Words from Brad:
I couldn’t believe someone Debra’s age had endured pain, for more than 2 years, that is usually associated with older people. When I told her strength training was a viable tool to help her reduce her arthritic pain she was keen to try it out and it certainly worked wonders for her. 10kg down and 12% less bodyfat is an added bonus too!
Word’s from Debra:
“It’s been 2 years that I have had bad knees (ed. rheumatoid arthritis). Ever since I have had the problem, I didn’t know what to do, so I decided to try working with Brad. It has been great! I haven’t been to the doctors since, my knee strength has been improving rapidly, and they have been feeling much better overall. Not eating foods that are acidic for me and decreasing the amount of refined carbs I have been eating has helped too.
Since I have been seeing Brad, my knees are so much better. I can now do movement I haven’t been able to do for a long time. I can now go on the stepper, x-trainer, bike, swim and am doing lots of challenging weights. I used to have a hard time getting up from my lounge or chair, now I have no problems. I can feel a big difference in myself, from Brad helping me with my knees. I also feel a lot happier with myself too which is fantastic. Being a full time hotel porter, I have to bend my knees constantly to pick up bags, now I have no problems.
My advice is to keep pushing. Even when you are feeling like it’s not working and you are in a bit of pain (arthritic pain) keep going…. In a months time or so you feel a lot better and like a different person.”
Pain used to be a daily occurrence for me I wish to forget. I’d like to share with you my journey. A lot has changed for me since originally starting work within the fitness industry as a ‘Personal Trainer’.
During my world travels, my wife and I created a web business called Explore Now, that allowed us to travel and stay in some of the most exotic locations in the world. Whilst we were on the holiday of a lifetime, we were also working. We had a very small laptop on which we did our business and this contributed to some major postural changes in my upper spine that gave me huge amounts of neck pain and for the first time in my life, migraines. Just like everyone when it comes to pain, I waited to the last minute before I got off my butt and decided to make a change. Couple that with a digestive system that was pretty fried from our inquisitive eating habits whilst traveling, and my body had been in better shape (don’t let the tan fool you!). Whilst the majority of what we ate was ‘healthy’, we wouldn’t shy away from trying any new local food, as it was part of the experience.
Posture and Pain
Pain indicated by the red dots
So, I was back in Sydney again ready to start another business and I felt like a wreck and in so much pain. I kept asking myself, “How could I help someone else, if I can’t even help myself?” Every exercise, stretch and massage that I tried to help my neck tension would relieve the pain temporarily. My visit to the doctor ended in a Panadeine Forte prescription, MRI brain scan, blood test and Optometrist visit. The MRI was clear, the optometrist said my vision was fine, blood fine and the Panadeine wasn’t doing a thing. I then decided to visit a Chiropractor whilst walking back home from the doctor one day as I haven’t been to one for years. Straight away he said that I had ‘thoracic outlet syndrome’, adjusted me, and I felt instantly better. Pain reduced significantly. For a while…
I kept getting regular adjustments but it was always on my mind that the adjustments always needed to be done the same way and led me to ask the question, “What is making my body take on this posture all the time? “How can I prevent this from happening so I don’t need an adjustment, acupuncture or massage each week? How can I reduce or eliminate the pain myself?”
This then led me to the teachings of Paul Chek of the C.H.E.K. Institute. An American man that has been a ‘holistic’ health professional for 25 -30 years, traveling the world to learn from the best of the best in all areas related to health. He has subsequently put together a multi disciplinary, multi year program based on his methods. A Uni friend had taken his teachings on board and sold me on him. He was spending a lot of money doing the courses and found that the information he was learning superseded so much of the information that we had learnt in our 3 year Human Movement / Exercise Science degree. I bought Paul’s book ‘How to Eat Move and Be Healthy’ and ever since reading it, my outlook on health has had a major shift. I have now completed 5 certifications with the CHEK Institute and have several more to go. When I completed the first course and applied the teachings to myself, my neck pain reduced significantly. I was eating differently and doing lots of different things that were always considered faux paux within the fitness industry and in society as a whole when it came to the definition of ‘healthy’. His teachings made so much sense though, and finally worked!
To look back on all the problems I have had, I have a laundry list worth. Broken bones a plenty: especially a fractured lumbar spine! chronic fatigue syndrome, terrible acne, constant bloating, extreme back pain, torn cartilage in both knees, thoracic outlet syndrome, extreme neck tension, headaches and migraines, digestive problems, long term pharmaceutical use, constant mucus production in throat and nose. I’m sure there’s more! A lot of pain. The one thing I have discovered though is that we don’t catch these diseases, syndromes and disorders. We create them! Through having a crappy immune system. It’s just that my perception on what constituted a ‘healthy’ immune system was totally different to what it is now.
I currently feel better than I have in years and I am now getting results with clients that I never dreamed about in the past. The PEOPLE LIKE YOU page has some great examples of this. I am helping people change the insides and outsides of their bodies like never before. I am helping people eradicate pain they have had for a long time. I am helping people change where they haven’t been able to change with other methods and it feels really good to help people help themselves in eradicating their own pain. Contact me via www.bradrasmus.com if you wish to use my services.
Amy didn’t need to lose weight, she needed to get out of pain. With a holistic approach, I used the Primal 6 approach to address any health imbalances she had. Amy’s thoughts were being affected by negative relationships, her posture and breathing were suffering from her excessive computer work, she had digestive issues which called for dietary changes, and she had many muscular imbalances. So we focused on emotional healing, ways to reduce computer pain, primal dietary changes, probiotics to support her digestion, core-strength, reducing bloat and corrective exercise.
Amy preferred that you see her scans instead of her photos. These ‘Static EMG’ scans are from her chiropractor.
The colours are related to heat produced at each vertebral segment. White = 0 , Green= 1, Blue = 2, Green = ?, Red = 3, Black = 4. The higher the number, the worse the area is.
There’s 2 types of pain! Pain that serves you and pain that doesn’t
Words from Amy:
“Brad has been a great inspiration to me. I did not start seeing him to lose weight / bodyfat, it was to gain fitness & improve my quality of life. I suffered from severe back pain, knee pain & neck pain. I can now run over 6km in 30 minutes & have increased my strength to do some amazing acrobatic moves! My overall health has improved, i don’t suffer from pain like i once did and i am now more aware of what to eat to obtain the results i want. Thanks Brad, you have changed my life!”
“(When doing acrobatic training) I can now lift myself with my back to a pole, arms behind/above my head, up and over into an ankle grab on the pole. I can support myself upside from the ankle grab with my arms locked and release one leg behind my head otherwise known as a ‘butterfly’. Incredible core/back/should/arm strength & lots of concentration!”
“In Praise of “Bradention” (or how Brad Rasmus’ intervention in my life changed everything).
As a result of a lifetime of contact sports, I collected my share of injuries; knee reconstructions, dislocated shoulders and a ‘spondie’ (spodylolithesis) in the lumbar spine. Pain was part of my life, in the lower back, knee and shoulder. Some days I ate pain killers for breakfast, lunch and dinner!”
Pain was a real constraint on my exercise regime. At the suggestion of my wife (god love her)! I contacted Brad. What impressed me about Brad was his commitment to understand my circumstances and objectives before letting me undertake a training regime with him. At the risk of sounding like some TV infomercial, it changed my life. I can do things now I would not have attempted in the past and have experienced sharply lower incidence and frequency of pain. Greater overall flexibility, increased strength and improved posture have resulted. Finally, and most significantly in my view, my overall health has improved significantly. For example, in the past I was a frequent sinus sufferer and was prone to flu’s and colds. Not anymore!:
