Something a lot of people are really surprised to hear is that I struggle with something known as hypermobility spectrum disorder. I’ve had struggles with this my entire life, and it impacts a lot of my exercise, day-to-day training, and the various injuries and issues I’ve dealt with over the years.
It’s something I’ve really worked to overcome—to not have it be my identity or totally be an obstacle that stops me from doing the things I want to do. But it is something I’m constantly having to manage.
When people find out that I’m as active as I am and that I’ve struggled with this my entire life, it seems really confusing. Most people with hypermobility spectrum disorder or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (a related condition) tend to have a lot of issues with exercise tolerance and pain associated with training.
Important Disclaimer: My experience may not be yours. Everyone’s experience with this is different. That doesn’t mean you should feel bad if you can’t do what I’m doing. I do a lot to work around and with myself, and it’s more of an obstacle than I often talk about—I’ve just worked hard to move past it and around it.
Essentially, my connective tissue is overly stretchy. This might seem awesome because I’m super flexible, hyper mobile, and my joints move freely. I don’t have to worry about deep squatting or many of the mobility issues people tend to struggle with. I was basically born stretched.
But it is a syndrome and disorder, which means it affects everything across your entire body. This means I’m especially prone to things like soft tissue injuries.
Issues I’ve Dealt With:
You might not know that by just looking at me, but a lot of those things are symptoms or related to this diagnosis. It is a spectrum, so everyone’s diagnosis and experience is different.
| Potential Comorbidities | My Experience |
|---|---|
| Musculoskeletal/nerve pain | Yes—this is my main issue |
| GI/gut health issues | Yes—dealt with significant gut health issues during my PhD |
| Neurodivergence | Potentially—may or may not be diagnosed |
| Cardiac/heart issues | No—I’m fortunate I don’t deal with this |
| POTS | No—though I have friends with HSD who have this |
I was born a NICU baby via emergency C-section, and part of that included being born with one of my legs twisted in the womb. When I was younger, I had special boots, orthotics, and extra exercises to do. Part of that was also brought on by the fact that I was hyper mobile—my parents just didn’t know it at the time.
Luckily, they got me in dance and gymnastics from an early age. I think that really helped me build a lot of baseline strength, especially in my feet and those tiny stabilizing muscles where I really struggle. That was probably the best thing they ever did for me.
Then I got involved in cheerleading and gymnastics, which again helped with strength but was also where I started experiencing lower back pain and shoulder pain. My shoulders would subluxate or disassociate. I used to jump rope with my arms as a girl in elementary school, and they called me “freaky arm girl.” There were signs and symptoms across my life, but it wasn’t until cheerleading and lacrosse in high school where I started to actually have significant pain.
The Diagnosis: My parents took me to a sports medicine doctor who bent me a bunch of ways and said he had never met any patient as hyper mobile as me. He diagnosed me with hypermobility spectrum disorder right there on the spot, wrote me a script for a back brace, told me to stop playing sports, and said my back couldn’t support itself.
This is not the first time physical therapists and sports doctors told me my body wasn’t made for running or sports or couldn’t support itself. But the reality was getting strong was the thing my body needed.
Someone shouldn’t be suffering with chronic back pain as a teenager or chronic shoulder pain in their early 20s—and I was. But the thing that helped me alleviate so much of that was getting strong.
The Truth: My persistence with strength training, even as I’ve explored my running journey, is because it is the only thing holding me together and keeping me pain and injury-free. I am so adamant about getting at least the minimum of what I need every single week with resistance training because that is what stops my Achilles, my feet, my hip, my whatever from hurting.
For me, strength training isn’t something that held me back. It was the thing that truly gave me the ability to do the things I want and love. Training is not just strength—it also can be rehab. And rehab can also be strength training.
| Management Strategy | How It Helps |
|---|---|
| Consistent strength training | Keeps my joints stable and reduces pain from soft tissue issues |
| Whole foods nutrition | Protein-forward, plants, fiber, less processed foods reduces inflammation and discomfort |
| Prioritizing sleep | My body feels safer, aches less, and recovers better |
| Managing volume and intensity | Following a program that allows proper recovery prevents flare-ups |
| Working with physical therapists | Finding providers who help me continue activities rather than stopping them |
I am very careful about big swings or jumps in intensity or volume in my training. If I come back from a trip or a week or two off training, I ease in for one or two weeks before getting back to normal training. I give my body the space and time to adjust back.
