Long story short, for over 3 years i've had chronic sciatica. I would get some bad bouts where it would be painful even getting out of bed. I sought medical treatment and I believe on last count tried 3 different physical therapists, a massage therapist and two 2 doctors. This was a complete waste of time. The first doctor told me it was ok to take ibuprofen for up to 6 months. I can't imagine anything more negligent than this advice. I took that stuff, and probably did more damage to my body than good. The physios prescribed a battery of different stretches, did that stuff, it made things better or worse sometimes. I did the foam rolling bullshit the bros love, the tennis ball and softball rolling all of that. It sometimes helped and sometiems made things worse.
Come 2012 and I just resigned myself with the though that i'd have this problem for the rest of my life. and hey, i got pretty good at managing it, i could use dencorub and ibuprofen when things got particularly bad. I knew the stretches i could do make me feel better. But i just accepted that it would be a life long thing.
So the last few months ive had no problems with my back. I've felt normal. But it was only today that I realised i was completely cured. I did the one test which always failed - lying on my back and raising my left leg into the air. Normally it would go about 50-60 degrees before I couldn't go any further, i'd have to stop there from sciatica caused discomfort. But what a shock when I found I could go all the way to 90 degrees, pain free. I'm cured. I can't explain this at all.
If i was to attempt an explanation, i'd say adding sprinting into my training, doing a lot of RDLs and staying away from deadlifts and working hard on my squatting form has made me better. I can't explain why these things would help, but they have. Perhaps my sciatica was caused by some kind of imbalance? I don't know. I couldn't tell you. I just find it completely stunning that i've fixed something that defied treatment for so long.
This is the best training community around. There is a focus on movement, strength, athleticism and so on. I know if I was doing what i had been for the last few years i would still have sciatica but being around here and doing sprints and jumps and working on form and different facets of movement, even trying different exercises has been a godsend. I think you guys are genuinely on to something with the multifaceted philosophy and training approach.
