James Davies: But my way of thinking is that I want to help with causing less less pain, if that makes sense. But there's times that you have to go hard on a muscle, especially with athletes, they don't care. You know what I mean, like.
Dr Rupy: Yeah.
James Davies: Like they would be all macho saying, yeah, I like a hard massage. Then they're in there, you're like, ah, get off me. You know.
Dr Rupy: Welcome to the Doctor's Kitchen podcast. The show about food, lifestyle, medicine and how to improve your health today. I'm Dr Rupy, your host. I'm a medical doctor, I study nutrition and I'm a firm believer in the power of food and lifestyle as medicine. Join me and my expert guests where we discuss the multiple determinants of what allows you to lead your best life. My guest today has been on multiple journeys. For example, he picked himself up after his athletic stream was crushed, he overcame and managed a significant speech impediment, and he finds joy, balance and his passion in helping others achieve a pain-free life. James Davies, author of Body, is the founder and CEO of Rising Health, which he started 10 years ago, and his clients include a few people you may have heard of: David Beckham, Kylie Minogue, Phillip Schofield, Mo Farah, among many others. He's worked globally with professional athletes ranging from Olympic champions, Premiership footballers, NFL and rugby union players, as well as the odd A-list actor like Eva Mendes. I'm a fan. He is the sought-after therapist and even serves the Great Britain team at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. But rather than being trained as a physiotherapist like most practitioners who work for national teams are, James actually trained at the British School of Osteopathy. He studied massage and sports injuries at the London School of Massage, T-car therapy in Italy, Tok Sen in Chang Mai, which is in Thailand, and is a noted authority on laser therapy, dry needling, acupuncture and cupping. As a performance therapist and athletics coach, James is able to integrate a range of therapies, including massage, biomechanics and functional and structural applications. He developed the ethos of relieve, restore and perform based on his own personal experience as a young athlete and his experience working with elite athletes. This is a really cool episode for me to have. I love chatting with James. I learned a lot from his book, Body, that you can get in all good book stores. I also learned about the language of pain, finding joy in movement and how the majority of what we actually think might be structural is actually down to stress and really what we want to do is go upstream and find balance and creating a stress-free life. I hope you really enjoy the episode. Remember, you can watch this episode on YouTube and if you like subscribing, subscribing to the YouTube channel is a great thing to do for free, as is the newsletter, eat, listen and read every single week. I send you recipes and something mindfully curated to help you have a healthier, happier week. And do check out the app. You can download it on the app store and we have a range of recipes, almost 500 now, where you can filter them according to your personal health goals, whatever they might be. Thanks and enjoy this episode. Before we get started, here is a quick word from the people who make this podcast possible. I wanted to start because I love your book. I'm just I'm super impressed with it. I can I can so imagine like tons of people coming and messaging you and and and telling you about how much this book has helped because the way it's laid out is beautiful. You know, you go through head to literally head to toe, all the other sort of elements that an osteopath and a therapist would want to navigate given the time constraints that we tend to have, like eating habits and inflammation producing activity, stress, all those different wider elements that can certainly have an impact on the physical manifestation of problems. But I wanted to start with how you started your book, which is your your personal journey. And you tell this this beautiful story of like a little child with their nose pressed up against the TV screen watching Linford Christie in the 92 Olympics. I just thought it was such a touching image. So I wonder if you could tell us about your journey from, you know, having dreams of becoming an Olympic athlete to to to now helping athletes and a number of different people in different walks of life.
James Davies: It's so weird, right, because during the time, you never think about what you've achieved. So doing the book, you're just like, wow, did I actually do this? Like like it's been crazy. But Linford Christie was a hero of mine. Were you a big track and field fan back in the day?
Dr Rupy: I I remember like watching um uh Linford Christie's uh the the repeats because I was seven at the time, I think when he uh he reached that gold medal. So I remember seeing like reruns of it, but not at the time. How old are you?
James Davies: How old?
Dr Rupy: I'm uh 37.
James Davies: I'm 36, so we're kind of similar ages.
Dr Rupy: Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah, yeah, fair enough.
