Core Balance
Training

2002 to 2013

Meet
Dr. Ryan Peebles, DPT

I was ashamed, embarrassed, and angry. I had done everything to take care of my back, and yet I felt broken.

Back problems cast a shadow over my life for over a decade. Those years were filled with pain, but they were also a journey of growth that led me to a deeper understanding of the body, which I want to share with you.

It all began when lower back pain sidelined me from playing basketball as a junior in high school. I couldn't lift weights anymore, and every time I tried to surf, I felt nerve pain that made it impossible. I had to quit my passion.

2008

“I Have a Bad Back.”—I Hated Those Words.

I didn’t really talk about it. Sure, my friends and family knew and, at times, treated me like I was disabled, but it went largely unspoken. The change had been too big and too gradual to explain. I didn’t have a specific injury I could blame. I just… had a bad back. That was my normal.

By my early twenties, the back problems had gotten serious. Every new physical therapist said the same thing: “You’re way too young for this.” One chiropractor told me I’d be in a wheelchair by 30. Then he cracked my back so hard I felt unstable with every step I took from then on. I was left in even worse shape. I felt utterly hopeless.

2010

Depression, Anxiety, Fear... And Then, Impossibly, Things Got Worse

One physical therapist told me, "If you can just hold off on surgery for five more years, the technology should be better by then."

Others were practically begging me to get surgery. I had tried everything else: physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, yoga, Pilates, inversion therapy, pills, injections, myofascial release, craniosacral therapy, Rolfing, the Alexander Technique, the Mackenzie and Egoscue methods, even Chinese medicine. You name it, I tried it! Despite all my efforts, I felt like my body was falling apart.

SEPTEMBER 2011

This Wasn't Just a Back Problem. My Whole Body Was Going Haywire.

One day, I was curled up on my bedroom floor consumed by pain like usual, but this time was different. Not only did I have lower back pain, but my knees were hurting too. My neck was in pain, my jaw was jutting forward, and even my bite felt messed up!

In that moment, I knew I had a choice: either accept that I would end up in a wheelchair, or else take responsibility for my own healing. At 24 years old, I made a commitment to heal my back and reclaim my passion for surfing.

2011 - 2013

I Was Determined to
Understand the Cause and Find a Permanent Solution

In the following years I became obsessed with research, consuming countless books and articles online. Eventually, I identified muscle imbalances as the source of my back problem.

This whole-body concept made sense to me. It connected the dots and explained my laundry list of injuries. It was a way to look at chronic pain from a holistic perspective. 

My body became the test pilot as as I learned how to reverse these imbalances. I was still in pain, but for the first time, I was seeing real progress.

2015

I Needed a Deeper Understanding & More Tools

So I decided to get my doctorate in physical therapy. PT school was a very zoomed-in approach, focused on individual joints. It was hard to see the whole picture, so I applied the whole-body concepts I already embraced to what we were learning. In 2015, I graduated from PT school with ‘High Honors’ and became Dr. Ryan Peebles, DPT.

Since then, I’ve worked in rehab facilities, clinics, hospitals, even with Olympic athletes. Wherever I went, I saw lower back pain, and a predictable pattern of muscle imbalances lurking underneath the surface.

2017 to Today

Everything I've Learned Points to One Simple Truth

To bring the body back into balance, you have to start with the core. By continually adapting my routine, I created a unique program to retrain your body for healthy movement, so you can get out of pain for good.

Since then, Core Balance Training has helped over 30,000 people escape the back pain spiral and reclaim their lives.

It's amazing to see so many people succeed with a program that I created for myself, just so I could surf again...

I can't possibly express enough gratitude for this journey and those who have shared in it.