YES! "Movement Heals The Body"

Categories: Stories Jul 08, 2018

Original Strength helped me heal after an injury with the help of OS Certified Pros, Tanya and Chris at Kettlebell Ruhrpott, Essen, Germany.

“Movement heals the body” – that is one of the key principles in Tanya and Chris‘ gym. In the past few weeks I’ve experienced for myself that this is something they both truly mean, and live.

On vacation over the Easter weekend, I injured myself surfing. The pain in my right leg was so bad that I spent the first few days just lying down (I was lucky enough to be in sunny Portugal, at least), or crawling to get around.

Since exercise is essential to my happiness, it was clear to me that I wanted/needed to move, in spite of this limitation. I was aware of the key principle of the gym, “Movement heals the body,” so once I was back in Essen (Germany), I got in contact with Tanya and Chris to discuss my training options. Looking back, that was the decisive step toward my recovery!

They were of course both happy to offer me their help. Tanya took her time and went through all the fundamental movement patterns with me. We started with breathing, moving on to rocking, rolling, and walking. All the time with her asking, “What can you do pain-free at the moment?”

To start with it wasn’t much! “Can you lie on your back and breathe without any pain?” “No!” The special thing was Tanya’s way of going about it. With a lot of humor, understanding and confidence, we went through the movements, one by one. And to my surprise, there were many rays of hope: I could do Squats, Rocks, and Half Rolls without any pain. Not so little after all! But the thing that made me most happy on that day was being able to do Loaded Rocks – I spent 20 minutes in a rocking movement using a resistance band. It was a wonderful feeling of relief and strength.

Before the check-up I didn’t think it was possible, but for Tanya and Chris there was no question of whether I could train at their gym.

Since then I’ve experienced my own personal moments of joy in each class. The coaching they both have given me has helped me enormously. If I’m unsure about whether I can do a certain movement, they teach me in a sensitive way to trust in my own strength. They suggest regressions/progressions for me straight away.  One of my absolute highlights was when Chris showed me how to do a Hip Hinge without any pain. And also when I was able to skip again, pull and push a heavy sled, or do Cross Crawls, just to name a few examples.

In every training session, I gain confidence, courage, and trust. These moments motivate me enormously and make me think positively. Little by little, I’m gaining strength, and have good hope that I’ll be back in the water on my board by the end of May! (If it happens to my other leg, then I know who to turn to

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