“I teach medical and exercise professionals on how to prevent exercise injuries and modify weight training exercises. I can say hands down Dan is one of the most knowledgeable exercise professionals in his field and he has done a great job with the patients I have referred to him.”
Dr Jack Mantione MSPT, DPT, CSCS
Mantione Integrative Institute
www.DrMantione.com
Steven Hill (Performing a kettlebell lift with 70lbs for 10 reps. An exercise for whole body strength, bone density, and training the ability to safely lift with the legs while bracing the back.) Video transcript:
“Hi there my name is Steve Hill and I’m a client of Dan’s. I’ve been training with him for approximately a year and a half. When I came to Dan it was because of a series of spinal operations. The most serious one is a fusion of about 18 inches long. There are 10 vertebrae fused, with plates and rods holding my back together. And Dan has been terrific he understands the body’s physiology. He understands what muscles do what. And he’s been very careful to work with me, in a way that I (a). have never gotten hurt and (b) my condition has progressed an awful lot in the year and half we’ve been working together. So for those of you who want a truly super personal trainer, you have my recommendation.”
Steven again about a year later…
An easy and pain free 120 lbs lifted 8 times at the age of 74.
“I have been working out with Dan for over 3 years. In that time I have noticed a significant improvement in my overall fitness level and body. I have gained more muscle mass and lost body fat, goals that I had been trying to achieve on my own unsuccessfully. Dan is very knowledgeable in the areas of exercise physiology and nutrition. He is very attentive to his client’s needs. He is careful to structure the work out sessions and study his client’s technique so as to prevent work out related injuries. I highly recommend Dan to anyone who is seriously considering working with a personal trainer no matter what your goals.”
Dr. John Degliuomini MD FACS
Associate Professor of Surgery at New York Medical College
“Professional and insightful, Dan works with apt interest to enhance the body’s performance. I came to Dan with sport issues and the usual life injuries. I wanted more flexibility, strength and agility. Dan came highly recommended as smart and determined with an extensive knowledge base to draw upon. But what sets Dan apart from the many top-notch trainers I’ve worked with, is that Dan keeps researching, assessing, and expanding his understanding of how he can best work with me. From strengthening and stretching atrophied muscles and tendons leftover from wrist surgery, to strengthening specific core muscles to dissolve headaches and lower back pain, I see clearly how capable Dan is. The health benefits of working with him are, of course, paramount, but I am also delighted to look “fit” in my little black dress at 50 something.”
Cynthia doing a strength workout. Pushups on the floor for 8. Deadlift 105 lbs for 5. Pushups with feet elevated on bench for 9. Deadlift 115 lbs for 6 reps. (All performed pain free despite years of chronic neck, shoulder, and lower back pain.)
“When I was 17 years old I was in a car accident and fractured 6 of my vertebrae, which resulted in spinal fusion surgery. Several years passed and after graduating college, I decided to be more proactive about managing my back pain. At that point, a physical therapist referred me to Dan DaVeiga. Working with Dan exponentially increased my strength and resulted in less back, neck, and shoulder pain. The key for me was working with a professional to safely improve my strength, and Dan was amazing at creating a targeted work out strategy, and helping me achieve my pain management goals.”
Maddie Fitzgerald
“Having worked with others I am well aware how accomplished Dan is as a personal trainer. His approach is very learned and he is also extremely dedicated and passionate about his profession. The results of his training are evident. Not only do I feel much healthier and stronger but he has also been very effective in helping me with difficult shoulder and lower back issues. I cannot imagine a better trainer.”
Hall Willkie
Z. Zaman
“Before working with Dan I went to the gym 2–3 times a week without making any progress in fitness, endurance or physique. I noodled down the same programme every time and got more and more bored. Dan completely changed my attitude towards fitness – a combination of nutrition, endurance, and strength exercises. Regular changes in the composition of the workouts made it fun and helped to break plateaus. I am as fit as ever.”
Hans H.
“I met Danny DaVeiga through my physical therapist who has been treating my injured shoulder for a while. He said that if I were to train with someone that Danny would be the perfect trainer because he not only knows how to train correctly but he specializes in treating injuries. From my experience with Danny, I can only say that I have never encountered a trainer with the depth of knowledge that Danny possesses. It is both very impressive and mind blowing. I always look forward to working with Danny.”
Blanca P.