James Davies: Crazy, isn't it? That's that's that's right. No, but seriously, watching Linford Christie, Barcelona winning the gold, I was like, that is my mission. I need to be a athlete. And at the time I didn't know that I had a talent until it was a sports day. I was in year four and my PE teacher said, oh, like, James, this is really good. But I only took it when I went to secondary school because everyone wanted to be a football player. But but it was a thing where they were like, wow, like you've got talent. You need to take this seriously. So I was I was just glued and I was just passionate and this is what I wanted to do. But until the age of 16 years of age, that's when it all went bad. Because at that time, looking at me and like if I was to go back in time, I would say, why are you not stretching this way? Why are you not doing this? So I so I came up from the blocks and I tore a muscle in my quad. And when you tear a muscle, there are different types of tears. So you can have a partial tear, a mid tear, a complete tear. And I had a complete tear of my muscle that was poorly managed and and that led to the muscle calcifying, which is very rare, but I was just unfortunate that that happened. So I had surgery on my quad and I don't think that I needed to have that, but I went down that route and when I came came back, there wasn't really that much help post surgery and every time I went back into training, the muscle would continue to tear. And that was a shame, but it was the best thing that happened to me because it led me to the path of being an osteopath because I said to myself, I can't make it as an athlete and represent the country being the Great Britain team, so I'm going to be an osteopath and go to the Olympic games. So I just had that tunnel vision. I just said that I'm going to make this happen and it happened, you know. And that's just a sign that anything's possible, anything's possible if you put your mind to it.
Dr Rupy: Yeah, absolutely. And and and this sort of drive, you mentioned just there like tunnel vision. I I wonder if in part this is an attitude that you developed from your your parents. You mentioned your your dad, I think was an engineer and and sort of they were very hard working sort of in terms of.
James Davies: Yeah, civil engineer.
Dr Rupy: Very hard working sort of work ethic that you in in the household that you grew up in, is that right?
James Davies: Is it innate or is it learned? I still don't know, but I really just admired how my parents worked very hard. So I'm the youngest of three boys, so so they came over to this country to get an education. So my mum is still a quantity quantity surveyor and my dad sadly passed away in 2016, but he was a civil engineer. So he was living in India doing the the roads there and I went over there and it was amazing, amazing to see how he still worked hard. So yeah, so growing up, I knew that there was pressure on me, but I loved that pressure. I loved that pressure because I wanted to make my parents proud. I wanted to do something where I could have a big impact and help as many people as possible. So I was lucky to find something that I would be passionate for, helping people to to deal with their injuries or stresses in in their bodies, on their bodies. So yeah.
Dr Rupy: I wonder if we could like dive into a bit more about that transition between you wanting to become an athlete, you realizing that that dream is not possible anymore and then going into helping people and eventually becoming an osteopath and studying anatomy and physiology and all the rest of it because that that's not an easy transition for a lot of people to to make and and I I imagine that would have taken a lot of soul searching for for you.
James Davies: Well, I didn't realize at the time, but the wiser James now, when down times happen, it's an opportunity. So you can reassess where you're going and you can think, okay, like this is happening for a reason. Fast forward in the future, this will like my story is going to help somebody going through a terrible time. So so I learned valuable lessons that talent isn't enough. Working with athletes now, you've got to have talent, but you've got to have your parents take you to practice or a family member or somebody that can take you to a practice. Then once you've got that, you've got to be lucky that you get picked. You know, so so there's loads of factors. That's what I'm trying to get across to like make it to like be a professional at anything. But when I had that failure and that acknowledgement that I wasn't going to make it as an athlete, I was just doing trial and error. I was like I had a massive brainstorm in my mind. I was thinking, what can I do now? I still want to work in sports. I want to have a job that is active because I don't want to sit down at a desk and work hours. So I was at college doing my A levels at the time. So I was thinking, do I want to be a doctor? Do I want to be a physiotherapist? Do I want to be an osteopath? The reason why I chose to be an osteopath because one of my my friend's mothers was an osteopath and she lent me a couple of books. I was just thinking, oh, I kind of like the sound of this because it's an a holistic approach. You look at the whole person rather than just treating one aspect of the body. So that's what led me to think, oh, wow, if I had this when I was injured, maybe this would have helped me out. But I also liked it when you finished university that you can go straight into setting up your own business. So so I said, okay, yeah, I'm definitely doing this. This is going to work.
Dr Rupy: Yeah, because you talk about how you you set up when you were 23 and I was just reflecting back on my sort of um uh my my time. I would have been 24 at the same time you were 23 setting up your own business. And when I when I became a junior doctor, which is tough, tough by the way. Yeah, I had to fight with being. Yeah, it is tough. Yeah. But but I I like I I kind of feel a lot more privileged these days because like when I was 24 and I was a junior doctor, I had a senior registrar above me, I had my consultant above that, I had all my other colleagues around me. You started out on your own and you didn't have like tutors around you to ask, you had to do everything and set up the business as well. So that must have been pretty tough.
James Davies: It was tough and I was advised by my university or the tutors that London's going to be hard or sorry, like you you need to move up up north because it's highly saturated with not only osteopaths, physios, sports therapists. But once again, I just had that determination. Maybe it was the athlete in me. I just knew that I could achieve something big. Yeah, so I so I just said, well, I actually planned it in my second year. So my course was a four-year course. So I came up with my business name, Rising Health in my second year. I was just thinking, okay, how am I going to get to the Olympics? Because at that time it wasn't common for an osteopath to work for a sports team. It was dominated by physios. So I I needed to like crack that way of thinking. So I so I kind of set out a plan saying I'm going to do a lot of volunteering work, I'm going to try and learn on the job as well and and my biggest rule when I came out, I said to the athletes, if it's rubbish, let me know because I need to learn. So I just got dug in. I just I just did it. I just did it.
