Motivating people to become stronger and healthier through lifting weights and proper nutrition is the number one aim of Weight Training Is The Way.

It can change your life.

Deniza, a 24-year-old medical student from Germany, is living proof of that.

The health and fitness expert had suffered from excruciating back pain from early childhood and was diagnosed with scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and hip dysplasia.

As she hit her teenage years her conditions worsened and Deniza feared she would be in pain for the rest of her life.

Medics couldn’t help her and it was only through her own dedicated research on sports and nutrition medicine that she began to have hope. Then Deniza was given the best advice of her life….to take up strength training.

Now pain free for the past three years, Deniza is on a mission to tell the world that proper training and healthy nutrition are key to prevent and heal diseases, and achieve optimal health and happiness.

She has launched her own blog askdeniza.com and is also training to be a doctor specialising in sports and nutrition medicine. In an interview with Weight Training Is The Way, Deniza shares her amazing story and her top tops for improving your health.

“It felt like someone was stabbing a knife into my back the whole time.”

…How Deniza described life as a teenager. She had lived with scoliosis and hip dysplasia since she was a toddler and the conditions made most days uncomfortable.

Fortunately her parents made sure she stayed active with ballet, swimming, volleyball and even pilates.

Looking back, the medical student reckons playing sports probably helped in staving off the pain and preventing her condition from worsening in her early years.

Deniza said: “I was never able to fully thrive in those sports because my body was stiff and my joints were weak.

“At the age of 15, the pain began to become worse and my self-esteem decreased a lot. At some point, I was sure I would be in pain for the rest of my life.

“It was like someone was stabbing a knife into my back, the whole time.

“I felt very lonely and depressed. We have a lot of doctors in our family but none of them specializes in sports or nutrition medicine.

“They would all tell me to be active and play sports – but I was already doing that daily!

“Then, when I was 18, I met a physiotherapist specializing in scoliosis. She told me I should start proper strength training.

“It was too late to heal my scoliosis but I could at least strengthen my muscles to improve my posture and decrease pain.

“She gave me new hope to keep fighting for my health and wellbeing.”

Using Weight Training As A ‘Weapon’ To Battle Back

Since then, Deniza started reading books and papers on strength training and developed techniques to train with muscular imbalances.

Choosing to design her own custom-made workouts, rather than following someone else’s program, Deniza gradually built up her body’s strength and her confidence.

She said: “Whenever I would start doing another trainer’s program, my joints would start to hurt and I would end up injured. I train very differently to others and that is okay, because it works for my body. 

“Strength training is far more for me than a workout routine, muscle building or fat loss.

“It has been my weapon to fight scoliosis and helped me gain self-esteem and experience how you can achieve anything if you put in the work.

“I am happy to say I have been pain-free for at least two to three years now and my muscular imbalances and hip dysplasia have improved as well.”

She added: “Strength training is and will always be a major part of my life. It has to be – otherwise my pain could start again any moment.

“But apart from that, I also want it to be a part of my life. Working out is my ‘me time’ and one of the only ways to truly forget the happenings in the clinic.

“Seeing patients suffer can leave you very depressed and it is important to find ways to come back to reality and focus in yourself, even if it is just for an hour.” 

Deniza works out 5-6 days per week, always taking at least one full rest day with no weightlifting or cardio.

Due to the history of her back and hip problems, Deniza said she does not lift too heavy and insists proper technique in every exercise is “crucial”.

Her training is split into working the lower body three times per week and upper body twice, with an emphasis on shoulders, latissimus dorsi and upper back. She even throws in some handstand push-ups for fun.

“Even if I have been at the clinic all day, I always make time for training,” said Deniza. “I might complete half the workout and lift less weight but at least I did something.”

Food And Fitness As Medicine

In my interview with Deniza, I said: “I strongly believe that people would be much healthier and the health service would save a fortune if people were more educated on nutrition and followed a natural, whole foods diet.”

She replied: “I could not agree more. In fact, ‘Food and Fitness as Medicine’ is the slogan of my blog and expresses just this – that proper nutrition and training are oftentimes enough to prevent diseases.

“Unfortunately, they require a bit more work from the patients themselves – there is no pill that will solve all your problems.

“You have to take part in the healing process and learn to love your body and understand its signals.

“In addition to that, the healthcare industry still does not support nutrition and fitness as therapeutic mechanism because it does not bring enough profit.

“This is very sad to say but it is the truth.

“However, I am following a lot of other fitness and nutrition scientists and I am happy to claim that people are more educated nowadays than 10 years ago and are beginning to understand the impact of our lifestyle on your health.”

Medic On A Mission To Help Others Get Strong And Healthy

“I chose to become a doctor because it is my passion to help others. I hate to see people suffer and be in pain and I would love to have some god-like powers to heal everyone.

“Maybe the fact that half of my family is dealing with cancer, rheumatic diseases, diabetes, PCOS, you-name-it, contributed to this decision as well.

“In fact, I started my research to heal my own conditions and help my mother and father speed up their healing process (rheumatic disease and cancer).

“Nowadays, I get so many emails telling me my blog is helping people and encouraging them to live a healthy life.

“I cannot put into words how happy those emails make me and motivate me even more to keep reading research to provide the newest knowledge to my readers and future patients.”

Deniza’s Top Three Tips For Improving Your Health And Losing Weight 

1. Education

I cannot stress enough the importance of knowing what you put in your body. I can tell from my own experience that doctors treat patients knowing a lot about their disease and medications differently.

Whenever you start a new nutrition or training program, research closely what the program consists of and what effects it could have on your body.

Just because your friends lost weight doing Atkins does not mean it is healthy and will have the same effects for you.

2. Change your mindset first

This might sound contradictory, but to lose weight, you need to shift your focus away from weight loss. Whenever you think of clean eating and fitness as a temporary thing, a diet or short program, you are setting yourself up for failure.

You need to find a way to work out and eat healthy for the rest if your life, without feeling deprived or injuring yourself.

This is very hard to achieve but every day you will get better and find out that working out is actually fun and cooking healthy too!

3. Biofeedback

This is the training method I have been using for the past six years. Biofeedback means that you constantly pay attention to your body’s signals and act according to that.

This applies to both nutrition and training. You need to find a way to train for your body type, your muscle imbalances and eat to fuel your workouts.

Some people thrive on lower carbohydrates, while others (like me) feel weak and have no energy to work out. Take notes of how you feel after you eat certain foods or do certain exercises and do more and eat more of what makes you feel best.

That will speed up the whole process and you will reach any goal, may it be weight loss, building muscle, or maintaining a healthy weight.

* I’d highly recommend checking out Deniza’s website as there is a ton of awesome free information including guides to healthy weight loss, reversing insulin resistance, and workout challenges. Visit www.askdeniza.com