WHY TRAIN WITH ME?

Portrait of Andy Marlow
Andy Marlow, originally from the UK,
now based in Toulouse, France.

I’ve been working as a personal trainer since 2010. During this time many clients have come to me because they’ve been experiencing low back pain, often because their doctor or physio has told them they need to exercise more.

Having had two episodes of low back pain myself as an adult, I’ve always been able to empathise with anyone suffering from a similar issue. However, at the beginning of my career, all I had to offer clients were standard core-strengthening exercises which sometimes helped and sometimes didn’t. It soon became clear this wasn’t enough.

I’ve always considered one of the most important parts of my job to be seeking out the best, evidence-based information to help my clients’ specific needs. This is how I discovered the work of Dr. Stuart McGill.

McGill has a unique combination of laboratory and clinical experience: he was a professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo in Canada for 32 years, and has worked with some of the world’s top athletes from sports as diverse as powerlifting and basketball to MMA.

He’s widely considered one of the world’s leading authorities on low back pathologies, and has gained a reputation for developing a methodology that has helped thousands of people avoid back surgery.

I began studying his work, travelling to the USA and Holland to complete his courses and eventually got certified in the McGill Method in 2019, becoming one of a small number of trainers in the world to do so.

By following the principles of the McGill Method, I’ve been able to avoid suffering any further episodes of back pain myself whilst maintaining an active lifestyle and pursuing challenging fitness goals.

Andy performing a deadlift and Turkish get up
Deadlift
Turkish Get-up

More importantly, I’ve also helped many clients bridge the gap from having persistent, debilitating low back pain to reaching fitness goals that they previously considered impossible.

Clients Molly, Christian, Maury and Anja performing various strength training exercises, post-back pain
From top-left, clockwise: Molly, Christian, Anja and Maury. All training pain-free, post-low back pain.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic it’s been repeatedly proven to me that it’s possible to successfully help clients overcome their low back pain via online sessions.

This has now become my main focus because it allows me to reach people who are unable to find McGill Method practitioners locally.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with online clients who are based in the UK, Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.

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