"How I lost fat and gained 10Kg of muscle in 3 months"

After sciatica-related weight gain, Ciro Vassallo decided to transform his physique and learn to feel good again

- By Ciro Vassallo

WHAT IS SCIATICA?

Sciatica causes pain to radiate along the sciatic nerve - the largest nerve in the body - which branches from the lower back down through the back of both legs. There are several reasons why sciatica might occur, but it can be debilitating, leaving sufferers crippled in pain. It affects as much as 40% of the UK population at some point in their lifetime.

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, I 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."

Light work