Dallas County Living Well Magazine September/October 2020 | Page 12

DR. COURTNEY ENJOYS TRAINING FOR HIS NEXT TRIATHLONS. HE ENJOYS LIVING A
HEALTHY LIFE AS IT KEEPS HIS STRESS DOWN AND KEEPS HIM FOCUSED.
I like to set goals,
as it gives me more
incentive to stay
focused and helps
me determine what
I want to accomplish
and work toward.
Accomplishing my
goal and finishing
something I didn’t
think I could do
helps me push
through.
The medical field is not the only arena in which Dr. Courtney excels. He approaches fitness with the same
dedication and vigor he applies to medicine. In 2005, Dr. Courtney was in the top 10 of his age group in mountain
biking in Texas. He also completed one of the largest cycling events in the country multiple times: the
“Hotter’N Hell” race. Always up for a new challenge, from there, he began training to compete in triathlons.
“Swimming added a whole new challenge for me and really pushed me,” says Dr. Courtney of training for triathlons,
where participants are required to bike, run, and swim. “I like to set goals, as it gives me more incentive
to stay focused and helps me determine what I want to accomplish and work toward. Accomplishing my goal
and finishing something I didn’t think I could do helps me push through.”
Dr. Courtney trains for triathlons with the same focus he uses as a surgeon. Waking up at 4 a.m. six days per
week to work out in his home gym, he never waivers from the goal at hand—exceeding his personal best. After
successfully completing multiple triathlons, Dr. Courtney shows no signs of slowing down. He continues to
train and looks forward to competing in many more triathlons.
“I think if you can survive a triathlon you are absolutely living well,” he says.
Paying attention to fitness is something he encourages his patients to consider, too. “People don’t have to be
a tri-athlete to be healthy. I like to tell people you need to start small. Do something to be active. It can even
be yard work—that’s a great workout too. As you get older especially, you need to be in tune with your body,
monitor your calorie intake and be active. I encourage people to change slowly, start small, and find out what
you like to do,” he says.
Sharing his wellness journey is part of the straight-forward, honest approach that puts his patients at ease
and creates a trusting bond, an important element for the highly technical operations Dr. Courtney performs to
help restore patients’ quality of life. As he learned early on, the single most important person in the treatment
process is the patient and well-informed patients are more successful in following through on their rehabilitation
and have better outcomes.
It’s a sentiment that his patients echo. “You don’t want to trust (your back) to just somebody that has his name
on a door. You have to go to people that you trust. I talked to people and everybody trusted Dr. Stephen Courtney
and I do too and I’d highly recommend him,” says Judy Jones, a lumbar fusion patient of Dr. Courtney’s.
“Above all, I believe in treating each and every patient I have with honesty, dignity, and respect. My patients
come away from our shared interactions feeling confident, assured that they are truly in the best hands,” says
Dr. Courtney, who always brings his A-game.
dvanced Spine Center
10 • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020