All Gain, No Pain Foreword

“Good morning!”

He had that shit-eating grin on his face. The type of smile you see when your parents found out something you didn’t want them to know. That smile you saw right before your untimely demise.

I knew damn well what that smile meant.

Back then I was Bill’s student. A quiet, shy, and uncertain kid. After doing a deal with the Mafia to find his email, offering up my future first born to learn from him, and signing a blood oath, I somehow convinced Bill to accept me as his physical therapy intern.

This was like meeting a rock star! Bill was all over Men’s Health magazine, T-Nation—the type of stuff young bucks like me were reading to get ahead of the curve. The last thing I wanted to do was let the guy down.

Then I overslept.

Stressed, frantic, and brushing only my front teeth, I made it to the clinic 30 minutes late. Only to be absolutely destroyed by that smile—a look that will forever be burned into my brain.

I apologized, he mildly scolded me, and we moved on.

Working with Bill was an amazing opportunity for me. Day-in and day-out I’d see him help individuals who were in pain—we are talking years of pain—become pain-free in a matter of moments. He was changing lives and helping people both return to both work and high level performance.

Whenever we had a lull, Bill would either grab his Lacrosse ball or do some type of mobility exercise. The guy was in pain, and was doing whatever he could to provide some relief.

After barely passing his clinical, I would periodically come back to visit Bill and see what he was up to. Each time I returned he had re-invented himself. Fine-tuned his process. Mastered his craft. Found better ways to reduce his client’s pain so they could get their lives back on track.

Yet he still hurt.

I’ll never forget that day I met Bill up at a continuing education course. It had been a little while since I last saw Bill, and I barely recognized the guy. He was lean. Like, really lean. I’m talking 6-pack abs, veins on veins, absolutely shredded lean. At 50-years old no doubt.

The coolest thing? He was in a lot less pain.

He rebuilt his body, reclaimed his health, and most importantly, restored control. Control for a time I’m sure he felt lost.

As incredible as Bill’s transformation was, I’ve continued to see him do this over and over and over again with clients who have been in pain.

Bill is simply one of the smartest and hardest-working individuals I know, and to see this continual evolution and drive to help people is inspiring. It is this drive that instilled greater confidence in my life, pushed me to write, fueled my discipline at continual self-improvement, and landed me an opportunity to work with the high performers in the NBA.

The fact that the man who I look up to more than anyone, the man who adopted me as his son, is asking me of all people to write a foreword for his book, is surreal. It feels like that moment in Star Wars where Obi Wan gave Luke his first lightsaber. Ready to carry the torch of the Jedi for the future.

Though let’s be real, I’d totally be turning to the Dark Side. Black is a much more slimming color.

Unlike Obi Wan, this Jedi master still has a lot of life left in him, and I am beyond excited for you to be learning how he helps people in pain stop surviving, and start thriving.

And there is no better time.

Chronic pain is a widespread epidemic. In the United States alone, 25.3 million adults suffer from daily pain, with 23.4 million reporting that pain as severe¹. This is a problem that costs the United States economy $635 billion dollars per year².

The things people do to become pain-free are numerous. Many times, these treatments are passive—massage, injections, icy hot, ultrasound, magnets—intending to provide some semblance of relief.

Too bad this stuff doesn’t work.

When comparing passive treatments to active approaches, such as exercise, there is no contest. Exercise wins, time after time³. Both aerobic exercise and weight training have been shown to help increase pain tolerance and brain function^4,5. In fact, a lack of exercise may be the primary cause of most chronic diseases, as well as the cure⁶.

But how can I start exercising when I’m in agony just sitting here? How can I reap the benefits when my back hurts just looking at weights? You want me to walk for how long?!?

There exists no one better to answer these questions other than Bill Hartman.

If movement is the solution, then All Gain, No Pain is the guide.

In this book, you will find strategies to restructure your life in such a manner that reduces pain, improves fitness and health, and builds you to better withstand life’s stressors. Simply stated, you’ll be able to live the life you thought was once gone.

Bill has spent countless hours researching and experimenting with various methods; figuring out what methods work, and which one’s do not. He’s eliminated the unnecessary and ineffective strategies that many people try and fail with, while providing you strictly the essentials. The stuff that works.

His No Pain Principles will aid your quest in pain freedom, and his All Gain Principles will build the fitness necessary to keep persistent pain at bay. As for those movements that bother you in the gym? Bill has designed wonderful workarounds that can still drastically improve your fitness.

What makes this book different than the rest is that it comes from an author who has dealt with chronic pain himself. Bill understands the trials and tribulations you have and will go through. There simply is no better guide out there for your journey to rediscovering you.

And I must say, the strategies outlined in All Gain, No Pain flat-out work. As I was reading and editing this book, I adapted many of the principles myself. Over the course of three months, I dropped 25 pounds and was below 10% body fat for the first time in my life. Moreover, I’ve established rituals and habits that have increased my work output, energy levels, and overall satisfaction with life. You may have come to this book because you are in pain, but I promise you will leave with so much more.

If you stick with the principles, you’ll get results. You’ll look better, feel better, and move better. Most importantly, you’ll be you again. Not the old you. Not the you in pain.

But the best version of you.

1 –   http://www.jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(15)00679-3/pdf
2- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK91497/pdf/Bookshelf_NBK91497.pdf

3 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3036018/
4 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3578581/
5 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4965462/
6 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4241367/pdf/nihms-603913.pdf