Welcome to Back Again Assessments

My name is Dr. Mitch Whittal, and I founded Back Again Assessments. I’m sure you’re probably wondering… who is this guy, and what can he do for me?

Well, I’m a father, husband, and PhD graduate in spine biomechanics. My research focused on the mechanical properties of intervertebral disc tissues and how they respond to various factors, such as loading and inflammation. While my research experience is technical, I also have a broader base of experiences that helped me develop Back Again Assessments. I taught ergonomics at the undergraduate level, and my PhD comprehensive exams featured ‘spinal health’ as one of my three topics of focus. My journey working in educational roles began when I was a personal trainer in my late teens and continued into university, where I became a teaching assistant and course instructor. Since graduating last spring, I have worked as an AI trainer and often asked myself how I could leverage my knowledge of spine biomechanics in the AI space. This website and its products are the result of that.

Furthermore, I examined a problem of mine that I wanted to solve: how can I get back to a stronger, more athletic version of myself? I’ve experienced periodic back pain for a little over a decade now. In my early twenties, I worked landscaping jobs in the summers between university semesters. These were the kinds of jobs that often featured over 25,000 steps in a workday and required me to bend down hundreds of times for various tasks. As any 20-year-old man does, I wanted to make sure that I would hurt myself, so after 12-hour shifts of landscaping, I would train with heavy squats and deadlifts. I had an issue of continuous overload with insufficient recovery (and some ergonomics violations on the part of my employers). But hey, I was young, and I was happy to burn the candle at both ends. One thing led to another, and after a couple of summers, my back entered the final year of undergrad in a lot of pain. There were mornings when I didn’t want to leave bed. Sitting to study was uncomfortable, exercising was uncomfortable, and sleeping was uncomfortable…you get it; I was uncomfortable and in pain.

This phase gradually faded, and I mostly returned to regular life. There was a change, though, I now avoided forms of exercise that I thought might exacerbate my back pain. Wolff’s law, “use it or lose it”, came to rear its ugly head. A few years of this led to weakness of my lower back and core musculature - the opposite of what someone with a history of back pain should be pursuing. After realizing this, I tried to build back my functional capacity with squats and deadlifts. The problem was that my prefrontal cortex was still not fully developed, and I was an impatient young man. I went straight back to trying to lift heavy weights… and yes, you guessed it, I tweaked my back because I lacked the proper stability from weakened muscles surrounding my spine. To really make sure my intelligence was in question, I repeated this cycle a few more times before giving up on solving the problem. Now I’m older and perhaps wiser….but mostly just older and less impulsive, and I think I’ve finally learned.

You must rebuild slowly with a plan that meets you where you’re at to get back to where you were. The tortoise won the race after all.

I had a problem that I wanted to solve for myself, and I wondered if others could benefit from it too. Back Again Assessments takes your pain history, a curated selection of over 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and a custom-built set of AI agents to transform your information into an educational report that helps get you Back Again. From movement tweaks to mindset adjustments, Back Again will give you the tools you need to improve your pain and rebuild your back.

Your spine is stabilized by its surrounding musculature and your nervous system. The stability system consists of both active and passive characteristics (perhaps a story for a future newsletter!). Perturbations to any of the requisite components throw the system out of balance and can lead to disability, dysfunction, and pain. Unfortunately, no supplement, stretch, or gadget instantly corrects this imbalance. One person says you should rest, and another that you need to push through the pain. One thing remains true: consistent, focused action helps rebuild your stability, reduce pain triggers, and improve function. The ball is in your court. You can do this.

If any of this intrigued you, please consider signing up for my free weekly newsletter, where I deliver thoughts, ideas, and concepts like this at www.backagainassessments.com/newsletter.

The weekly newsletter will be delivered to your inbox and posted on the website as a form of central archive for your reading. If you’re interested in learning how to start taking action, purchase one of my assessments and answer the screening questions to receive your educational report. Now is probably a good time to tell you what Back Again Assessments is and what it is not.

Back Again Assessments is not a doctor; we produce educational reports that help you learn what triggers your pain, how to avoid it, and provide suggestions on actions that can help build your capacity. The contents of the reports are not medical advice and should be discussed with your medical care provider before beginning. In fact, the premium and concierge assessment tiers on the website were designed for this purpose as they include your answers to the screening questions and history section inside your PDF report and email - perfectly formatted for you to show to your healthcare provider. Back Again does not provide you with a diagnosis. The truth is, many doctors do not know what questions to ask or what to recommend other than rest and pain medication. This tool helps bridge the gap with evidence-backed education and comprehensive screening assessments.

If you’re still reading at this point, then I’m already in your debt. Thank you for your attention. I hope that you choose to come along this journey with me.

Best,

Mitch