Brutally Debilitating.

That’s the honest way of putting it. When you suffer from chronic pain, everything is an uphill battle.

Whether you fancy yourself a proper athlete, enjoy regularly kicking a ball around with your friends, or if you like to hike every second weekend of the month… if you’re suffering from chronic pain, well, none of it’s anywhere near as easy, now is it? Not physically, not mentally, not emotionally, etc.

That’s where this story begins; with me, too young to be suffering as bad as I was, struggling to understand why. In my early 20’s, and I was just BRITTLE. I’d always been athletic, as long as I could remember. Always capable of wild feats of strength and agility. But in my 20’s, everything was suddenly harder, and more painful. The symptoms of chronic pain leaked their way into my everyday. The struggles were becoming VERY real.

Parkour has always been my spot of choice. Flips, climbing, high flying jumps, heavy impact, and self expression through dynamic movement: True Freedom. My goals, even as a young kid were simple.

• I wanted the ability to move my limbs and body freely without hinderance (Mobility)

• I wanted to always keep getting better at my sport (progression)

• I wanted my body weight to be as if nothing (strength); and

• I wanted to be pain-free and indestructible forever (balance)

But even as a kid, I would look at the adults all around me and see signs of chronic pain: limping, hobbling, bent over, struggling their way through regular life activities. And they would crack wise every chance they could, these adults. They’d say things like:

“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll struggle like me when you’re older.”

“Keep doing that and you’ll be needing my cane.”

“Your knee’s can only handle so much of that jumpin’.”

“Enjoy it now while it lasts!”

I’ve had it imprinted in my mind my whole life that I was bound to be arthritic, bound to be injured, bound to be suffering. But for every time I was told I shouldn’t be jumping off rooftops, or flipping on concrete, or wall-running, etc… I couldn’t bear the thought of the alternative of just stopping what I loved. The thought of just hanging up my Freedom of Movement was so agonizing that I couldn’t bear the thought.

So I did what any 10 year old would do. I accepted my fate that I’d be an arthritic old man later in life. I accepted that my knees and back and shoulders and joints only had a certain number of uses, just like everyone else’s, before they gave out and broke down, needing surgery.

I just hoped that the smart people of the world, while I was out jumpin’ around, would come up with the cure to arthritis before my knees crumbled to dust!

Any who, fast forward to Adulthood, and there I am:

- Early 20’s, full-time sustainable forestry technician, hauling gear around the bush 9 hours a day, making my pay and earning my humble existence -

With hardly any time or energy outside of my work, other than to prepare for the next day of work. My dream of maintaining steady progression with my sport was slowly being replaced by the monotony of “adult life”. Worse than pressed for time, I was hard pressed for a day my body felt up to the task of training my sport!

Soreness, stiffness, and chronic pain had ALREADY taken over my life!

I new that I needed something to change. I knew that I’d waste away steadily if things continued the way they were going.

My childhood goals rung true in my mind, and I knew I couldn’t walk away from my sport so early in life. I knew I couldn’t give up on my body.

So I flicked a switch. I changed my mindset, and stopped with the dropping of everything for the sake of “adulthood” and working for a living. I started to push all my mental and physical ability back towards my childhood goals.

Some changes needed to be made, however. A more realistic set of goals was carved from the original:

• Try to regain the flexibility of my “youth” (Mobility)

• DON’T GIVE UP MY SPORT (progression)

• Re-develop the ability to push/pull my body weight without issue (strength)

• Don’t let my pain get any worse, and avoid surgeries at all costs (balance)

Long story short, this “switch” in attitude, well… It actually led to a HUGE career shift.

With 10 years of backlogged parkour experience, and a history of teaching my friends, I’d landed myself a very coveted position as a full-time Parkour Coach!

WOAH. Childhood Dreams Achieved! WOOHOO!

End of story, right? I did it! I turned my hobby and dream into a lifestyle and a career! Yes!

Well… Not so fast. The pain and suffering is only just beginning.

Turns out, just… Working harder… doesn’t really do much for solving chronic pain…

Turns out, pushing yourself day in, day out, and constantly striving for progress, both physical and mental, doesn’t do much to fix the problem at all.

In fact! Without adjustment, pushing harder only lead me to one very predictable conclusion.

Here Comes A List of Injuries

• First quarter of my dream job as a Parkour Coach, I developed a sever case of Achilles Tendonitis, on both legs (mainly the right side)

• Second quarter I dislocate my right Patella (kneecap)

• Third quarter I develop tendonitis in my elbows (tennis elbows)

• Also third quarter, my ankles start of develop chronic pain, undiagnosed

• Fourth quarter, my shoulders start underperforming (foreshadowing)

• Second quarter of the 2nd year of my dream job as a Parkour Coach, I tear my right Rotator Cuff (shoulder)

• 3rd quarter, I tear my right MCL and develop patellar tendonitis in my left knee

• 4th quarter, my knee finally seems back in order and then I dislocate my right patella again.