Dr Rupy: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's that's epic. Um and and this sort of drive, you mentioned just there like tunnel vision. I I I wonder if in part this is an attitude that you developed from your your parents. You mentioned your your dad, I think was an engineer and and sort of they were very hard working sort of in terms of.
James Davies: Yeah, civil engineer.
Dr Rupy: Very hard working sort of work ethic that you in in the household that you grew up in, is that right?
James Davies: Is it innate or is it learned? I still don't know, but I really just admired how my parents worked very hard. So I'm the youngest of three boys, so so they came over to this country to get an education. So my mum is still a quantity quantity surveyor and my dad sadly passed away in 2016, but he was a civil engineer. So he was living in India doing the the roads there and I went over there and it was amazing, amazing to see how he still worked hard. So yeah, so growing up, I knew that there was pressure on me, but I loved that pressure. I loved that pressure because I wanted to make my parents proud. I wanted to do something where I could have a big impact and help as many people as possible. So I was lucky to find something that I would be passionate for, helping people to to deal with their injuries or stresses in in their bodies, on their bodies. So yeah.
Dr Rupy: And and like, you know, not only did you have to overcome that, but in your book you talk about how um I was going to say you used to have a stammer, but you describe how you never really get rid of a stammer, you manage your stammer. And you know, clearly you're you're managing it very well now. I mean, what what was the sort of uh what what was the process for you in in overcoming that?
James Davies: Do you know something's been a journey. So so I've had loads of mini journeys, but like amazing journeys that I love to like share and I'm honored to be on your podcast to like share this. Um so there was a time I was in year two when I first thought or said that I'm not speaking well here. Like why why am I reading and I can't get the words out. There were words that I couldn't even say like switch. I couldn't say that. So so I struggled with R and S words. And at the time my parents didn't know what to do. I did see a speech speech therapist at the time. And it was it was still bad. It it was still there. But to to answer your question, it just got better over time. I think the biggest thing that I had an issue with was the fear of stammering because my my stammer is a covert one. So the overt one is like you would just notice it instantly. But a covert one is like a iceberg. So you aren't seeing the avoidance of words. So so like in this conversation, I might say, okay, I can't say this word. So I'm going to think of a similar word that I can say in the sentence. So so talking was a like an exhausting experience every single time. But once again, going through this whole process of doing the book, I I knew that I I had to go and do podcasts. I knew I had to go on radio, go on TV shows. So I actually went on a speech therapy course because I I wanted to know more about why people like me would have a stammer because it's it's a form of disability that not that many people understand. And for a year, I made so sorry, so I met amazing people that knew exactly what I was going through because I think that was hard to just fully express what I'm going through because people would say, James, you are speaking fine, there's nothing wrong with you. But for the first time in my life, I was able to find people that understood and I didn't have to justify or explain why talking is hard every single time. So I was very good at hiding that I had a stammer, but I might have a bad day that I couldn't get any words out. So I am I am really proud that I'm even doing this because the old James would have been like, I'm not doing that. I'm just going to be in the corner there. Work hard, but like every chance I had to do a public speaking, a podcast, I would not do it because I was worried that I would stammer. And now there is no fear. There is no no fear. It is me. If I stammer, I stammer. But it but it led me to be a patron of the charity, you know, so I so um like it's amazing when you put pressure on yourself to like write a book and other opportunities line up where you can help even more people that struggle that you what you went through back in the day. So yeah, that's my story, hey?
Dr Rupy: That's amazing. No, no, it's my pleasure to have you on the pod and be part be a very small part in that journey that you're you're going through, man. So, yeah, no, it's a it's a massive privilege. I wonder if we could start uh by talking about um pain. Uh I I've spoken to to a few people on the pod on the past about pain, anaesthetists, uh people who take a holistic approach, uh pain specialists. We had Deepa Ravindran on the pod a few months ago. Um and and obviously pain is a is a is a big part of uh why people would come and and see you. Um and and I guess, you know, you have to explain and conceptualize pain for for your patients. So you can understand a bit more about where their sort of hindrances are, what the local and the diagnosis is, as well as like how they can sort of like process pain and and go through that that that journey. So what how do you explain pain to to people and how do you explain how they should be monitoring it as a as a means to monitor success and and progress?
