Connect
MY B3 JOURNEY: HOW I WENT FROM CHRONIC PAIN TO HEALTHY AND HAPPY
As a lifelong athlete, barre3 instructor and special-education teacher Stephanie Wichmann has faced her fair share of challenges—including a back injury that left her sidelined off and on for the past eight years. In dealing with chronic pain, she’s pushed her limits, dealt with major setbacks, and inspired the entire barre3 Cincinnati – Montgomery community. Here, she shares the story of how she made peace with her body—and the self-love lessons she’s learned along the way.
THE ACCIDENT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
In 2009, I was 16, a high school athlete on track to get a full ride to college for volleyball. Then on one January morning, my life shifted drastically. I was hit by a drunk driver on my way to school and sustained a burst fracture in my L5 vertebrae, right in my lower back. I was in the hospital for a month, unable to move anything from the waist down. My doctor told me I might not ever play again. I was devastated. But I was also determined.
When I was released from the hospital, I started physical therapy, learned how to walk again, and set my sights on playing volleyball when the season started in July. I trained for months, and while I couldn’t run or condition yet, by the first game, I was able to play…carefully. The scholarship came through, and I went off to college to play, but I realized pretty quickly it wasn’t going to work out. The conditioning was just too much on my body. I moved back home, transferred to a nearby school, and let the season pass by. Then in my junior year, I tried again. I trained, practiced, and played a few games, but again, I had to come to grips with the reality that weight-lifting, sprinting, and conditioning were too much. I was in chronic pain. There were days when getting out of bed was impossible. I was on bedrest for weeks at a time, and a frequent visitor to the ER.
For the first time, I found myself without a coach or a team to push me. As a high-school and college athlete, that was something I’d always had. I came to realize that I didn’t really know how to work out on my own, so as a result, I stopped working out altogether. I put on about 50 pounds over the next few years. I wasn’t taking care of myself, and I was eating junk food 24/7. The extra weight on top of my already bad back made for even more constant pain. I wasn’t happy with who I was, or what I was doing.
DECIDING ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
It all came to a head in February 2016, when I decided to quit feeling sorry for myself. I desperately needed something positive in my life.
I wanted to surround myself with people who were living healthy lifestyles and who would push me to be a better me.
That’s when I found barre3. I’d never heard of it, but I saw a job opening online for the Cincinnati – Montgomery studio, connected with Natalie, the owner, and went in to take my first class. I hadn’t worked out in years, so it was so, so, so hard. I really didn’t think I was going to make it through class. But the instructor was so encouraging and motivating that I walked out knowing I wanted to work there.
I started at the front desk that same month, loving the environment and the people, but still avoiding taking class. I I was nervous. I had major anxiety about working out in front of people when I wasn’t comfortable with my body.
A BIG SETBACK & BABY STEPS FORWARD
Things got even worse when, and I’m not sure how this happened, the discs above and below my broken vertebrae partially herniated in July of last year. The pain was worse than ever. Once again, I was on bedrest and back in physical therapy. I noticed that a lot of the exercises I was doing in PT were similar to what barre3 uses, and when I told my therapist this, he encouraged me to get into class—and in particular, to focus on strengthening my core.
So that’s what I did. August 15, 2016 was the day I was cleared to work out, and the day I committed to take at least three classes a week. It didn’t matter if I had to modify every single posture. I was going to make it happen. Since then, I’ve gone almost every single day.
I’m down 30-something pounds and have absolutely ZERO back pain for the first time in eight years.
I feel so good about myself now. Is my body perfect? No, not at all, but that’s OK. I love my body and myself for the first time in a long time.
EMBRACING THE UNCOMFORTABLE
I’ll admit: It was really scary at first. I was afraid of hurting my back again. I was afraid of not being good enough. We often have new clients who come in and tell us that they haven’t worked out in years, that they’re intimidated and they’re nervous. I want to hug them, because I know that fear. I know where they’re coming from. But I also know that if I can do it, they can do it.
It’s funny, because if you’d have told me a year or two ago that I’d be a fitness instructor, I would have laughed in your face. No way! My life was literally going to work, going home, and climbing in into bed. I was always in bed, always tired, always in pain.
Sometimes I look back now and I’m wowed by how much can change in just one year. But I think that’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned: That going outside your comfort zone is OK.
It’s so important to quiet those voices in your head that tell you you can’t do something—because you can. Don’t be afraid to get in there.
Has chronic pain or an injury been keeping you from exercising? Barre3 was designed so that every move can be modified, making it ideal for everyone from someone recovering from an injury to the super-athlete. Try it for yourself in studio or online.
