It was great catching up with Dan Lyons on Saturday 9th May to discuss common exercise trends, injury therapy and prevention and business during Lockdown.
Dan is an osteopath based in Colchester, Essex and has recently opened up a clinic locally in January 2020. Previously, Dan has been practicing osteopathy at a clinic in Westfield Stratford and still currently treats from Muscleworks Gym in Bethnal Green. Alongside setting up his new clinic in Colchester, Dan has also started tutoring up and coming osteopaths at The London School Of Osteopathy where he once studied as well.
Topic 1 - To kick-off our chat we discussed how Lockdown measures are potentially causing more of a sedentary lifestyle and the implications of this on lower back pain.
Ben (Be Moore Fit): "Due to being homebound and being seated for longer periods of the day lower back tightness and lower back pain is more prevalent. Can you help us to understand why lower back pain occurs and what we can do to relieve it?"
Dan: "So, lower back pain is 80% of what us manual therapists will see on a daily basis and will always be the most prominent injury in or out of lockdown. It will occur from people being more static at home and not having an ergonomic set up like they normally would at their desk-space at work in the office. Not only this but people working from home might feel like they're getting away with something, so feel like they need to work harder or longer hours and may not be doing as much daily movement. As we both know from our professions, motion is lotion. The best thing I can tell people to do is move as thats what we were designed to do.
For lower back rehab I would recommend looking into Stuart McGill's Big 3 Movements; a plank, the cat-cow and a bird dog movement unless there's specific underlying issues and they can't perform these."
Ben (Be Moore Fit): "What would you say is usually the main cause for lower back pain? Is it usually due to a stimulus or through hip flexors being tight and glute medius being inactive?"
Dan: "There's a lot of things out there that could potentially cause lower back pain but one of the main things is trauma, so lifting things incorrectly causing disk problems and lumbar erectus spinae muscular strains. I would encourage 3-dimensional (3D) movement as much as possible for the lower back. So allow for rotational movement as much as you can, we weren't designed just to allow forward and backward movement at the spine. This enhances fluid dynamics at the joint so more blood flow, synovial fluid movement and lymphatic drainage and that's what keeps it healthy."
Topic 2 - With people being limited to exercise equipment and as gyms are still currently closed the general population are turning their attention to the roads and are running and cycling more as their form of daily exercise.
Ben (Be Moore Fit): "As people are running more than they would have done prior to lockdown measures have you seen an increase in consultation data suggesting that these pains and niggles are shin splint or plantar fasciitis symptoms?"
Dan: "Yes, definitely. People are starting to associate the nice weather with being able to get out and go for a run. But like you say shin splints and plantar fasciitis can be quite common in runners but this is mainly due to repetitive strain.
Now that doesn't mean that running is bad for you, it is just the mechanism of running that's bad for you. So it may be due to things like poor footwear choice or the type of surface you're running on which are causing the muscular tissues in the feet and lower leg to become inflamed and lose flexibility.
When people do pick up these types of niggles and injuries the worst thing they can do is nothing and just completely rest it. If it is an inflammatory disorder they have picked up then the best thing to do is to tend to it by icing and using an anti-inflammatory gel whilst optimally resting and lightly exercising."
Ben (Be Moore Fit): "Would you encourage people to do some conditioning work such as skipping and ankle/calf mobility and stretching before they get into their running?
Dan: "Certainly. I think it's important that people start off slow and steady without jumping in. Start off by walking or by doing shorter intervals instead of 5 miles. But again a lot of these things will completely depend on the individual.
Ben (Be Moore Fit): "Sticking with the topic of running what would you typically suggest in terms of a stretching routine post running?"
Dan: "Okay, so post running I would suggest a slow walk and stretching muscle groups like calves, quadriceps, adductors, gluten and hamstrings. A good cool down routine will help massively, so a slow walk, stretching, maybe foam rolling to try and get new blood to the muscle which will enhance that recovery process. Some people may want to try using magnesium sprays on the muscles to try and replenish what was lost during training as well as using heat and ice packs to further their recovery."
We also discussed who you should go to see post-lockdown if you do pick up any injuries, whether that's; a chiropractor, an osteopath, a physiotherapist or a sport massage therapist. Finishing our live chat with some very good interactive questions from viewers on the live stream.
To see the full video between myself and Dan then please click the video below!