James Davies: So I think the biggest thing is that the person that's trying to express their pain, they are their expert of their own pain. And we need to show that respect to the people because there's there's always the normal story that it's it's all in your head. The the scan has said that that there's no issues there. So surely what you're feeling doesn't doesn't exist. So just like how love is a language, pain is a language. And there's different layers, there's different characteristics to what pain is. Um so in the book and just in general in private practice, I I listen to the patient. I like because people just want to be listened, but I actually educate them to why they are feeling pain. And like in my book, I do talk about the different types of pain. So I talk about nociceptive pain, I talk about neuropathic pain, I talk about emotional pain. Because even a couple of years ago, people didn't think there was such a thing as emotional pain. But it does but it does exist and it has a massive impact on the body. So um just to how love is a language, pain is a language. And there's different layers, there's different characteristics to what pain is. Um so in the book and just in general in private practice, I I listen to the patient. I like because people just want to be listened, but I actually educate them to why they are feeling pain. And like in my book, I do talk about the different types of pain. So I talk about nociceptive pain, I talk about neuropathic pain, I talk about emotional pain. Because even a couple of years ago, people didn't think there was such a thing as emotional pain. But it does but it does exist and it has a massive impact on the body. So um so for example, I I tell them to use a pain scale. So I I might say, okay, so my shoulder is a two out of 10 in my pain, in terms of pain, and it's a deep pain. It's not superficial, but it's deep. And it hurts when I move my arm up. You know, because loads of like the general public would just say, yeah, I've got pain in my shoulder. And they just go and see somebody and sometimes the medical person might not want to um find out more about their pain. So they might just give them a general answer to their pain. So once you like give them different ways of explaining pain, that can make the medical person a good problem solver and say, okay, maybe it's only a muscle pain because it only hurts when you try and move it. Or maybe, okay, if it's a constant pain and you turn your neck to the left and right, maybe there's something else going on. Maybe it's not only your shoulder, it's a muscle that links your neck to your shoulder. Um so so so pain needs to be um talked about in a different way. So you can't be too simplistic about pain if you want to find out the correct diagnosis.
Dr Rupy: Yeah, yeah. I I love that sort of um that that analogy of of of pain being almost like uh pain being your friend. I think you you say that in the book as well about how like, you know, it's it's actually a guiding principle. It should be it's it's something that reports to you that something's going wrong and that you need to do something about it. And uh and also it's a very, very common scenario where a scan is normal, the investigations are normal, uh the the blood works are not all everything is normal, but there's still pain. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's automatically in your head, so to speak. There's definitely something that can be done about that. And I guess that that's probably um the the point in which many people come and see you. Am I am I right in in thinking that or or is it a lot earlier along in someone's journey?
James Davies: Um both, both really. And that's why I love my job because you're trying to solve the case and this is why I wrote a book again because like when I worked heavily in private practice just in one room seeing as many people as I could in the day, you're only seeing them in the room. So I actually like to go to their houses or like have evidence. So they they might take a picture of how they sit down at a desk or like it sounds creepy me saying this, but getting their partner to take a picture of them sleeping in bed because you're kind of thinking, okay, oh, there's only like you you've got a small pillow and you're sleeping on your side. So that's why you've got neck pain because you're you're your neck is constantly being activated. It's it's contracting throughout the night. So that like we have we have solved the case here. Change your pillow and the neck pain will go away. You know, um so but it's never a general answer because everyone is unique. Of course, there are principles that we have to follow to like get um okay, is it a nerve issue because you've lost power in your arm or it's feeling numb. So so there's that general side, but it's about finding out why and how you can get you out from this um pain because many people feel that they they might go and see somebody and and that person says that there's nothing what we can do. Like this is it. Like this is you you're going to be with this pain for the rest of your life. That might be true, but there's a difference between managing pain as well as having a chance where you can take away the pain. So once again, it's the language how both of us tell our patients um and just just that language or that feedback in the correct manner can ease somebody and say that, okay, I'm at peace now. I know exactly what's going on. But most people don't know what's going on and that's what makes them even more stressed and they can be doing something that could be aggravating the pain. So that's a that's my journey now that I want to help as many people to know how their bodies work and if they get a pain, what they can do or to catch it quick so it doesn't linger. Because that's a that's a common theme. People might have a one out of pain, sorry, a one out of 10 pain on their back and they're saying, oh, I'm too busy, it's nothing serious. Then that pain slowly creeps up and then all of a sudden, bang, we are we have got our like we are too stiff and we can't move and we get um like the disc coming out pressing on a nerve and then going to see a doctor or a surgeon saying that you you like need to have some like your your disc out or to like have a surgery to take pressure off the nerve. Um but the most common thing to answer your question better, posture, posture is the like big biggest things. We are a nation where our posture is not good. And we don't stretch because we we like say that we are too busy. Um so I'm praying if people are listening to this podcast or they read my book, you've got to start to be active, you've got to start to stretch to make sure that your your posture is not bad.
