‘My life is over,’ former Biggest Loser trainer reveals secret spinal injury

In 2021, American personal trainer and business woman Jillian Michaels suffered a spinal injury and kept it secret over fears of whether she would recover or not. 

The celebrity trainer constantly posted old content on her socials to keep her injury private and out of the media.

“I’m posting old videos from 20 years ago on social media,” Michaels told People. “I’m not doing any press. I’ve disappeared off the grid. No one knows. Nobody has any idea as all of this is going on except my immediate circle.

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She continued: “I’m like, ‘I’m not telling this story until I know how this story ends.”

The 49-year-old, known for her strong and tough personality when it comes to her fitness, had to find a new type of strength as she shared how the accident happened.

“I wish it was some gangster motorcycle story where I told you I was racing motorcycles or Lindsey Vonn-ing downhill at 60 miles an hour, but it wasn’t,” she said. “It makes it that much more disturbing, because in a way, it wasn’t preventable.”

Michaels revealed she was heading to get the attention of her wife DeShana Marie Minuto, who was in the bathroom when she slipped and fell.

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“I went running in and I smacked onto the edge of the bathtub with my back,” Michaels said.

After reassuring herself and everyone else that she was fine she began to experience severe lower back pain which progressed over time. ”I couldn’t sleep,” she added.

“The pain at night was so bad. I truly thought to myself, ‘The only thing I think would be worse than this would be burns’.

After visiting multiple doctors who continued to tell her she was fine, Michaels eventually saw Dr. Stuart McGill, who confirmed she had a severe injury as she had fractured her L3 vertebrae.

McGill revealed to People that Michaels had two bulging discs together as well has joint instability in her lower back.

A bulging disc occurs when the inner portion of the intervertebral disc begins to protrude from the outer wall of the disc.

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Michaels was advised to do very little movement at the risk of causing further damage.

On the way to recovery after accepting she was injured, Michaels worked hard with McGill and an assisted squat machine known as the DB Method the pressure in her back was relieved and over the six-month rehab period her life improved for the better.

”Everybody’s going to be different,” Michaels said. “Most important is the biofeedback, listening to your body. Even now when I jump rope, if I jump rope for longer than 10 minutes, it bothers me the next day.”

After a long recovery, Michaels is back and happy doing what she loves.

Living her life similar to before her injury, she’s riding horses, going snowboarding living her life to the fullest, “just being super, super careful,” she added. 

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