YKatrina

I’ve just started implementing the GPS Mastery system this week, and already I feel the
stress melting away knowing I have a plan in place.

A couple of years ago I injured my back while training for a marathon. Initially I thought rest and ice would take care of it – it didn’t. I tried going to a chiropractor with no relief. Eventually, my doctor sent me to physical therapy where I received ultrasound treatments and was taught various stretching and strengthening exercises. The PT provided some relief, but I was still frustrated at my lack of progress as I had a nearly constant nagging pain, especially when I sat for long periods. I spent a lot of time self-diagnosing. An article in a running magazine suggested that one common cause of lower back pain in runners was an injury to the piriformis muscle in the lower back and buttocks. It quite literally is described as a “pain in the butt.” I decided this must be it. At the end of 2009, I started working with Katrina Yniguez at sac. I explained to her my desire to get back to running, and my belief that my piriformis was causing my back pain.

Katrina conducted an assessment of my biomechanics and immediately prescribed some corrective exercises for my leg and back muscles. She also started me foam rolling (deep tissue massage) my piriformis muscle and other muscle groups. At first I thought she was crazy as the exercises she had me doing were very easy and seemingly unrelated to my back. Katrina explained, however, that strengthening these muscle groups would improve my biomechanics and ultimately reduce the risk for future injury. I persisted.

Eventually, Katrina stopped being crazy and started being just plain mean. Although always pleasant and upbeat, she had obviously decided at some point that the corrective exercises were not needed anymore, and it was time to start the hard stuff. Now, twice a week, she puts me through my paces with core-focused exercises that primarily work my back, legs and chest. I never look forward to the tough workouts, but I always am glad that I did them after they are through. The good news? My back pain is almost completely gone and, when it occasionally returns, I know exactly what to do to get rid of it. I’m now back to regular running, pain-free.

I appreciate Katrina’s ability to listen to what I thought was happening to my body and to design a program that would target the needed areas. It has been great working with her. She is great to work with and always has a positive attitude, and I’ve discovered she’s not really that mean (well, she kind of is).”

For the past twenty five years, I have been working out three times a week doing cardio only. But as I approached my mid-forties, I found that it was difficult to maintain my weight without spending extra hours at the club. When I met Katrina Yniguez through the weight loss program last fall, she told me that I was working harder than necessary and that I could also maintain my weight through weight training. I was very skeptical but I thought I’d give it a try. After Katrina did a brief evaluation, she could pinpoint which muscles were weak and which ones were compensating, causing problems in my posture. We worked initially on strengthening these muscles when she realized how much pain I had in my hips. In the past two years, I spent thousands of dollars on doctors that told me to expect the pain (I was in an auto accident when I was a teenager). But after working with Katrina, she found out the main cause of my pain and worked with me to solve it. By the sixth session, my hip pain was gone. We are now working on the muscles in my body that haven’t been used in years and I am finding that it is much easier to exercise or just do daily activities now that they are getting stronger. Also to my surprise, I don’t have to work out as hard to maintain my weight. Katrina has totally changed my life with just a few training sessions. It is wonderful to have my life back and live life pain free.