Dr Rupy: Yeah, yeah. So so there's three key things there that I I've pulled out. So inactivity, so making sure that we're moving as regularly as possible. You know, which is quite hard to do, I guess for some people in certain work environments, but I think a lot more people are becoming a bit more knowledgeable about why they need to be moving. Would you say like once every hour or so or like how would you put some meat on those bones?
James Davies: So everyone tries to um place stretching or being active like with not what they do on a daily basis because you've got to think our so our ancestors will be out there hunting, moving around to like get their food or working. So so I'm trying to tell people that you can multitask. So we're sitting down now, so so I can be rubbing my hand or I can be placing my hand on the back of my neck as we're talking or I can just get up all of a sudden and start to like stretch and then sit back down. So there's no like so we shouldn't allocate time and say that, oh, for this hour, I am going to do 20 minutes because it it might not happen because we're all busy. So it can just be if you feel a slight tightness, just stand up and stretch and then sit back down. So you can do that as many times within the day. So we actually should bring joy to do it because everyone sees it as a chore. Oh no, I've got to do a stretch. I don't want to do it because I don't have time. But we have to make it a habit where it actually makes us have a breather and we feel good about it and we're taking that time for ourselves because we only have one body and it needs nurturing. You look at our phones, our iPads, our MacBooks, our laptops, we give it an update when we can. Why don't we do that for our bodies? And we can just have those mini updates. It can even be like every minute we can do something. But everyone's different. So we have to go on a journey where it's fun and do a trial and error and say, okay, if I try and stretch out once an hour because that's all I can do for this moment of time. Is it actually going to make me concentrate better at work? Is it going to make me to iron more if I stay at home and I like ironing clothes? Who likes ironing clothes? But that's a bad example. You know, um so so I want to take people on a journey to try and solve the case for themselves with the guidance from me and from anyone that wants to help them.
Dr Rupy: Absolutely. And and and I I think I I resonate with that a lot, you know, bringing joy to those movements and actually what it can bring you rather than it just being something that you have to do. Um on on that note, so tight buttocks. So how do we how do we loosen our bums?
James Davies: Oh, so there's many ways. There's there's many ways to loosen the bum. So there's a foam roller because many people don't know how to use a foam roller. Um so many people punish themselves using it. So you don't need to put all your weight through the foam roller because that's going to hurt. But I but I often tell people that you can literally sit on the foam roller with one hand backwards. So you're putting all your weight on your hand and you're like taking your time to put the like pressure that you want to put on the um body to like loosen up the bum. Um but even doing that on a daily basis is very very, very good. There are so many gadgets out there. So you can have a massage gun. Massage guns work really, really well. So you can do it yourself or you can get a friend or a family member to like help you out and do that. Or you can stretch. So there's simple stretches on a mat on the floor that you can do. So crossing one leg over the other if you're lying on your back is very effective, simple but effective.
Dr Rupy: Yeah, yeah. I I love my foam roller. I've got the foam roller with the little spiky bits in it. Are there particular foam rollers that you think are better than others or like just.
James Davies: Well, that tells me a lot about you if you like the spiky on it. Yeah. That makes me think about things now. That that's you the real deal. See, a tennis player, you like the spiky on the on the rollers. Um it doesn't really matter really. Like like um so you so you can have it hard or you can have it soft. Like both of them will like work. It's it's just making sure that you have have the like the even out of um weight on you. So you have to make sure that you you don't put all your weight on your bum because that that might hurt and you use your hands. Um is that making sense a bit?
Dr Rupy: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, definitely. So like when you when it like it's almost like grading how much weight you can put on your buttocks when you're when you're using the foam roller for the first time because I I've got to the point now where I can almost put almost all my weight on it depending on like what exercises I've done that week. Um but yeah, I I I find it.
James Davies: Listen, I'm getting excited. I'm getting excited now. We we have to make you a tennis player now. Well, I I'm not good at tennis. I can't serve to like save my life, but but I've got a good backhand. So um so we we we'll definitely have to give it a go. But yeah, definitely. But it but it gets to that point that it's trial and error. So you can try a hard phone roller and you can try one with like having spikes on it. But um but it's finding what works for yourself because it like because I don't want to give people a concrete plan because it'd be like, oh, it's like being back at school. Like I like there's no way that I can do this every single day. So like it's first of all telling yourself to not be hard on yourself that you have to do something that works for like you because that's what living's about. You you have to do like, of course, it's good to like eat well, to like move around, do all these healthy things, but it has to be a sustainable thing that works for like you because everyone's different because you might have a stressful job and like if if you're doing something that might work for like somebody else, it might not work for like you, you know. Um so hopefully in the book I'm telling people that that I've got that across very well.
