Gift of Injury

The gift of injury is a great reference book for any strength and conditioning coach. Its especially useful for anyone that trains for strength sports and has suffered a back injury. The book describes Brian's severe back injuries, all the mistakes he had made trying to train through the pain and getting to the point where Doctors/Surgeons said he would never lift again. It takes you through his initial meetings with Stuart McGill, describing how they got him on track to not only be pain free but to top powerlifting performance (without surgery!). Alongside the story of Brian's recovery the book arms you with tools required to build a balanced base and return to your sport after back injury. There is a lot of useful information discussing technique and spine sparring training. For me this book was very useful as it gave me hope that I can return to training after back injury (a Weightlifter coming back from disc injury). Ive been using the key methods of rehab in the book (interval walks and the big 3) I can already feel an improvement after a few weeks of sticking to them. I would definitely recommend this book, it uses Brian's rehab and return to competition as a case study showing the effectiveness of Stuart McGills methods.

I just wanna let you know that your book , Gift Of Injury , saved my life.. I’m 42 now, had lower back issues in my late 20s from heavy lifting and wrestling.. over came that and always made warm up , movement prep , stretching, etc a big priority.. then right around when I hit 40 I had the standard L5 S1 back pain that really took its toll on my training and daily life .. I’m a police officer in our emergency service unit (SWAT/HEAVY RESCUE) and a dad of two young very active athletic boys so the pain, lack of movement , and explosiveness became a total mind f@&k ! ... epidurals, movement research , decompression, didn’t work .. I got a hold of your book and thoroughly read it and practice it all. it was literally life changing .. I have zero pain now and can actually move, explode, squat /deadlift and wrestle how I should be .. in short thanks so much for sharing your story and putting all that extremely useful info out there .. This book isn’t just for the hardcore powerlifter. Anyone currently with lower back pain or who doesn’t even want to go down that road of debilitating back issues should read and study this book. Any athlete, person on a regular fitness/strength training routine will absolutely benefit from this material. This book is real deal, legit, easy to follow, and couldn’t be anymore genuine coming from someone of your immense accomplishments. How many of those in LE, who strength train, who have To function in life, have lower back issues?? I’ve read many strength training, physical education books on how to get stronger and more Athletic, but this by far was the most informative and beneficial in corrective health. I recommend this book to any and all I meet who deal with back pain because there is a fix. I again thank you Brian, and Dr. McGill for putting this out there. - Ron C.

Anyone who has broken, fractured, injured etc their back should read this, including trainers assisting someone rehab. I smashed my L1 and currently rehabbing at the moment - this book has provided very helpful insights. I will read more of Stu’s books after this.

Great read! This book takes the previous works by Pr McGill and gives you a case example (a horrible injury at that) and shows you that there's not reason why you can't get back to doing the things you want to do, especially if Brian could get back to breaking records. As a physician myself this further reinforces the principles outlined in Pr McGills previous work and enables you to apply it to your own patient population. Seeing a guy like Brian broken down to the ground and brought back up is inspiring, motivating and it comes with a recipe. 100% recommend this book for any strength coach, athlete, physiotherapist and medical physician as its time we all opened our eyes.

This book arrived with a deep crease in the cover. Packaged in bubble wrap. Now considering how very expensive it was that's not cool. The book itself has extremely small print. I may need a magnifying glass to read it. My final gripe is that the ebook version is not available in my country which is absurd. The ebook price also is absurdly high. Regret having bought it now. Wish the ebook had been available.