Rob – recovering from low back pain
14 August 2026When Rob first came to see Callum Wright, Physio at the Hub, at the beginning of March, he had been experiencing lower back pain alongside sciatic-style symptoms into his leg for around a month. The pain was beginning to affect both day-to-day life and his exercise, but there hadn’t been one obvious injury that had caused it.
The timing did, however, coincide with a change in Rob’s work schedule and an increase in gym training. Since the previous October, he had been regularly attending lift and power classes involving weight-based exercises alongside some higher-intensity training.
During his first appointment, Callum carried out a detailed assessment to understand what was contributing to Rob’s symptoms. Rather than there being one single traumatic injury, the findings suggested that Rob’s lower back was likely struggling with a combination of increased training demands, recovery and wider lifestyle changes.
What do we mean by sciatic-style symptoms?
Rob was experiencing symptoms from his lower back into his leg. People often describe this type of pain as ‘sciatica’, but leg symptoms can have a number of different causes and, on their own, don’t tell us exactly what is happening. That is why a proper assessment is important. Rather than making assumptions simply because of where Rob felt his pain, Callum looked at his movement, symptoms, training and wider circumstances to build a clearer picture of what was most likely contributing to the problem.
Keeping Rob moving
The answer wasn’t to stop Rob exercising altogether. Instead, Callum helped him understand what his back was reacting to and how he could stay active while temporarily adapting some of the exercises and loads that were aggravating his symptoms. Early sessions focused on reducing sensitivity through the lower back, improving Rob’s confidence in movement and giving him practical ways to manage his symptoms during everyday activities and training. Lifestyle changes, load management and exercise modification all formed part of the plan.
His rehabilitation exercises were then gradually progressed to improve strength, control and tolerance through the lower back and surrounding muscles. As things settled, Rob was able to start reintroducing more demanding exercises without causing significant flare-ups.
Back to regular training
Rob responded really well. Over the course of just three sessions, his pain reduced considerably, the sciatic-style symptoms became much less noticeable and his confidence in both movement and exercise returned. He is now mostly pain free and back to regular training, with a much better understanding of how to manage his training load and recovery moving forwards.
Rob’s experience is a useful reminder that developing lower back pain doesn’t necessarily mean stopping exercise altogether. With the right assessment, sensible changes to training and a rehabilitation plan that progresses as symptoms improve, it can often be possible to keep moving while gradually working back towards the things you want to do.
Struggling with back pain?
If back pain is getting in the way of everyday life, exercise or sport, the first step is understanding what is happening and what you can safely do about it. Our team can assess the problem, talk through the factors that may be contributing to it and help you build a practical plan to move forwards.
That might include hands-on treatment where appropriate, rehabilitation, advice around activity and training, or simply giving you a clearer understanding of what you should and shouldn’t be worrying about.
