Shiraj Physio
2023-06-22T23:17:33.003Z
I came to Shiraj in July 2020. I’d been athletic my whole life, playing soccer, baseball and tennis while growing up and then after college, getting into marathons and triathlons. My normal was to be to active — I didn’t know any other way.But in 2020, I find myself as a 40-year-old working mom of a 4-year-old. My body didn’t bounce back like they say, I was working more than ever, and finding time for the gym and long runs, bikes or swims just wasn’t a reality anymore. I hadn’t learned how to train for what my body needed now and because of that, had ended up 30 pounds heavier, cursed with injury after injury, and trying to do the same old thing to make the pain go away. But this time was different and I needed help. When I met Shiraj, I was battling a horrible case of quadriceps tendinitis in BOTH knees. Walking and going up stairs was extremely painful yet I was stubbornly still trying to run almost every other day. Most of those runs ended in tears or screams.We began with assessing my running gait and my overall lower body strength. To say that I had weak glutes and hip flexors is an understatement. I had a major deficit, which was affecting my running in the worst way, putting all of the impact on my knees and lower back. No wonder why I was in pain all of the time. I remember Shiraj prepping me for my road to recovery by saying, "this won't be fast or easy and it's going to take a lot of work." He also told me that we were going to approach my healing in a way unlike before. No stretching, no icing, no resting. We were going to run at it from purely strength perspective. I would be doing deadlifts, squats, hip thrusts, and many other exercises aimed to build strength in the places I needed most. He also introduced many exercises using resistance bands, which I still do daily.To say I fell in love with lifting weights is a massive understatement. My strength improved session after session and I felt not only a physical change but a mental and emotional one as well. Shiraj helped break down all of the misconceptions I'd been taught about strength training my entire life. "Weights make women big and bulky." "Lifting weight will make you gain weight." Everything I knew was incorrect -- and my mind was blown.Cut to six months later and my strength levels had increased to where they needed to be and we re-introduced running. With the added strength and change in my overall posture, my running gait had become completely different. I was more upright. I was pushing off better with my calves. The impact was properly distributed rather than my knees taking the brunt of the force.With consistent training over the next year, I became faster than ever before -- breaking my PR for 1600M and for a 5K. I could run a sub-8:00/mile when before I was lucky to break 10:00/mile. I also lost those 30 pounds and changed the composition of my body with Shiraj's continued coaching. At 43-years-old, I'm more fit than I've ever been and most importantly, more physically capable of anything that comes my way. Being active with daughter, carrying in the groceries, simply feeling better in my own skin, you name it, and it has improved. I'm so thankful for having Shiraj. He changed my life for the better and I now count him as one of the people who will help me stay active and pain-free for many years to come.
I came to Shiraj in July 2020. I’d been athletic my whole life, playing soccer, baseball and tennis while growing up and then after college, getting i... More