Your heaviest PRs are not behind you.
Stuck in the flare-up loop? I help lifters around the world get back under a heavy bar with a plan built on load, not avoidance. I was told I’d never lift again. Then I deadlifted 600 lbs.
Sound familiar?
You rest until it settles. You feel better. You go back to training. It flares up again. Round and round, for months or years.
Rest settles the pain but never builds the capacity back. My job is getting you out of that loop for good.
Break the loop: apply for coachinginjury
loop
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They were told to stop lifting. They didn’t.
In their words
Real clients, shared with their permission. Every injury and every timeline is different.
“Dan, you have done what I thought was impossible. I have zero back pain.”
“It’s the first summer since 2022 where I don’t have any irritations, any flare-ups and/or the need to scale down working out because of a back problem. It feels good.”
“The training today felt the closest to what I remember training feeling like, before all the injuries.”
“I feel strong. Yesterday I did full-range back squat, three sets of three at 155. Zero pain, zero issue.”
“All exercises feel better, smoother, more stable. Core feels like it’s waking up. Back feels a lot better, less tight, way less pain.”
“Surprised about how good I felt playing volleyball yesterday. I was so happy to not be limited by back pain.”
3 physios told me I’d never lift weights again.
In 2017 I hurt my back on a max-effort snatch. What followed was two and a half years of chronic back pain. The hardest part of my day wasn’t training. It was putting on my socks and sitting on the toilet.
I saw three physiotherapists. All three said the same thing: stop lifting. So I questioned the verdict, became a physiotherapist myself, and rebuilt the way I wish someone had shown me. Load, not avoidance.
Then I deadlifted 600 lbs. Now I help lifters do the same thing, without the 2.5 lost years.
Four phases from pain to PR
Injured? You keep training the whole way through, overcoming your injury. We just change what training looks like at each stage.
Why most rehab fails, and what this does instead
Almost every injury comes down to load outrunning capacity. Lower the load short term, build capacity long term.
Clamshells won’t get you back to a 500 lb squat. Rehab has to look like training.
Pain tells us how to dose training. The Traffic Light System turns it into decisions.
Weight on the bar is one marker. We track 16, so you see progress even when you can’t add load.
Weekly check-ins and video review. The plan changes when your body does.
in the free Playbook
Rehab Mastery
Full-length guides for the injuries lifters ask me about most.
One lesson for injured lifters, every Monday
Short, direct lessons written for lifters who want to get back under the bar. Join free and get The Injured Lifter’s Playbook as a welcome gift.
Why the worst time to get assessed is after the flare-up settles.
How to read a pain score as a training decision instead of a damage report.
Your MRI found something. So would mine.
S.T.R.O.N.G.
- S
- StrengthStrength is the treatment. We build it on purpose, from the first session.
- T
- ThoroughnessEvery load decision is measured and deliberate. Nothing is guesswork.
- R
- ResilienceWe don’t stop at pain-free. We build past where you were before the injury.
- O
- OpennessStraight answers, including when something needs a doctor instead of a program.
- N
- NurturingFast replies, real check-ins, and a coach who knows your lifts by name.
- G
- GrowthYour best lifts are ahead of you. The plan is built to get you there.
Ready to get back under the bar?
1:1 online coaching for lifters around the world, built around your injury and your lifts. Apply in two minutes and we’ll see if it’s a fit.