Dr Rupy: Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely. Um and and posture. So posture is really important. Um particularly, you know, certain different people wear different kinds of shoes, uh they they hold themselves in different way, they have different uh muscle architecture. Some people have bulkier backs, some people have like smaller chests, you know, there's a there's going to be a massive variety in terms of like how people's posture is at the start. Like what what are the general principles that you sort of talk to your clients about with regards to maintaining good what what even is good posture?
James Davies: That's another thing again. It's like we're all different in our own ways. Um so I was very fortunate that I've been around so many amazing athletes. I didn't actually treat Usain Bolt, but I was around his therapist and I did help um give them wits if they needed it. But um Usain Bolt had um one hip higher than the other. The like pelvises were out of sync. And for many years, this is through speaking to his agent, speaking to him and speaking to the like therapist, there were so many therapists that tried to like change that. But his function was to run fast, needs to to run fast from A to like B and and like get all the world records, of course. Um so it's about functioning working instead of trying to change everything because that can make people to get even more injured and to be in pain. So like there's not a perfect specimen out there if that makes makes sense. So it's about finding out what works for us, you know, rather than just saying that it's a textbook answer every single time. So you're going to mix the science, the anatomy, all the stuff that we have learned from university with the art and common sense. If that makes sense. And that rhymed. Yeah, you know.
Dr Rupy: Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, no, no, it it definitely does. Yeah, absolutely. And so how do you assess someone's posture when when they when they come for the first time? Because I I guess, you know, if you're treating someone like Usain Bolt, he's got a clear motive to to maintain sort of speed and and that means that, you know, his posture is going to be very different. But perhaps for the for the average person that isn't an athlete or doesn't have aspirations to, you know, perform a particular movement fast, what what are the general things that could keep us in in in better uh physical health?
James Davies: So it's that Sherlock Holmes hat on again. So when I first meet a patient, I'm assessing them already. I'm seeing the way how they speak because many people are guarded. It it might be a confidence issue. So so they they don't want to look up and be proud. They they want to keep their chin down because they don't want to get eye contact at first. Like if you don't know that person, people might be shy. So so it's the the the first contact or the first impressions. I'm looking at, okay, how is their gait when they walk? Um when they shake their hands, like are their shoulders rolled in? So it's so it's all that. But as an osteopath, I'm sure it's the same thing with you. I would assess the like back view, the like front view and the and the side aspect. So I'm trying to see if the rolled if the shoulders are rolled in because that's a common thing. People are looking down at their phones. So they form that posture of the of the shoulders rolled in. And not that many people understand that that can cause problems with our organs. So when I say problems, it's not going to show up on a scan or a test, but you're you're you are going to start to be an upper rib breather. So you're not going to be using your diaphragm because many people like with stress, many people are upper rib breathers or they're they're using because many people do not know that there are muscles here at the front of your neck that help you to like breathe. But they are secondary muscles to the main muscle being the diaphragm. And the diaphragm, if you look at the bird's eye view of a diaphragm, there are holes for your main vein and your main um artery. So if that's tense because it's not being used, it can affect how the blood moves from the upper part of your body to the lower part of your body. So um posture, it's not only the the muscle side or the joints joint side, it's like it's it's going back to that point that we are one as a body. So it's going to affect other structures in the body if that makes sense. So the so the general thing is that I try and educate people to try and open up their chest and get everything functioning moving well. And I think that's the job as an osteopath is assisting through touch and changing things in one's life to optimize the systems in your body.
Dr Rupy: And I think that's what's quite unique about um osteopathy and other uh holistic practitioners. You're not just looking at the mechanics of the body, you're also asking questions about and observing what other elements it could be having an impact on. And what you've just eloquently described there about how it can impact other organs, your abdomen, the way in which you breathe, this can have tangible impacts on things like blood pressure, stress levels, your digestive system, you know, whether you're bloated, constipated, everything is connected within this. And I'm sure, you know, you've probably had instances where you have done things to correct someone's posture, which has had an impact on their stress levels, which has probably had an impact on whatever abdominal complaints that perhaps, you know, they they weren't aware were were connected.
James Davies: You are so right and that makes you a good doctor. I haven't seen you in person to like get get advice, but you just just know that you know what you're doing and and and you've got an open mind, you know, um I just feel that stress is a silent killer and it makes me very sad because many people do not see it. And it goes back to that point again, it can creep up on you. And you will think that I'm crazy, but I do ice baths every day. I do saunas. Like I have changed my way of thinking that if I work hard, I need to have a reset every single day. And everyone needs it. So everyone puts so much stress and stress is good, just like pain. It's it's there for a reason because it gets us to do things, but too much of it, too too much of good stress is bad, too much of bad stress is of course bad. So so we need to have something that balances us out because if if we're in too much fight and flight in the day, it can affect us in terms of it might make us bloated, it might um cause us to have diabetes along the line, high blood pressure, all these things. Of course, I'm not saying that's the the main reason why, but it can be a factor that can lead to that point. Um so we need to take care of ourselves. We don't need to take a step backwards and realize what's really important. And of course, times are hard, there's so much worries out there, but but but we can spare time on ourselves. Like even if it's just 30 seconds going outside looking at the stars, having a glass of water, be like, wow, you know, that's a reset anyway. It sounds it sounds a bit hippy, but but it's a reset.
