About Me
Qualifications
- Level 1 Sports Trainer with Sports Medicine Australia
- Level 1 Strength & Conditioning Coach with the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association (Endorsed by the National Coaching Accreditation Scheme, Australian Institute of Sport & Australian Sports Commission)
- Certificate 3 & 4 in Health & Fitness with FIT College
- Provide First Aid & CPR with NFTI
- Blue Card (Working with children check)
- Member of Sports Medicine Australia as a Sports Trainer (SMA)
- Member of the Australian Strength & Conditioning Association (ASCA)
- Member of AUSactive as a Level 2 Registered Professional & Sole Trader Member
- One of less than 600 Mentor Coaches in Australia with the Australian Strength & Conditioning Association
Mission Statement
To guarantee health, fitness and wellbeing to all walks of life.
Vision Statement
To revolutionise and change the way we look at our health and wellbeing from a young age.
For the WORLD to understand the importance of motor skill coordination from a young age and the role it plays in the happiness and longevity of a healthy, active and enjoyable life.
But knowing that no matter your age, you are ALWAYS capable of improving and changing through neuroplasticity.
Bio
Hi, my name is Ben Taylor, and I’m the Chronic Pain Trainer™
Growing up in Beerwah on Queensland’s picturesque Sunshine Coast, I’ve long felt this is a prime location for all thing’s health and fitness.
The weather, environment and population, not to mention being surrounded by the Glasshouse Mountains, has shaped and driven my passion for the health and fitness industry as a whole.
Being heavily involved and interested in sport, academia and entrepreneurship from a young age, I always dreamt of one day starting a business relating to sport, health and fitness.
I started thinking seriously about my business concept when I was thirteen years of age, but only through unfortunate circumstances decided to turn this dream into a reality.
The unfortunate experience was a back injury and the chronic pain associated with it that I sustained a week after my 21st birthday, almost 7 and a half years ago.
At the time I was climbing mountains, playing football, basketball and tennis recreationally and ironically also studying in the health and fitness space.
While this was going on, I was six months into a job which involved a lot of heavy labour.
In hindsight I was probably overdoing it.
Hindsight turned out to be correct and I came home one afternoon in agony.
An incident so inconspicuous I didn’t even notice it had occurred at the time.
Although the pain was intense and severe, I expected it to subside after a few days or weeks.
I then remained in that state for several debilitating years.
I was in pain every minute of every day over that entire period, and it had an enormous effect on my physical and mental health.
It’s something I truly wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy.
From an enjoyable life working, studying, being physically active, enjoying hobbies like playing the guitar and spending time with friends, family and my dog, to nothing, absolutely nothing.
Pain was all I could feel and think about.
The fact that almost anything aggravated and flared it up, including sitting, cold temperatures and any physical activity drove me insane and made it almost impossible to relax and do the things that I love. It essentially stopped my life dead, and I struggled immensely coming to terms with it.
Aspects such as work, study, relationships, friends, confidence and quality of life were significantly affected.
Taking this into account, my studies were obviously placed on hold while I tried everything in my power to reduce the level of pain I was in.
For a long time I kept most of it to myself and would never tell anyone how difficult it truly was, but I came to realise that telling people was an important step in my rehabilitation.
Finally, after months of investigation, tests and imaging, an MRI revealed degenerated discs at T7&T8 (Thoracic/Mid Back) as well as arthritis of the facet joints at the same level.
Although not ideal, this wasn’t severe, and I was ecstatic I finally had an answer to the reason I was experiencing this pain.
The injury is characterised by musculoskeletal and neuropathic pain in the entire thoracic region (upper back).
The disc, joint, muscle and nerve issues caused pain such as burning, stinging, pinching and severe aching.
A big part of this was my central and peripheral nervous systems interpreting any type of stimuli as pain.
From here, many different therapies and interventions were recommended.
Unfortunately, this led me on a long and agonising journey exploring every possible avenue in an attempt to reduce my pain.
I spent a great deal of money over the years on countless specialists, doctors, health professionals and therapists with no real, lasting improvement.
I tried just about everything there was to try and saw everyone there was to see. From oils and electronic pain devices to masseurs and neurosurgeons.
I spent most of my days running between these appointments and trialling these products and recovery methods in an attempt to become rehabilitated, and any free time I had was dedicated simply to staying out of pain through any means possible.
Sometimes I would just lie on the floor for hours on end trying to relieve the pain.
At its worst the flare ups lasted well over a week.
The whole process, including the fact that virtually no one I’ve ever known has had a similar problem exhibiting similar symptoms in the same region of the body as myself was, and still is, a very isolating experience.
The importance of having a supporting network of friends, family and health professionals was essential in reducing my pain and the impact it had on my life.
One of the main things I wanted people to understand was that I didn’t want to be treated differently and I wasn’t looking for sympathy. I just wanted acknowledgement and understanding.
Although the pain has subsided quite significantly from this point, it was and remains to be unlike anything that I’ve ever felt.
Sometimes it was so painful and unrelenting that I would’ve preferred to be dead. Especially during a flare up.
But the main thing that kept me going was that one day, hopefully soon, I would be out of constant pain.
Finally, I found a genuinely interested team to help me and make more realistic diagnoses, interventions and changes.
This was the true start of my journey to sustainably reduce the amount of pain I was in.
This multidisciplinary approach included seeing a chronic pain specialist, neurosurgeon, GP, physiotherapist and clinical psychologist, whilst undertaking an exercise program designed to re-establish neural pathways and correct neuromuscular coordination.
