The Thinking Practitioner
The Thinking Practitioner
Podcast Description
Join two of the leading educators in manual therapy, bodywork, and massage therapy, as they delve into the most intriguing issues, questions, research, and client conditions that hands-on practitioners face. Stimulate your thinking with imaginative conversations, tips, and interviews related to the somatic arts and sciences.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on a wide range of themes related to manual therapy, anatomy, and client care, including episodes dedicated to specific conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome, grief, and low back pain. It also explores topics such as pain science, the impact of touch and presence in therapy, and the evolving understanding of tendinopathy and fascia, offering practitioners practical tools and research-backed insights.
For the practitioner who’s never stopped being curious. Til Luchau and Whitney Lowe bring together leading researchers, master clinicians, and big questions from across bodywork, massage, and manual therapy — exploring not just what we do with our hands, but why it works and how to do it better. Smart, grounded, and genuinely useful conversations for the somatic arts and sciences.
For professional practitioners in bodywork, massage therapy, structural integration, chiropractic, myofascial and myotherapy, orthopedics, sports massage, physical therapy, and osteopathy — as well as yoga, strength and conditioning, and allied professions.
This podcast is not medical or treatment advice.
🎙 182: Shoulder Pain: Stop Blaming the Sore Spot (with Whitney Lowe & Til Luchau)
What if the sore spot isn’t the whole shoulder story—and the work that feels good today makes it worse tomorrow?
A tendon to treat, a joint to mobilize, a movement pattern to correct: familiar starting points for shoulder work. But what if they don’t help—or keep things stirred up? Til brings his own stubborn shoulder into a conversation about what tenderness, movement, and history can tell us.
Whitney and Til explore how mechanics, nerve symptoms, and broader sensitivity can shape our choices. They compare targeted work with gentler exploration, discuss referred pain and medical referral, and consider how to help clients find comfortable movement while rebuilding capacity. The useful question isn’t just “Did that help?” but “How was it the next day?”
✨ We talk about:
• Daily demands and short-lived relief
• Tenderness: when direct work helps or aggravates
• Active, passive, and resisted movement clues
• Scapular mechanics, tendon irritability, and sensitivity
• Nerve symptoms, referred pain, and medical referral
• Loading tissues and finding movement you enjoy
• Next-day feedback, self-care, and changing course
✨ And tell us what happened: What changed a stubborn shoulder case for you? Email us — we’d love to hear it.
✨ Resources:
• Til Luchau, Advanced Myofascial Techniques, Vol. 1: https://advanced-trainings.com/product/advanced-myofascial-techniques-vol1/
• Greg Lehman’s pain and recovery resources: https://www.greglehman.ca/recovery-strategies-pain-guidebook
• Related episode: Nerve Pain: Stop Blaming Compression (179): https://www.thethinkingpractitioner.com/e/179-nerve-pain-stop-blaming-compression-with-whitney-lowe-til-luchau/
🌱 Sponsor Offers:
• Jane – Try it free for one month with code THINKING1MO at https://a-t.tv/jane
• ABMP – Save on new membership at https://abmp.com/thinking
• Books of Discovery – Save 15% with code THINKING at https://booksofdiscovery.com
• Advanced-Trainings – Try one month free of the A-T Subscription with code THINKING at https://a-t.tv/subscriptions
• Academy of Clinical Massage – Grab Whitney’s free Assessment Cheat Sheet at https://academyofclinicalmassage.com/cheatsheet
✨ Watch the video / connect with us:
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AdvancedTrainings/podcasts
• Whitney Lowe – https://academyofclinicalmassage.com | https://facebook.com/WhitneyLowe | https://twitter.com/whitneylowe
• Til Luchau – https://advanced-trainings.com | https://facebook.com/advancedtrainings | https://instagram.com/til.luchau
📧 Email us: [email protected]
The Thinking Practitioner Podcast is intended for professional practitioners of manual and movement therapies — bodywork, massage therapy, structural integration, physical therapy, osteopathy, and similar professions. It is not medical or treatment advice.
Disclaimer
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