“I was diagnosed with an inoperable brain glioma and underwent radiation treatment to contain and reduce the mass. Before the treatment, my condition had affected my strength of the right side of my body, my speech, swallowing and my nervous system. The treatment affected my balance. A few months after the treatment, when I recovered, I began slowly training with Dan. After an evaluation, Dan knew that he would have to focus on building up my endurance, strength and balance. He designed a program, which kept evolving as we progressed. Fortunately, the nervous system was not permanently damaged and started to respond. It is very true that you have to listen to your body and Dan was always asking me for feedback. As we both saw results in the strengthening of my right leg and the complete recovery of my right shoulder, Dan kept on modifying the program and incorporating exercises which challenged my balance. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the brain can be retrained. Overall my experience with Dan during this period has been excellent. His patience and his willingness to design new programs as we progressed have been amazing.I understand I was very lucky, but I do not think I could have made it so far, and continue to improve without Dan’s help.”
Pierre Durand
If you look closely, you’ll see that the left half of his tongue has shrunk (atrophy) while his right half has actually grown thicker (hypertrophy) to compensate. (It’s actually mostly healed now, the asymmetry was more significant at one point and caused his tongue to twist, difficulty swallowing, and slurred speech.)
What happened to his tongue is analogous to what happened to much of his body. The brain tumor caused the loss of sensation and control (sensorimotor function). Particularly the right abdomen, hip, and leg were affected. Like the left half of his tongue, these muscles grew weaker and atrophied when they lost input from the brain. Like the right half of his tongue the rest of his body that was unaffected began to compensate but the resulting asymmetry led to back and hip pain.
You can read about my story by clicking here, including overcoming back pain and an endocrine tumor.
I’ve been able to take what I’ve learned helping myself and have been fortunate to be able to help many people who have been suffering from chronic pain that persisted for years.
Now to be clear, I never do anything outside of my scope of practice as a personal trainer.
I don’t play physical therapist—I collaborate with them.
I’ve never made any claim about being able to help anyone cure their pain.
Especially, because I respect the complexity and individual nature of pain as well as the potentially many interacting factors that can contribute to chronic pain.
And not everyone gets amazing results and I have definitely made mistakes.
Also, the truth is that most people most of the time have short term bouts of pain that disappear on their own regardless of whether there is an intervention. (This makes it very hard to know if an intervention is actually effective outside of a controlled experimental setting.)
That being said, many of my clients have seen multiple doctors, physical therapists, and had other personal trainers before me… And their pain remained (and on occasion was even aggravated).
I have earned their trust because I know how to work with them. Meet them where they’re at and push them just enough, and much of the time they feel a lot better.
No pain no gain is BS– Exercise is about making progress not soreness. It’s about improving life quality and longevity not killing you.
My clients say they almost always say they feel better after our workouts than they did when they came in.
So at the very least I feel safe claiming that I’m damn good at improving fitness qualities (like strength, mobility, and balance) without aggravating pain.
This is important in and of itself, but can also potentially lead to pain reduction in some cases. This improvement might be because of the nonspecific pain relieving benefits of exercise, improving muscle balance and posture, altering input to the nervous system, improving movement quality, or whatever proposed mechanism(s).
The only thing I will tell you for sure is that you should never give up, because even after you’ve tried everything— you haven’t.
Do you live in or near New York City? Or do you have an internet connection? (I’m available for online coaching)
Would you like to see your life transformed in the way that many of my personal training clients have experienced?
Please feel free to contact me. Just email me at dan@fitsynthesis.com
I can’t guarantee that I can help you, but I can promise to try my best and you might find that you make more progress than you believed possible.
The average person I work with is between the ages of 45 and 75. Some common issues I’ve helped people work around or improve include: cervical and lumbar disc herniations, spinal fusion, hip replacement, shoulder replacement, rotator cuff tears, frozen shoulder, meniscus injuries, and a host of other problems.
My unique approach integrates select concepts and techniques from disciplines including: traditional strength training, yoga, Pilates, neuroscience, as well as ideas from a long list of physical therapy, exercise, and rehabilitation experts you’ve never heard of. I use what works and discard what is useless (and I steal from Bruce Lee).
Your current health/fitness level and any future progress (or regression) are largely the product of your lifestyle.
Your lifestyle is so key, that I educate my clients on a variety of subjects including the neuroscience of pain, behavioral psychology (how to form/break habits), posture, ergonomics, nutrition, non-exercise physical activity, improving sleep, natural hormone optimization (through circadian regulation), as well as sport and activity specific information.