Ancient + Brave Wild Collagen: My Experience, Hip Pain and Pursuing a Gold Scoop
I don’t usually write about things that have nothing to do with business, but I can’t be the only person who has discovered that sitting at a desk all day comes with aches and pains that can’t all be blamed on getting older. And since I’ve found something that has genuinely helped me, it would feel a bit selfish to keep it to myself.
A few months ago, my hips had started aching at night. Yes, I’m 47 and I accept that there are now occasional creaks where previously there were none, but this was different. I was waking up in pain, struggling to get comfortable and losing sleep because of it. When something starts affecting how you sleep, it very quickly starts affecting everything else too.
So I went into Holland & Barrett to see if there was anything that might help, and that was where Ancient + Brave caught my attention. I wish I could claim this began with extensive research into collagen peptides, but really there was a gorgeous display and exceptionally lovely packaging, so I stopped to have a look. I ended up buying their Wild Collagen.
I liked the company the more I found out about them too. They’re local to me in Sussex, female-led and founded by Kate Prince, as well as being B Corp certified and members of 1% for the Planet. I like knowing there is some thought behind where I spend my money, particularly when there is a local, independent business doing interesting things practically on my doorstep.
My exercise regime is mostly lying down watching Bones
At roughly the same time, I started doing some simple exercises for my hips. I have tried exercising properly many times in my life, but apparently the secret to consistency for me is removing virtually every possible obstacle. I don’t want to change clothes. I don’t want to clear a space. I don’t want to find trainers, drive anywhere or formally announce to myself that it is now Exercise Time. Those things sound tiny, but they are exactly the sort of blockers that mean something doesn’t happen.
These exercises I can do in bed while watching Bones, which turns out to be a fitness regime I am remarkably committed to.
I lie on my side with both knees bent and do 15 clamshells, lifting the top knee while keeping my feet together. Then I straighten my leg and draw circles with my foot forwards and backwards before turning over and doing the other side. Between rounds I lie on my back with my knees bent and slowly lift and lower my hips in a bridge. I do three rotations of the side exercises, adding stretches between them, including the figure-four stretch with one ankle resting on the opposite thigh and bringing my legs towards my chest. I also do bridge hip circles in each direction and finish with some straight-leg hip stretches.
Three months later, I’m still doing them. That is probably the longest I’ve ever consistently stuck to an exercise routine, and I’m fairly sure the reason is that I’ve made it so easy to start. There is no preparation involved. I get into bed, put Bones on and do them.
I have no proof that the collagen worked. I started the exercises at around the same time, so this is hardly a controlled scientific experiment. What I can tell you is what I noticed. At my age, things had started to creak and ache in a way they hadn’t before and, after about six weeks, I realised my hips weren’t hurting at night anymore.
Three months later, I am pain-free.
I’ve also started getting visible definition at the top of my stomach. That actually was part of the intention, but I’m still slightly astonished by it. Apparently lying in bed watching forensic anthropologists solve murders can, under the right circumstances, give you abdominal muscles.
Then I went back to Ancient + Brave
Having had such a good experience with the Wild Collagen, I started looking properly at the other Ancient + Brave products to see whether there was anything else that might suit me.
Their website has a wealth of information. There are explanations of the ingredients, what different products are designed for and links to research and studies, which I loved. The problem was that after reading all of it, I still couldn’t quite work out what I should choose.
There are individual products, blends and different combinations depending on what you want to support. I found myself opening tabs, reading one page, going back to another and trying to mentally piece together which products made sense for me and which ones overlapped.
This, unfortunately, is exactly the sort of problem my brain refuses to leave alone.
So I used the information Ancient + Brave already provide on their website and built myself a quiz to work it out.
You answer a few questions about what you’re looking for and it helps narrow down the products and combinations that might be relevant, with links back to Ancient + Brave so you can read their information properly before deciding whether you want anything.
Then I thought: if I found this useful, perhaps somebody else would too. And that is when I had another thought.
I really want their gold scoop
Ancient + Brave sell the most beautiful little gold Ritual Scoop, which I have been coveting for some time.
Yes, I am aware I could buy one.
But where is the fun in that?
I thought perhaps if I shared my unofficial quiz online and Ancient + Brave happened to see that I’d spent my time turning all their brilliant information into something people could use to work out where to start, they might take pity on me and send me one.
So here it is: Find Your Formula, my completely unofficial Ancient + Brave product quiz.
Ancient + Brave didn’t ask me to build it, they haven’t paid me, sponsored this post or approved the quiz, and I’m not affiliated with them. I built it using the information they publish on their own website because I wanted to solve the problem for myself and thought other people might find it useful too.
You can try it here:
Comments