GAHH! Why is My Body So Brittle!!

At this point, I’m desperate. 2 years into coaching, and I’m falling apart.

I’ve got skills to pay the bills, in fact, I’m damn good at parkour and coaching at this point. Damn good. Parkour competitions start to weave their way to the forefront of my mind as more and more of my students start naturally looking for new ways to push themselves.

And lets not rule out the fact that my students were starting to catch up to my abilities… after all, I just spent the past 2 years steadily developing a rap sheet of injuries…

Something Needed to Change.

And it needed to change fast.

If my body was ever to meet the desires of my mind, I needed to be smart about my next moves. Realistically, surgery was RIGHT around the corner for some of these injuries.

At this point, I’d suffered an MCL tear in my knee, and a rotator cuff tear in my shoulder, and I’d done nothing but let Physical Therapists and Chiro take my money. Realistically, nothing was getting better, and I was speeding right along towards another serious injury in no time.

I started researching… ENDLESSLY.

Every waking hour was devoted to trial and error’ing any method under the sun for holistically training my body out of the hell I was experiencing.

Uphill Battle, But Nothing Worth Doing is Ever Easy

I started finding some progress, finally, in my mobility and pain-free range of motion.

I’D FINALLY FOUND SOMETHING THAT WORKED.

Working my range of motion, progressively, safely, and within pain-tolerance levels of around 4/10 on the pain scale, I was starting to see progress.

By following and studying the actions of those whose care-free mobility and pain-free ability seemed to come so naturally, I was able to put together a tangible system of recovery that actually worked!

I was steadily becoming less fragile, less brittle, and life was becoming far less painful!

Fast forward through a series of hiccups and reinjuries, and 2 years later, not only did I find a way to maintain my Dynamic and Active Lifestyle, but I was THRIVING in it!

My students and I started competing all around, bringing in gold medals and smoking the competition. Those students really pushed me to new limits, and in turn I helped develop their joints and physical abilities with my new methods of physical training such that they’d never be as brittle and pain-stricken as I was.

My success with my young students led to a surge in interest from the parents and adults of our community. They started showing interest in forming an Adult Parkour group!

Turns Out… Adults with a Lifetime of Mobility Issues… Don’t Do Well in Parkour!

Who’d of thought?

Sprained ankles, extreme soreness, macro tears, “MY BACK” ‘s, shin splints, joint pain flare-ups, extremely weak upper body strength, chronic pain, etc. etc. etc.

After a few classes, I realized I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t teach these adults parkour. And even if I did… What’s the point?! They’ll just end up hurting themselves either way!

So I started slowly turning my parkour classes into personal training group sessions. I started sharing my own methods of building a strong, and functional body with these adults.

Suddenly, word started getting out to the community. These adults in my parkour class were experience less pain, more range, more mobility, more pain-free ability. And to be honest… I was enjoying the personal training aspect of helping these people change their lives WAY more than coaching parkour…

And so began a new chapter in my life, as I earned certifications and struck out on my own, I began working with folks all about the local community, helping change their lives by way of solving their chronic pain or previous injuries.

The Rest is History, As They Say (whoever “they” are)

Now-a-days I live in my van, travelling North America with my wife and 2 dogs, helping people around the world in the same way I used to help those in my community. Only now, I do it as a Digital Nomad!

My body is in the best shape it’s ever been, and it’s only up from here. With more Parkour Competitions on the horizon, and chronic pain at epidemic levels across the world, my work is cut-out for me.

All I gotta do now is find those folks who are ready for a change, just like I was.

Inevitable Pitch

I love working with engineers. As the lifeblood of technological progress, Engineers and their hard work have made life for us normal folks:

• FAR Easier

• FAR Less Painful; and

• FAR More Productive

My mission is to give back to the engineers that have made my wildest dreams possible.

Mechanical Engineers - Making my van life dreams come true, and it being as easy as it was to build my own camper conversion

Software Engineers - Making it possible and easy to run a business online (I’m a big video game nerd, too)

Aerospace Engineers - Starlink Baby!

Chemical Engineers - I mean.. thank you for literally every product ever!

Etc. Etc. Etc.

If you folks are finding it unnecessarily tough to problem solve with chronic pain and discomfort getting in the way,

If your productivity and enjoyment at work is suffering thanks to chronic back, neck, or hip pain,

If you folks are ready to make some real changes in your life and bring back joy through pain-free dynamic freedom of movement,

Then lets talk.

Book a call below and let’s get you on the Pathway to Pain-free Productivity!

https://calendly.com/dynamicfreedomfitness/quick-call-w-parkour-steve