Weightlifting can be hazardous to your health.
People think the main purpose of weightlifting is to build muscles. Since each muscle cell is surrounded by a thin layer of fascia, full-body fascial health becomes part of the equation.
A twenty-nine-year-old man presented with lower-back pain. He injured himself by deadlifting too much weight.
He felt a burning in his back, and his brain fog became more intense. He had a football concussion in high school that initially caused his brain fog.
A radiograph and MRI showed nothing substantial. He went to physical therapy for six visits to strengthen his core, exercise, and learn the use of a stimpak.
No one offered a medical explanation for the connection of his lower-back pain to his brain fog. They were unaware of the function of the craniosacral fascial system.
He presented with a zero-second brain cycle and severe fascial trunk twisting into his head and neck. In therapy, he was revisiting many old strains trapped in his body.
Toward the end of the visit, he exhibited an unusual strain into his head and neck from his upper back. It felt like the old football injury that may have caused his concussion.
At the end of the visit, his brain cycle opened to 80 seconds, and he felt more relaxed. He was coming out of sympathetic nervous system mode (fight-or-flight state) into parasympathetic nervous system mode (calm and relaxed).
On the second visit, he said that his brain fog was better (with his longer brain cycle). The strain in his back was now causing a left-sided headache—the body is all connected.
He ended the visit with a brain cycle of 150 seconds. I expect him to continue to improve as I get deeper into his onion.
Providers need to look at the craniosacral fascial system in space and time to connect one body part to another—the lower back to the head. Physical therapists need to get at the root cause of a problem instead of band-aiding it with strengthening exercises.
I never understood the scientific rationale of trying to strengthen injured tissue. I believe that healing precedes strengthening.
Gillespie Approach Training is a must for providing optimal patient care.