Dr Rupy: No, I I I I'm totally about it. Like like I have uh a routine in the morning. Um I I wake up pretty early, you know, I I meditate. I make sure I do my formal meditation, but then I also go outside, expose myself to light. I'll have my coffee outside. Um and I try to remove all sort of distractions. So my phone's not with me, I don't have my AirPods in. I'm just sort of immersing myself in boredom um because I think we need boredom as a stimuli for creative energy. Um because it's like shower thoughts. The reason why you have thoughts in the shower is because you're doing a mundane activity and your brain's switched off. But actually what's happening is you're tapping into that creative side of your brain that is really, really important and we're losing it because we're constantly being, you know, entertained or we're constantly consuming or we're constantly working. So I I I totally agree with you. Even if it is for 30 to 60 seconds a day, you should immerse yourself in something that makes you happy.
James Davies: Is that a cold shower or a warm shower or a hot shower? That is the question.
Dr Rupy: So so I've done yeah, I've done ice baths in the in the past, right? Um I've done it probably three, four times, but I I feel for for me, ice baths, uh I feel fantastic for the rest of the day. But a day two or day three, I have almost like a slump in my uh cortisol levels and I I get uh ill. So I I start with a fever and that's that's happened every time with me. But I do stress myself the opposite way. So I love sauna. Absolutely love sauna. Try and go for that as much as possible. I can do a cold shower, but a cold bath for me, it it like I I I will probably try again at some point, but for my experience hasn't been as positive as other people, which is annoying because I I love the feeling of an ice bath afterwards. It's amazing.
James Davies: But the thing is, even you saying that, you've you've done trial and error and you've found something that works for you. So so you've got a system that gets you right, that gets you fully operating and that's good to hear.
Dr Rupy: I was going to ask a cheeky question. So if you could treat any other person, any person that you admire today, who who I mean you've got a huge list already, but who who who's left on the on the hit list? Who's who's top of the hit list?
James Davies: Man, you are answering the right questions, asking the right questions. Uh I don't know. So there's so there's people who I can't tell the world who I see and you're thinking, wow, this is amazing. Um I don't know. That's like you have stunned me with a good question. Um I'll tell you something. So I so I've done most of the American sports, but I haven't treated an NBA player. So I've treated NFL players, of course, track and field players, track and field athletes, but I've not never actually treated an NBA player. I think that would be good because I'm a massive basketball fan. Oh, and I haven't even done a tennis player. I haven't done a tennis player. Well, oh, hold on, hold on. I must treat you now so I can tick that off the box. Yes. Um but the new joy in my life is treating film stars, like action films and things like so I so I've done some DC films and Marvel films and I'm a big I love all that stuff. Are you like an action hero fan?
Dr Rupy: Uh I I've definitely watched Marvel. Uh I I I would say I'm not like uh I I wouldn't be able to reel off all the characters from the DC Marvel worlds and stuff like, you know, Green Lantern and all the rest of it, but I know the main characters and I I do enjoy those, yeah.
James Davies: What's your thing then? Are you a Star Wars guy or a Trekkie?
Dr Rupy: You know what? I I'm into sort of um uh I I'm into like uh documentaries. Like I I love and and short films, short films. Uh I the the the one that I watched recently was um uh one on the GameStop saga. So there was the arbitrage. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Retail investors. Did you see that? It was incredible. I couldn't believe it. It was.
James Davies: I haven't seen it, but I would love to watch that. Yeah.
Dr Rupy: Brilliant. It's really, really good.
James Davies: What's that documentary? So I so there was one Quincy Jones one. I watched that so many times. I'm not sure if you've seen that. The Quincy Jones.
Dr Rupy: I haven't seen that one, no. No, I'll watch that.
James Davies: Documentary. That was amazing. But there's one with Dr. Dre. Like my memory's bad. There's one with Dr. Dre.
Dr Rupy: Oh, um and um the other guy.
James Davies: And Jimmy Iovine.
Dr Rupy: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's fantastic doco. Amazing.
James Davies: That gets me every time. I'm thinking, wow, I'm so inspired. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I've got this energy. I want to achieve something big, you know. But the most recent one I watched, I'm not sure if you're a football fan, but I watched um the Luis Figo.
