In this episode, Dr. Ryan Peebles, Doctor of Physical Therapy and founder of Core Balance Training, explains the single most valuable skill anyone can develop to reverse chronic back pain: listening to your body. Drawing from years of clinical experience and his own recovery journey, he breaks down why pain is communication, not an enemy, and how learning to interpret your body’s signals can guide every decision you make. Ryan discusses why most people stay stuck in the pain cycle, how to identify the activities that help versus harm, and why only you can feel the sensations that matter most. He also explains how to use body awareness to determine how much exercise you should do, the importance of reaching an appropriate level of challenge, and why rigid “sets and reps” don’t work for real-life back pain recovery.

Watch the free Core Balance Masterclass and start your 7-day free trial to experience the Back Anchor lesson and begin retraining your movement patterns from the inside out:
https://www.corebalancetraining.com/masterclass 

Disclaimer: All content is for educational purposes only. Consult a qualified healthcare professional before beginning any exercise or rehabilitation program.

00:00:00 – The most valuable skill for reversing back pain
00:01:30 – Why pain is communication, not the enemy
00:04:30 – Linking pain signals to your daily activities
00:07:00 – Good sensations: the signals most people overlook
00:10:00 – Breaking the pain cycle through awareness and small changes
00:15:00 – How to use body awareness to guide exercise
00:18:00 – Challenge, fatigue, and why sets/reps don’t work
00:25:00 – Q&A: severe L5–S1 degeneration and realistic improvement
00:30:00 – Q&A: inversion tables, decompression, and delayed reactions
00:39:00 – Q&A: forward-head posture and adapting to discomfort
00:42:00 – Q&A: shoulder tension, compensation, and firing-pattern retraining
00:45:00 – Q&A: TFL/quad overuse in bridges and simple fixes
00:50:30 – Q&A: SI joint injury, referral pain, and whether CBT is safe