I am a big guy, I’m 6’2″ and 280lbs at current, but I wasn’t always this big aside from my height, I was an amateur Vale Tudo competitor and in decent shape. I was training a lot, classes, weights, cardio, my day had 5 hours plus of doing something physical in it, and no I didn’t just get lazy, a condition I have Ankylosing Spondylitis began getting worse. To add to that, I have a back injury from a car crash when I was 17, so as my A.S. got worse, so did the injury. Therefore, as the years passed, I went from 220lbs to 280lbs that I am today…

…but there is hope!

Thanks to the miracle that is the internet, I found exercises I have been doing to strengthen the spine’s supportive muscles, which are used to lessen the effects of A.S. and it works. I eat pretty well honestly, I love my greens, eat fairly normal portion sizes, and now I can work out a bit more and better. I in no way think I’ll ever fight again, but my hope is to lose the extra pounds and continue teaching martial arts more. Taking care of one’s health is a mitzvah, and one I have struggled with until the past month or so, now that will not be so much of an issue for me. 

G-D seems to be looking out for me more and more as the days go by, and I cannot be any more grateful than I am to have Hashem in my life today. All of these years I had no idea I could diet and do specific exercises to help my A.S. I was always told there’s medication to lessen the pain and that was it. Now, as I type this, I have never taken pain medications (they can become addictive), but I have a winning formula that is showing me real results that are allowing me to work out more. 

I have looked it up in the past, but most sites were hokey new-age psychobabble that was all fluff and little substance…. these exercises are truly helping me to regain more and more of my mobility.