Similarly with running, I take longer, slower buildups for my racing training. This allows more time to let my tissues and body adapt to the same volume before moving on to the next thing. If I feel any sort of flare-ups, I immediately adjust back to the volume or intensity where it wasn’t bothering me before.
My Philosophy: I probably restrain myself to 80-90% of what my actual max capacity is at any given point to not tip over my cup of tolerance. I will always do 10-20% less so I can keep doing it long-term and consistently without injury—rather than risking that tipping point that goes too far.
That means I’m very repetitive, very consistent, and very deliberate in what I’m doing with my training. Sometimes it can seem a little neurotic to some people, but it is the thing that allows me to do what I want to do without breaking down.
I documented my return from injury coming out of my PhD and how I managed that recovery. I had an Achilles issue followed by a glute issue with both of those tendons and connective tissue that took a really long time to recover from. They didn’t tolerate intensity for a really long time, and it was strength training that allowed me to recover and maintain those improvements long-term.
The onset of my Achilles injury was the perfect storm of doing double unders at a CrossFit class, speed workouts for running, and quite literally wearing heels to a conference. That sounds so silly, but my body is sensitive.
Daily Considerations: I even make choices now like footwear or little things to help support my body so it’s not overtipping the stress bucket. I struggle with chronic nerve pain and blood vessel occlusion down my arm that causes a lot of pain and discomfort—especially with computer or phone time, which is my whole job. Even being on my phone answering questions or posting can cause me pain some days.
When I was younger dealing with all of my stuff, my doctors told my parents I would never walk normal, let alone run. I was told during my PhD when I went to a physical therapist to stop running—that my body wasn’t made for it and I shouldn’t be doing ultramarathons.
Last year, I ran 100 miles.
I still have struggles and pains and issues all the time. But it is so much less because of the things I do to take care of my body. Luckily, I’m really stubborn. “No” wasn’t enough for me—I wanted to say yes to what I wanted to do.
I’ve worked really hard to not view myself as my diagnosis or make it my identity. I want to be an athlete. I want to be strong. I want to be capable. I want to be powerful.
But I really did have to be—and still have to be—very patient, kind, considerate, and forgiving of my body. I know I can maybe never give the 100% that I could with “normal” connective tissue, but it means I can give 100% of what this version of me and my body is capable of.
Remember: I have been an athlete my entire life. My volume, tolerance, and years of experience doing higher volume things is something I’ve adapted to for 15-20 years. For me, that isn’t as extreme as it might be for you to throw yourself into. You might just have to take your time gradually working up—like I have with my running over the last 6-10 years.
I encourage you to have a conversation with your doctor, talk to a sports medicine doctor, or see a physical therapist. Typically, there are some tests they can do on certain joints to see if enough of them are hyper mobile to fall on the spectrum, along with other symptomology.
I can’t diagnose you—I’m just sharing my experience and story here and how I manage these things. When people find out I have this, they’re shocked, curious, or they also struggle with these things and want to know how I manage to do what I do on top of it.
Sometimes people you look up to or think are doing incredible things are also struggling a lot behind the scenes. Not everything is as easy breezy or perfect as it seems. I’ve just chosen to not be super vocal about it and instead work with my body and accept that that is what it is—while also not letting it define me or stop me in the process.
Resources:
If you’re looking for a program that manages volume and intensity appropriately—one that hyper mobile clients have said was the first program that helped them actually adapt efficiently—check out The Lyss Method. We work with clients who struggle with various exercise intolerances because it’s a realistic and appropriate volume program. But please also work with a really good physical therapist and don’t take no for an answer.
I really encourage you to advocate for your own health. Talk to a doctor or provider if you think this is something you might struggle with as well. Nothing in this post is medical advice—just my personal experience and what has worked for me.
I’m Exercise Physiologist, sports nutritionist, weight lifter, and ultra runner. I am here to bring science to your training in a no-nonsense way. I have helped thousands of women crush big lifting goals, cross race finish lines, and even do both. I’m here to help you do the same!
Get the free macro calculator
