August 27, 2013
It's amazing how quickly your life can change in the blink of an eye. One day I was on vacation and when I woke up I had what I later learned was a herniated disc at my L4-L5. If you've ever herniated a disc, then you know just how debilitating it can be. I couldn't even take a step without excruciating pain. When I got home, I reached out to my PCP who recommended pharmaceuticals and physical therapy. After a month of therapy and not even an ounce of improvement, I called an old friend out of desperation.
Chad saw me the very next day and to be honest, the only reason I went to see Chad was because typical western medicine (pain killers, muscle relaxants, physical therapy) wasn't working, so what did I have to lose. I remember walking into his office, using my wife as a crutch (walking without assistance wasn't possible) thinking to myself 'hopefully I don't leave in worse condition than I entered here'. Well, much to my pleasant surprise, I walked out of the office under my own power. I didn't need the assistance of my wife to walk and I was feeling much better after just one visit. After several more visits I just kept getting better and better, when Chad insisted I give CrossFit a try. He insisted that I could train at CrossFit Southborough in a way that let me exercise while injured without re-injuring myself while trying to get in shape. I was definitely skeptical, but after such amazing results from his chiropractic care, I trusted his advice and coaching.
After just three months I lost 50 pounds and felt as strong and healthy as I was when I rowed crew in college. That was just three months after starting CrossFit! I've now been doing CrossFit for more than year and seeing Chad for just as long and I am in the best shape of my life; it's just incredible! If you told me this was possible over a year ago, I would have laughed in your face.
Thank you Chad for my reincarnation.
- Nate R.
Dr Chad also happened to be a coach at my new box. He will
always be one of my favorite coaches. He is so passionate about helping people
and making people reach their potential. I really haven’t had the same
attention to detail as I did with Dr Chad’s classes. He always seemed to know
how to fine tune a movement to maximize results. And he ALWAYS knew when an
adjustment was needed.
I will never forget one day I was lifting the bar above my
head and the left side was just not going up as fast as the right side. Dr Chad
knew right away and adjusted me on the spot. WHAM! It was fixed! There was
never any pain involved before or after the adjustment but whatever chiropractic
adjustment he did worked wonders and I was able to lift more weight!
When I became pregnant in September 2012 I did get a bit
nervous about continuing Crossfit. I was lucky enough to have a fellow
Crossfitter also pregnant. She and I served as mutual support as did my
non-pregnant boxmates. Dr Chad was always supportive of keeping fit during
pregnancy. Honestly I wasn’t quite sure
that he would be able to fix my pregnancy-specific pains (having him be a guy
and all) but as he repeatedly told me how often he adjusted his wife during
pregnancy my confidence grew and grew. He still knew exactly why my pain was
happening and just how to relieve it by adjustment.
Coupled with chiropractic, Crossfit kept me almost pain
free. I’m short (5’) so pregnancy isn’t really fun since I don’t have much
room. But by eating right, sticking with Crossfit and checking in with Dr Chad
once (sometime twice!) a week I had as pleasant an experience as possible.
I shocked and surprised myself every time I walked into the
box. Crossfit and chiropractic helped keep my energy up and pains down.
June 8, 2013 my water broke. June 10 my second son was born.
The hospital staff all told me they had never seen someone push so hard. My
baby came out not breathing. It took 3 minutes for him to start breathing. He
was born presumed septic due to me who had spiked a fever during pushing as
well as meconium in the fluid. Meconium was present in the trachea. If he had
been born by C section the results may have been very different. I have a very
narrow pelvic opening but because I was super strong from Crossfit and super in
line from chiropractic I was able to use all my might and push out my baby
(with the help of a vacuum). That pushing helped push the meconium up and out
of his system; which doesn’t happen with a section.
It’s nothing more than an old wives tale not to exercise
during pregnancy. Crossfit made me strong. Crossfit while pregnant prepared me
for the birth that I was meant to have. Crossfit also prepared me for after
birth. I was back at the box 10 days after. I eased back into it by starting
with mobility and gradually building back up to what I was doing beforehand. I
made sure to keep it very easy on my core for the first few months.
July 23 I got my first toes to bar! September 2 I got my
first kipping pull up!
I look forward to being the best mom by being as fit as
possible. I nurse my son and plan to do so for at least a year. Crossfit has
helped me maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle and I have a very easy recovery
in comparison to my first birth which was a C section. I wasn’t exercising and
I was eating poorly. I believe this helped lead to sever postpartum depression
(along with other environmental factors). Now I am depression free. Something
that didn’t happen until I starting Crossfitting.
I will never really be able to return the favor to Dr. Chad.
He has helped me in more ways than he will ever realize. I’m happy, healthy and
more importantly my baby is happy and healthy. I only wish he didn’t leave
Massachusetts because I will never find a chiropractor as good as him.
- Amy R.
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