Dr Rupy: Oh, I haven't watched that yet. Yeah.
James Davies: Yeah, that's that's crazy because he was a Barcelona player and he went from Barcelona to Real Madrid. Man.
Dr Rupy: I remember watching that match live. I remember watching it and they were throwing like bottles at him live and they had to pause the uh yeah, that was a a mad football game.
James Davies: Yeah. But I knew that he was a a great player because because I remember in Euro 2000 when he scored that amazing goal against England. But I but I didn't know that he won the Ballon d'Or. Oh, I didn't know that. That year. It was amazing. Yeah, he was he was the the best player on the planet at that moment of time. Wow. Um but yeah, so I so I like all those documentaries. Love it.
Dr Rupy: Yeah, yeah. I I um on on the note about NBA players, you know, it's interesting that you you haven't uh ventured down that route just yet. I'm sure it will happen and it will you'll manifest it for sure. But I remember reading uh or hearing about a quote from LeBron James about how he spends a million dollars on his body every single year. And that unlocked a lot of things for other NBA players. They were like, hold on, the world's best player is spending this amount of money on his body. Well, I'm not spending anywhere near that on my body. Maybe I should be investing that much in in myself as well. So I think you're going to see a lot more of that hyper recovery and and you know, that sort of like maintenance of someone's career through um uh looking after themselves physically and and mentally a lot more. So that'd be interesting.
James Davies: But it has happened now. It it has happened now because I've gone from treating a team of players to be so selective in who I see now because so I still have that winning mentality to be part of a team. So there's a couple of Premiership players because things are changing now, even in the last one or two years, Premiership players are buying an ice bath in their house, they're buying a sauna, like um like they they've got a cryotherapy chamber in their houses and they're hiring someone such as myself that I will see them once or twice a week. Um so things are slowly changing in a way because people there's a buzz about health now and people are investing because like it was unheard of many years ago for people to invest in their own health. But people are doing that more now. So so I'm really happy, really happy about that.
Dr Rupy: Absolutely, absolutely. You know, I I think there's definitely going to be a revolution even though, I mean, we we've got to be sort of cognizant of the fact that there is a cost of living crisis and and things are tough and people are, you know, struggling to afford uh even healthy food. But in in light of this, I think instead of spending money on technology and all these other sort of entertainment um elements within the house, like an amazing TV and furniture and all the rest of it, I think people are going to be looking a lot more inwards and how they can invest in their health. And even if it is like investing in a beautiful book like that and actually putting those things into action or like a massage gun or some of the other sort of gadgets you can have to improve your your well-being at home and and physically as well. I think that's definitely going to be a a trend um that that's going to persist. And and actually on that.
James Davies: But I think that's yeah. Sorry. So you are you are definitely right because to like look after yourself, you don't need to splash the cash, you know. And I I do understand that people are going through a hard, hard time and so so I think of things that they can do that doesn't cost money. So I I do tell people that buy a massage table or use a bed in your house and start treating each other, you know, because that's free and you can get that on tap if both parties agree. You know, um like so there's different ways or you can be like, this is the quiet area in the house. I'm going to go and meditate. And when I when we talk about meditation, you don't need to cross your legs and start humming, you know, even though humming has loads of qualities, that's another topic to talk about another time. But um there were like you can sit in silence somewhere in your house and that can be your quiet space and that can be so so effective. So um yeah, I I just want to get that across that you don't need to spend money to have a relaxation or something effective that can promote your health and wellness.
Dr Rupy: Yeah, absolutely. I I really like those tips actually in the book about how you can do self-massage, whether it's your hands, your shoulders, your necks, you know, I'm actually I've actually got impingement right now. I've had impingement for the last couple of months and stuff. It's getting better with some exercises and stuff. But like it's very painful, but you know, even just like the the massage I do, you know, a couple of times a day has definitely been helpful and I haven't actually I need to see a therapist. I might have to uh hit you up.
James Davies: Oh boy, listen, I'm getting excited. Okay, I'm another athlete on the list needs to get in ready to full-time tennis. Get need need to sort out that that shoulder impingement. Need need to throw him in the ice bath for seven days, seven days a week.
Dr Rupy: In the ice bath. Fantastic. Listen, James, this has been so, so helpful and uh it's been a pleasure to chat that chat with you and and sit down. We'll have to do this in person at some point in the future as well.
James Davies: 100%, be great.
Dr Rupy: And uh you should show me some of the the techniques uh to to loosen the buttocks uh and improve my posture. But yeah, no, this is.
James Davies: The spiky the spiky foam roller.
Dr Rupy: And the spiky foam roller exactly. This is fantastic. Thank you so much, James. I really appreciate it.
James Davies: It was a pleasure. Thank you very much.
