Ross came to Functional Patterns Dublin after years of recurring lower back and shoulder pain that had affected his daily life and participation in sport. Living overseas meant that the majority of his programme was completed through online coaching, supported by a small number of in person sessions over a two year period. Despite teh distance, the structured approach allowed him to make consistent progress while applying the principles between sessions,
Before
Before starting Functional Patterns, Ross had already tried strength training, physiotherapy, stretching, yoga and rest, but none provided lasting relief. His lower back pain would reach 7/10 at times, shoulder pain 6/10, and he also experienced persistent left hip flexor tightness. Gaelic football, soccer and running would regularly aggravate his symptoms, making it difficult to enjoy the activities he loved.
Alongside his symptoms, Ross presented with a number of postural and movement adaptations, including visible lumber vertebral protrusions, scapular winging, increased thoracic kyphosis and an anterior pelvic tilt. Rather than focusing solely on the painful areas, our goal was to improve how his body distributed load during movement by restoring more efficient mechanics throughout the entire system.
What We Did
Training began by improving Ross’s ability to decompress the spine and rib cage while restoring more effective breathing mechanics and core stability. From there, we progressively developed fundamental movement patterns like walking running, and throwing by helping Ross to understand patterns in his movement that were causing problems. As his movement quality improved, we gradually introduced more demanding exercises in order to challenge him while still continuing to refine coordination, balance and overall movement efficiency.
Throughout the process, sessions were tailored to Ross’s individual presentation and progressed according to his capacity. This allowed him to build resilience while reducing the movement compensations that had likely contributed to his ongoing symptoms.
After
Now aged 22, Ross reports complete resolution of his lower back, shoulder and hip pain. His posture and scapular positioning have improved significantly and the previously visible lumbar vertebral protrusions are no longer apparent. He has also returned to boxing, jiu jitsu, running and other activities without limitation.
This case highlights an important point. Lasting improvements in chronic pain often come from addressing how the body functions as a whole rather than simply treating the site of pain. It also shows that with the right structure and guidance, meaningful progress can be achieved even when the majority of coaching is delivered online.
If you’ve been dealing with persistent lower back or shoulder pain and feel like you’ve tried everything, it may be worth looking beyond the site of pain itself. Every person is different, but understanding how your body moves as a whole can often provide valuable insight into why symptoms persist. If you’d like to learn more about our approach, we’d be happy to help.