I was lucky to have had such a great team of health professionals that genuinely cared about me and my rehabilitation, and I would like to thank them all.
Nerve Root Compression, T4 Syndrome and Central Sensitisation are just a few of the hypothesised diagnoses as to what’s causing my pain, but it’s the type of thing that’s very hard to diagnose correctly and even more difficult to treat.
But in the end these diagnoses turned out to be less important in helping recover from chronic pain that I’d initially thought.
I also tried to go without medication for a long time, but being in chronic pain had an enormous effect both physiologically and psychologically, to the point where I had to try something additional to reduce the level of pain I was in.
I luckily found medication I responded to quickly and effectively with minimal side effects.
But being in chronic pain in addition to being on medication, even with minimal side effects, really affected my mental acuity and cognitive function in the beginning, and as such I believed I’d been robbed of my physical and now intellectual abilities.
Though after an acclimatisation period the side effects were far less severe and indeed helped me participate and recover from all the general and rehabilitative exercises and stressors I had been going through as a result of my pain.
From here I came to realise that medication may have not only helped me, but may have been one of the key factors in helping me get to where I am today.
While this worked in my situation, the efficacy has to be determined by how the individual responds to medication and by finding what works for them.
Finally, after a few years I was able to slowly progress into continuing my study again!
Completing my Strength & Conditioning practical hours and training through the University of the Sunshine Coasts Sports Clinic, I worked with National and State level athletes ranging all the way from BMX and Triathletes to AFL, NRL, MMA & Weightlifting athletes.
After years on the sidelines, not even playing any recreational sport, training these athletes helped to reignite my passion for all things sport, to the point where I now am able to get involved in all the things I used to love.
I even had the pleasure to help train Australian Paralympians!
Training these athletes helped spark my passion for working with people with a disability.
Being in chronic pain, you sometimes feel you’ve gotten the short end of the stick, but hopping in the chair and competing against these athletes was the point I realised just how capable they are, regardless of their circumstance. How they excel and overcome adversity is truly remarkable.
This helped give me the belief that regardless of whether my pain subsides completely, I can have an enjoyable, fulfilling life.
A few years later I am proud to say that I am a fully qualified Sports Trainer, Strength and Conditioning Coach and Personal Trainer.
My pain has continued to improve over time, to the point where in January 2020 I felt I was ready to dedicate enough time into starting my own business.
I decided to combine my knowledge and passion of these subjects to help people across a wide variety of disciplines.
By offering a unique skill set and experience that can be applied to all of my services, I know I have the passion, skill and desire to genuinely help as many people as I possibly can.
Firstly, I had to complete a short-term gig as the Strength & Conditioning Coach for the NRL’s Emerging Education Academy.
Being the Strength & Conditioning Coach for prospective NRL referees was an amazing opportunity and experience that took place at the University of the Sunshine Coast and the Caloundra Juniors Rugby League Club.
This role saw me in charge of running the strength and conditioning sessions, both practical and theoretical, for a class of 10 students.
During my time with the academy, I learned how to better interact with and engage my target audience, and I feel the confidence this has given me will be an invaluable asset when connecting with clients in the future.
The driving forces behind this improvement were having the opportunity to teach, instruct and present lectures on the benefits and importance of strength training and nutrition, then modifying and tailoring exercises in accordance with the students’ abilities and performance.
From here this allowed me to ensure suitable progression and injury prevention was implemented by making sure improving technique was the main focus of the program.
Then, as we all know, COVID-19 hit us all and my business launch was put on hold a little longer.
I just looked at it as extra time to set up, study and research for my business, myself and my prospective clients.
Which brings us to now, where I can finally say, after all the years of pain and hard work, I can officially launch my business!
I’ve learnt a lot over these years, through my studies, my interactions with a wide variety of health & fitness professionals and my own personal, lived experience and research, and as such, I want to share my knowledge, experience and chronic pain journey to help prevent anyone from going through everything I went through, whether you currently have pain or not.
Coupling this with my passion for sport and helping people, I’ll also help to teach people how to move and exercise in a way that’s both efficient and suitable for themselves and their goals, to not only improve performance, but prevent injuries and flare ups in the process.
Whether your goal is to become a professional athlete or just simply to be able to perform any form of exercise at all, I will improve your technique, your neuromuscular coordination, prevent injury and help you become a stronger, happier and healthier individual who’s able to perform at their best, both during physical activity and throughout your everyday life.
I’ve tried just about everything and seen countless health & fitness professionals, and overall was unimpressed by the lack of knowledge, compassion and understanding displayed. That’s not to say it’s their fault either. If you haven’t been through something yourself, it can be virtually impossible to properly comprehend.
The importance of lived experience may be the single most important thing when it comes to being truly understood.
I’m a very empathetic person, and there’s no way I would’ve been able to comprehend the difficulty of what I’ve been through before I actually went through it.
In regards to Chronic Pain; Because I’ve been through and am currently going through it, I can be genuinely empathetic towards your situation.
The fact there’s no one ‘FIX’ for chronic pain (like most things in life), means I’ll always change and adapt my programs, exercises & methods to you, the individual, as opposed to thinking ‘mine or yours’ is the correct/only way.
There’s nothing worse than someone who tells you how you feel or how to feel when they’ve never been through, or are living with something similar themselves.
This was one of the key factors in deciding to launch The Chronic Pain Trainer™
Ben Taylor – Founder/Owner of The Chronic Pain Trainer™