After sciatica-related weight gain, Ciro Vassallo decided to transform his physique and learn to feel good again
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It was a debilitating case of sciatica in 2022 that left 29-year-old Ciro Vassallo, a barbershop manager from North London, unable to move, let alone go to the gym and exercise. After gaining 11kg in nine months and losing a fair amount of muscle, Italian-born Vassallo decided to seek the help of a personal trainer.
Holiday hell
“My sciatica kicked in when I was on holiday,” he says. “It was so bad at some points I couldn’t reach down to do my shoes up. My girlfriend was helping me get up from the bed. It was very bad. I started seeing the physio and doing a lot of stretching and it started to get better. Then I was foolish and I went to the gym again, and not even one week after I’d started, the pain was back.
“It took me eight to nine months with my physio, then when the pain was almost gone, l decided to start again.”
Vassallo, who’s 5ft 9, crept up from 85kg to 96kg in his time away from exercise, so called on personal trainer Will Duru at the end of May 2023, to help him get back in shape. “I asked Will if he could transform me in three or four months, to get me back as fast as he could to my old shape,” says Vassallo. “I wanted to be leaner, but gain a bit of muscle mass – nothing too crazy.”
Before
After
Words: Lucy Gornall | Photography: Shutterstock / Ciro Vassallo
Light work
“In the beginning, my exercises were limited,” says Vassallo. “I just had to get back to being fit. We did exercises that didn’t force anything on my back muscles, to avoid making my sciatica worse.”
Speaking of Vassallo’s initial training, PT Duru explains, “In the first two weeks, we just focused on stretching and cardio – getting his blood and muscles moving. Ciro had such stiff hamstrings and glutes, plus really bad mobility. He had a tight upper back where his thoracic spine is. After that, we started strength and conditioning workouts.”
Vassallo worked with Duru twice a week and did three of his own sessions. But his sciatica did limit his choice of movements: “I avoided deadlifts and I couldn’t do squats. Now, slowly I’m getting into them. I’m doing more reps and lighter loads, to see how my back reacts.” Duru adds, “Away from our sessions, I asked Ciro to focus on card
