I have suffered from chronic back pain for over 20 years until I discovered Foundation Training.
Coming from a very physically demanding Military unit I returned to civilian life barely being able to put on my shoes in the morning because of the lack of flexibility and pain. I was able to maintain an active lifestyle through stretching and even some "as seen on TV" gimmicks which had some benefits, but seemed to only be temporary relief. I was even desperate enough to buy a $5000 hot tub which is very nice, but is far from the answer to back pain.
I have been determined to continue an active lifestyle and continue my career in Law Enforcement, but I began to lose time at work and about twice a year my back would "go out" and I would be completely immobilized for a week or two. Long hours of sitting in a car with duty gear pushing against my lower back and walking with the off balance heavy gear hanging from my hips had completely taken its toll and I was beginning to wonder if a medical retirement or back surgery was the only option.
I discovered Foundation Training from a fellow student on a work trip several months ago and I have been practicing religiously. It has completely turned things around for me and I expect to continue to improve and live my active lifestyle and enjoy my career indefinitely.
I had been planning a cycling trip down the GDMBT for a couple of years. I am happy to say that my dedication to performing a Founder based routine daily for the year leading up to the trip and then Founders anytime I was off the bike – in the rain, on mountain passes, NM deserts put me in a position where I had literally no spinal/back discomfort at anytime over the 50 days and 4500km of off-road cycling in very remote places. A strong statement coming from a 54 yr old well worn body. I even had a couple of kids imitating me while I was taking a break going thru a reserve in NM. AWESOME BODY OF WORK. It is my go to program for my patients seen daily in my Chiropractic Practice.
The human body is designed to thrive against gravity – else we tend to age rapidly and get injured. Foundation Training is the answer to my many years of research on the negative effects of sitting. It is a ticket to discover a more vibrant health life – no matter your age.
Practicing Foundation Training for the past 4 years has been one of the most critical decisions of my surfing career. I had recurring lower back problems when I was a bit younger, but since starting Foundation Training I have felt constant improvement with little to no pain whatsoever. My flexibility and stability are both the best they have ever been. As my career is growing and I am now surfing on the World Tour, I can easily tell you that Foundation Training is a huge part of my success as a surfer. It helps me continue to become the best athlete I can be.
I just wanted to say that I'm really impressed with the foundation training exercises and videos. I've been on the Canadian Snowboard Team for 10 years and competed in many World Champs, X-Games and 2006 Olympics in Half-pipe and snowboard-cross. We've trained with some of the best physical trainers and physios but your short training video make a world of a difference to me. Makes my back and core work at all the right places and feel my hips and lower back stretch as well. Thank you so much for making a difference. I've told countless amount of friends as well about your website and everybody is amazed in what a 18-21min video can do. Keep up the great work and TED conferences.
My back likes to let me know when it's pissed at me. When it does, life can become a bit more challenging. Foundation exercises have been a great addition to my exercise routine. I really notice a change in how I move. My back doesn't just feel better, it feels strong. That is a big deal. These exercises let you move with some real confidence. Everybody with a bad back should do these exercises.
Dr. Eric Goodman worked as the Strength coach for our USA Olympic Water Polo team from December 2007 to July 2008 leading to the Beijing Olympic Games. All of these athletes are world-class and they felt that Eric did an exceptional job of keeping them injury free while performing at a very high level through some extremely tough months of training. In my opinion, this program was very critical to our success in Beijing. The team exceeded everyone's expectations and became one of the great stories of the Olympics by winning the silver medal. We stayed healthy and performed at a high level and Dr. Goodman deserves a good deal of credit.
Using the hips to hinge, paying special attention to the head/neck relationship, developing the core strength of the posterior chain vs. limb strength or ab strength I’d heard all this before, thirty years before and have had decades of personal experience with the various systems out there that attempt to focus on these concepts. So I put the book down, ignored the DVD and didn’t try Foundation Training. (Hint, this was a mistake, don’t do this.) Fortunately I was offered a couple of sessions with a Foundation Training expert trained by Dr. Goodman to learn about the work directly and I grudgingly went along with it just to check out what the buzz was around Foundation Training. Literally two minutes into the exercises I realized something special was going on here. Dr. Goodman has taken a very well-worn path and blazed a completely new trail which is impossible to appreciate or understand until you get your first two minutes of Foundation Training and the light bulb goes on. Foundation Training is like powerlifting or Olympic weight training for your deep postural muscles. As we sit a lot, collapsed, and work on computers these deep postural muscles degrade and weaken to the point they can no longer function and hold us up. Even the “fit” among us, professional athletes, tend toward developing poor movement patterns from the years of sitting we all do that then translate into their sport whether it be basketball or cycling. Breaking these postural movement patterns is virtually impossible using most all of the existing systems. Yoga increases flexibility and strength, weight training increases muscle strength, the Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais make us aware of poor movement patterns, but Dr. Goodman has developed the unthinkable – one single set of exercises that quickly, almost miraculously create profound muscle strength and flexibility at the same time in just the areas we are weakest and tightest from our modern lifestyle habits.
After 20 years working as a stuntman, going to the gym 5-6 times a week I felt like Hercules, but then my back went. Spent 18 months in bed! Now 5 years later I found myself as a chronic back person. I trained as a structural bodyworker and now I work with people with chronic back pain, but can only work 4 hours a day before the pain stops me.
But 5 weeks ago I found Foundation Training, and now my pain is almost gone! I'm back in the gym with new hope, and a job as a personal trainer! Yesterday I did a 10 min plank! How is that possible in just 5 weeks?? What can I say. Foundation Training safed my life! Getting better day by day. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!! From me and my clients!
My hope is one day to come to the states and become a part of the Foundation Training family!
I have had lower back pain for 5 years. Just constant aggravation in the lower back. Also have had numbness in my thumb and two forefingers in my left hand. My lower back pain disappeared after just the first two sessions of learning the movements. I bought the disc set and am currently on my 3rd week of practicing the movements. My hand numbness is 60-70% better and expect that it may very well disappear in 2-3 months. I could not be more sold on your exercises and program. By the way the MRIs indicated that I have a bulging disc in my neck and a herniated disc in my lower back.