As a lifelong athlete, barre3 instructor and special-education teacher Stephanie Wichmann has faced her fair share of challenges—including a back injury that left her sidelined off and on for the past eight years. In dealing with chronic pain, she’s pushed her limits, dealt with major setbacks, and inspired the entire barre3 Cincinnati – Montgomery community. Here, she shares the story of how she made peace with her body—and the self-love lessons she’s learned along the way.
THE ACCIDENT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
In 2009, I was 16, a high school athlete on track to get a full ride to college for volleyball. Then on one January morning, my life shifted drastically. I was hit by a drunk driver on my way to school and sustained a burst fracture in my L5 vertebrae, right in my lower back. I was in the hospital for a month, unable to move anything from the waist down. My doctor told me I might not ever play again. I was devastated. But I was also determined.
When I was released from the hospital, I started physical therapy, learned how to walk again, and set my sights on playing volleyball when the season started in July. I trained for months, and while I couldn’t run or condition yet, by the first game, I was able to play…carefully. The scholarship came through, and I went off to college to play, but I realized pretty quickly it wasn’t going to work out. The conditioning was just too much on my body. I moved back home, transferred to a nearby school, and let the season pass by. Then in my junior year, I tried again. I trained, practiced, and played a few games, but again, I had to come to grips with the reality that weight-lifting, sprinting, and conditioning were too much. I was in chronic pain. There were days when getting out of bed was impossible. I was on bedrest for weeks at a time, and a frequent visitor to the ER.
For the first time, I found myself without a coach or a team to push me. As a high-school and college athlete, that was something I’d always had. I came to realize that I didn’t really know how to work out on my own, so as a result, I stopped working out altogether. I put on about 50 pounds over the next few years. I wasn’t taking care of myself, and I was eating junk food 24/7. The extra weight on top of my already bad back made for even more constant pain. I wasn’t happy with who I was, or what I was doing.
DECIDING ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
It all came to a head in February 2016, when I decided to quit feeling sorry for myself. I desperately needed something positive in my life.
I wanted to surround myself with people who were living healthy lifestyles and who would push me to be a better me.
That’s when I found barre3. I’d never heard of it, but I saw a job opening online for the Cincinnati – Montgomery studio, connected with Natalie, the owner, and went in to take my first class. I hadn’t worked out in years, so it was so, so, so hard. I really didn’t think I was going to make it through class. But the instructor was so encouraging and motivating that I walked out knowing I wanted to work there.
I started at the front desk that same month, loving the environment and the people, but still avoiding taking class. I I was nervous. I had major anxiety about working out in front of people when I wasn’t comfortable with my body.
A BIG SETBACK & BABY STEPS FORWARD
Things got even worse when, and I’m not sure how this happened, the discs above and below my broken vertebrae partially herniated in July of last year. The pain was worse than ever. Once again, I was on bedrest and back in physical therapy. I noticed that a lot of the exercises I was doing in PT were similar to what barre3 uses, and when I told my therapist this, he encouraged me to get into class—and in particular, to focus on strengthening my core.
So that’s what I did. August 15, 2016 was the day I was cleared to work out, and the day I committed to take at least three classes a week. It didn’t matter if I had to modify every single posture. I was going to make it happen. Since then, I’ve gone almost every single day.
I’m down 30-something pounds and have absolutely ZERO back pain for the first time in eight years.
I feel so good about myself now. Is my body perfect? No, not at all, but that’s OK. I love my body and myself for the first time in a long time.
EMBRACING THE UNCOMFORTABLE
I’ll admit: It was really scary at first. I was afraid of hurting my back again. I was afraid of not being good enough. We often have new clients who come in and tell us that they haven’t worked out in years, that they’re intimidated and they’re nervous. I want to hug them, because I know that fear. I know where they’re coming from. But I also know that if I can do it, they can do it.
It’s funny, because if you’d have told me a year or two ago that I’d be a fitness instructor, I would have laughed in your face. No way! My life was literally going to work, going home, and climbing in into bed. I was always in bed, always tired, always in pain.
Sometimes I look back now and I’m wowed by how much can change in just one year. But I think that’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned: That going outside your comfort zone is OK.
It’s so important to quiet those voices in your head that tell you you can’t do something—because you can. Don’t be afraid to get in there.
Has chronic pain or an injury been keeping you from exercising? Barre3 was designed so that every move can be modified, making it ideal for everyone from someone recovering from an injury to the super-athlete. Try it for yourself in studio or online.
