April 25, 2021
Join the conversation on Movement Optimism as Physiotherapist and strength and conditioning expert, Greg Lehman chats to Raphael Bender about Movement Optimism and the idea that everything is biomedically driven. We discuss why he prefers a comprehensive capacity approach in addition to looking to specific evidence-based research when helping clients prevent pain and injury. Greg also dives into the idea of muscle ‘dysfunction’ as a cause of pain, and why he never vilifies an activity or movement.
The fact that pilates clients are often looking for a definitive diagnosis for their pain is often a barrier to movement specialists using a biopsychosocial approach. Greg Lehman and Raph discuss why it is so critical to give clients a comprehensive explanation for their pain, in clear vocabulary that takes into account their life holistically, and how the Movement Optimism approach helps practitioners do that.
We unpack the idea of reframing pain under an emergent approach rather than a linear one, how we can take a client’s lifestyle into account when discussing their concerns. As Pilates teachers, it is important to understand that we should not only be looking at research specific to their rotator cuff, or their hamstring or other areas of pain, but we also need to get the low-down on their stress levels, their sleep, and their all-round wellbeing to effectively support them.
Greg also discusses the misapprehension perpetuated by some fitness influencers that certain muscles are ‘vulnerable’ in some way. Just because you see something happen once or twice in practice doesn’t make it a truth — jumping to faulty conclusions is dangerous for us and our clients. We explore why unvalidated theories get accepted as truth and how to bust baseless myths with good quality evidence-based research.
Greg is a Canadian physiotherapist, chiropractor, and strength and conditioning specialist treating musculoskeletal disorders within a biopsychosocial model. He is incredibly well-read, a highly skilled educator. And he’s funny.
Before his clinical career, Greg received a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council MSc graduate scholarship and became one of only two students each year to train with Professor Stuart McGill in his Occupational Biomechanics Laboratory, subsequently published more than 20 peer-reviewed papers in the manual therapy and exercise biomechanics field. He was an assistant professor at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College teaching a graduate-level course in Spine Biomechanics and Instrumentation as well as conducting more than 20 research experiments while supervising more than 50 students.
Greg has lectured on several topics on reconciling treatment biomechanics with pain science, running injuries, golf biomechanics, occupational low back injuries, and therapeutic neuroscience. His courses Reconciling Biomechanics with Pain Science and Running Resiliency have been taught more than 60 times in more than 40...
