Think Before You Act!

‘Pet hate’ statements I hear professionals regularly use are: ‘Everything’s connected’, ‘I don’t just treat symptoms, I find the root cause’, and 'Sports Massage prevents injury'!

None of us is taught how to find the true root cause of a client’s problem,

And yes, although everything IS connected, none of us is taught HOW things are connected and how to use this information to find the true root cause of a client’s problem.

And Sorry, it is a HUGE MYTH that Sports Massage prevents injury!

These 'MEGA Misunderstandings' in ALL manual therapy, movement therapy and physical therapy training caused HUGE issues for me when I sustained a sporting injury 30+ years ago.

And no, nothing has changed since then! 

I sustained a ‘lower back injury’ (that was the key symptom at least) when I was playing my sport, an injury that stopped me from playing at a high level.  

I consulted multiple professionals (Doctors, Physiotherapists, Osteopaths, Chiropractors, Sports Massage Therapists, Acupuncturists and many others).

None of these professionals was able to explain what had happened

And every single one of these professionals told me and did different things.

And now I know that NONE of these professionals was even CLOSE to getting it right!

They ALL fell foul of focusing on my symptoms and treating what they SAW. 

Now I wasn’t in our industry at that point, it was another 20 years before I ditched my well-paid career and decided to get trained and find out WHY this had happened to me.

I set out on a journey of discovery, seeking out the very best musculoskeletal problem-solvers and researchers in the world, and I finally now understand WHAT happened, WHY it happened, WHY no professional was able to explain and resolve my issue and WHAT I SHOULD have been doing at the time to resolve my issue.

Incidentally, I am now symptom-free! 

I said above that everybody I saw fell foul of focusing on my symptoms and treating what they SAW. 

And this was the reason why they got things so horrendously wrong!

Let’s return to my first “Pet Hate” above - professionals saying that ‘everything’s connected’.

Yes, of course ‘everything’s connected’ but precisely HOW is it connected and what does this mean for us as manual therapy, movement therapy and physical therapy professionals?

If we don't understand:

(a) how everything in our body FUNCTIONALLY INTEGRATES

and

(b) how carrying out manual therapy or exercise in one area can have negative (sometimes serious) impacts elsewhere ...

And then

(c) anticipate these negative impacts on a client-by-client basis (because every single client and every single problem is UNIQUE)

We are asking for trouble.

The problem is, NOBODY else (other than me) teaches any of this 🤬 

And this is why I can confidently say that “I Created The SMARTEST Musculoskeletal Problem-Solvers In The World!”

Let me now explain what the numerous therapists I saw SHOULD have done!

It is a HUGE MYTH That 'Massage', 'Stretching', 'Releasing' And 'Strengthening Reduces Injury Risk!

I was involved in a sport involving a lot of twisting, turning and lunging. 

But, if we don’t understand the key points above; 

(a) how everything in our body Functionally Integrates,  and

(b) how carrying out manual therapy or exercise in one area can have negative impacts elsewhere

We are asking for huge trouble.

And I paid the price, big time!!

What NONE of the professionals that I saw about my injury understood (because they are not taught it) was:

• How Our Pelvis Moves (on the LHS and RHS separately)

• How Our Thorax Moves (on the LHS and RHS separately)

• How Our Thorax Movement and Pelvis Movement INTEGRATE in human movement

And 

• How muscles central to this integration impact (and are impacted by) Pelvis Movement and Thorax Movement  (on the LHS and RHS separately)

We can’t SEE or FEEL ANY of the above.

We have to WORK IT OUT!

Methodically and Scientifically.

None of the professionals I saw understood or did ANY of this.

(Doctors, Physiotherapists, Osteopaths, Chiropractors, Sports Massage Therapists, Acupuncturists and many others).

All they did was focus on my symptoms and what the SAW.

As the result of totally meaningless tests and assessments.

Oh, and loads of totally invalid ASSUMPTIONS (I’ve written on this topic previously - https://learning.theintegratedfitpro.com/blog/ass-of-u-and-me).

So, Yes I spent my time stretching, getting massages where they released ‘tight’ tissues and doing strengthening exercises to “strengthen my weak glutes”  🤬 😱 😮 🤦🏻‍♂️

All of which, I now know, were making things WORSE.

One thing that baffled me at the time was why, when I went to a Spa and had a nice relaxing neck, back and shoulder massage, a couple of days later my lower back pain got WORSE - every single time!

Yes, I got relief for a while, but my symptoms kept returning.

But as my mentor used to say … “No Sh1t Sherlock”!!

Once I understood:

• How my pelvis was functioning on my LHS and RHS separately (I explain this in detail in my Pelvis Masterclass available here ➜ https://learning.theintegratedfitpro.com/the-pelvis)

• How my thorax was functioning on my LHS and RHS separately, 

• How muscles central to pelvis and thorax integration were the REAL root cause of my painful injury

And

• And How, (really importantly), stretching and releasing my hamstrings, hip flexors, calves, rotators AND back extensors was massively adversely affecting my pelvis function and thorax function … 

I was finally able to resolve my injury and I am now symptom-free!!

It is a HUGE MYTH That ‘Massage’, ‘Stretching’, ‘Releasing’ And ‘Strengthening Reduces Injury Risk!

For Information: Here is a synopsis of what caused my injury:

My pelvis was stuck locked (when it shouldn't be) on the left and unlocked (when it shouldn't be) on the right. My thorax was locked in a rotated position between T4-T6 which caused longissimus on my left to deliver the LHS pelvis lock and Iliocostalis on my right to deliver the unlocked pelvis on the RHS. All my pain and discomfort was on my RHS. The net result of all this was that the lower-body muscles on my LHS were misbehaving for one reason and the lower-body muscles on my RHS were misbehaving for a completely different reason. Chronic overuse of all these muscles (exacerbated by the duly advised stretching, releasing and strengthening) ultimately choreographed my injury. Until my thorax and pelvis were functioning correctly on both sides, nothing was going to resolve the issue.

But here is the good news! Any clinically qualified sports massage therapist (L4+), degree-qualified sports or physical therapist or movement therapist with a hands-on qualification can be taught to work this out AND resolve it.

And before you say, 'Ah yes, but that's not the case with any of my clients' ... the above situation (or variations of the above) is extremely common, perhaps in around 80% of your clients!

Fundamental changes are needed in how we are ALL taught to problem-solve common client issues;

From ‘tightness’ and ‘weakness’ through to more serious issues such as back problems, shoulder problems, knee problems and foot problems.

ALL of my coaching clients START by understanding how key systems in their client’s body are functioning (or not),

And then how muscles are affecting (or being affected by) this function (or dysfunction). 

They THEN work out WHY this is all happening and construct a UNIQUE intervention programme to resolve their problem.

• No Chasing Symptoms around the body

• No Models and Patterns that say “If this then that is true” (e.g. Upper- and Lower Cross Syndromes)

• No Assumptions (e.g. 'tight and weak are opposites' - they are not!)

• No Meaningless Clinical Tests (e.g. Thomas Test, Obers Test, Leg-Length Tests, Shoulder Special Tests and many more.

AND

• No Stretching or Releasing Tissues just because they FEEL TIGHT!!
  
  

And as a result, my clients solve problems that no other professional can solve!

I know that many reading this will merely push it to one side because I have just totally challenged EVERYTHING they currently think and do.

But for the Select Few who do want to solve problems for their clients OR keep their clients injury-free, and who are OPEN to understanding more,

Then ping me a message on Facebook or Instagram to arrange a free chat. 

No Selling, No Obligation, Just Great Chat And I Guarantee You Will Learn Something New!