I was having fun and just…kept moving.

Running and the Challenge of Endurance

Years later, running came back into my life. A friend and I decided we should try to run the Women’s Half Marathon that’s held in Tempe, AZ every Fall. It wasn’t easy to train, again endurance was a challenge for me, my lungs and heart strained for oxygen. But I learned that’s what training is all about. I had my friend to hold me accountable, we kept pushing forward together, and yes, things got easier. Every mile got a little easier to tolerate.

I ran for several years, completed several half marathons, the physical freedom and mental rush of that endorphin high was addicting. I was never “fast”…again, mediocre at best. In fact, I suffered many injuries along the way, torn tendons in my foot and Achilles…multiple times, I would do a course of physical therapy then head back out to train for my next running event.

Dealing with Knee Pain

It wasn’t until I started feeling intense pain in my left knee that I had to seriously pull back. In just a few short years, running had taken its toll on my body due to the natural tendencies of my body. My feet and ankles have always been on the weaker side, my feet tend to turn inward (over-pronate) which put pressure on my arches so they started to flatten and bunions started forming on both my feet. This put pressure on my whole running form and eventually, the cartilage in my left started wearing away, commonly known as runner’s knee or patellofemoral syndrome, which eventually turns into osteoarthritis. Eventually, intense pain in my left knee—commonly known as runner’s knee—forced me to pull back. My feet and ankles were naturally weaker, which affected my running form, and eventually led to osteoarthritis in my knee.

The pain was so bad in my knee with any impact, even going down stairs, I pulled back from almost all activity that I once had so much fun taking part of.

The pain was so bad, even going down stairs became difficult. I had to stop nearly all the activities I loved.

Finding Strength in Movement

Keeping my body (and mind) moving was still a priority for me. It had become my stress relief while juggling a demanding corporate job, divorce, and trying to rediscover myself after a 10 year relationship had ended. 

I found my way back to the gym. I found my way back to strength training, although it looked a little different since the pain in my knee altered how I moved. 

During this time I was studying to become a personal trainer so I did my research and learned what I needed to do to naturally reduce pain and help me move more comfortably. I learned through studying and through practice how building strength within my limited movement abilities helped reduce pain and increased my ability to move more and more deeply to keep progressing my strength, my endurance, and improving my overall wellbeing. 

I learned that making small adjustments to traditional exercises can help reduce both muscular and joint pain making exercise achievable. I learned that actually lifting weights at a slower pace protected joints, increased strength more efficiently, and helped prevent me from further injury.

Your Path to Pain Free Movement

I now help men and women everyday learn ways that they can move better to get stronger so they too can reduce pain, prevent injury, and live an active life…for life. 

Achieving pain free movement looks different for everyone but it is available for anyone at any age who feels that pain is holding them back from living the active life they dream of. 

I can now go up and down stairs with little to no pain or discomfort. I’m still not fast but I can get out and run when I want to without knee pain holding me back. I have a better connection with my body, I know what to listen for and how to respond to my body’s movement requirements. 

I love sharing this experience with clients. Teaching them how to listen to their body and how to respond so they can move pain free and enjoy being active.

If you are someone who is tired of being held back by pain and want to explore how my methods might work for you let’s talk. I offer a free 20-minute discovery call to answer any questions you might have and even help you start to build your personal strategy for pain free movement. Schedule you free call here.

If you would like to try some of the exercises I suggest for pain free movement on your own, I invite you to give my Nourish, Move, Flourish program a try for 7 days. This is an on demand course you can try at your own pace and have an opportunity to learn more about my methods to see if they work for you. Get started today.