“Brian is the man. He does a thorough assessment and provides a tailored, methodical plan with adjustments and progressions each week (and only when he’s sure you’re ready for it). If you’re serious about getting pain-free without surgery, he’s your guy.
I’ve had recurrent lower back pain for over a decade after an injury at 14 (now 25). Over the years it got progressively worse and flare-ups became longer until suddenly it was debilitating. I saw many physiotherapists, doctors, and specialists with no success—until I found Brian.
Around 18 months ago I got heavily into the gym and, like many guys, I skipped all core and glute work. Pair this with a job where I sit all day and a 2 week straight snowboarding trip with lots of big stacks…and it was a recipe for disaster.
One day I woke up in 10/10 pain and was unable to walk, sit or stand for 3 days.
The following 8 months were the worst of my life. I was in constant pain, my leg would go numb all throughout the day, I couldn’t walk more than 200 metres without being in agony, couldn’t sit for longer than 15 minutes and couldn’t tolerate anything at the gym.
I went from being a very active and outdoorsy person to suddenly feeling trapped in my own body and unable to do most of the things I enjoyed.
An MRI confirmed I had a huge disc herniation at L5/S1. My GP suggested surgery or nerve ablation, but that I could try physio first. After about a month of physio things were much worse and I could tolerate even fewer movements.
At this point I discovered Stu McGill’s “Back Mechanic”, ditched the physio and started following his method (and also learned that the physio had me doing all the wrong exercises that were guaranteed to keep me in pain). This helped wind down my pain to a more tolerable level although I still wasn’t able to walk properly.
I then visited a “spine specialist” who took one brief look at my 3 month old MRI, did two quick physical tests and told me it was highly unlikely I’d ever heal without surgery. Less than 10 minutes later with no actionable plan other than surgery, I left $350 poorer and feeling more hopeless than ever.
I was determined to fix myself without surgery so I searched for a McGill certified practitioner and that’s when I found Brian.
After just one session with him I was confident as ever. He did a thorough hour long physical assessment and explained the path I had to follow to heal.
Over the following 16 weeks I visited him weekly for hour long sessions. He taught me pain-free movement patterns, worked on progressively harder core stability and strengthening exercises and helped me relearn a proper hip-hinge – he even helped with a niggling old shoulder injury I had.
At times progress felt slow but he always reassured me of the process and made sure I didn’t rush ahead and re-injure myself.
Today I’m back in the gym, walking 15k steps a day and have my active life back – something I didn’t think would ever be possible again.
Brian’s approach is extremely methodical and he pays very close attention to any small errors you make and promptly makes adjustments. He always explained any questions I had in detail and the methodology behind each exercise.
I now feel like I have the tools and knowledge to stay pain free for life.
Thanks Brian!”