From “Fiddling Around” to Fixing Things
PROBLEM
An old spinal injury
Antonio, 38, injured his spine in college while weightlifting. In his early 30s, he reached a point where lifting and his passion, soccer, both felt terrible. He searched YouTube for solutions, and nothing worked. Training through the pain only made it worse.
“I was just fiddling around with programs on my own and struggling with injury,” Antonio says.
His brother was a 100 Year Athlete (100YA) client and suggested Antonio try it out. At that point, he had nothing to lose.
SOLUTION
Playing hard and preventing reinjury
Antonio has now worked with 100YA for five years. He plays in a recreational soccer league. Sometimes, Antonio still experiences neck or back pain. Antonio addresses it early, before it sidelines him or turns into something worse.
An Athletic Development Framework in Action
RESULTS
Despite his injury, Antonio had continued with power lifting, which didn’t support his main goal: to play in a recreational soccer league.
100YA’s Ben Van Treese moved Antonio into an athletic development program based on our 9 Pillars of Fitness. First, they focused on the spine mobility Antonio needed to move his back and neck without triggering pain. Then, 100YA layered on strength, speed + power, and hypertrophy to minimize his risk of reinjury while improving performance on the soccer pitch.
Today, Antonio’s in-season workouts keep volume low, ensuring he has the energy for long soccer matches. His more taxing off-season workouts produce gains in strength and muscle mass. Each time 100YA changes Antonio’s workouts (usually monthly), Ben and Antonio do a live, video form check to ensure that he is performing each movement safely and effectively.
“And secondary to that is dealing with the injury problems as they come in a smart way. That means I'm not always starting back from square one,” Antonio says.
