Msk And Sports Physiotherapist | DR. Yuvraj Singh

This week’s spotlight features musculoskeletal and sports physiotherapist, Dr. Yuvraj Singh. Go ahead and read this spotlight to know more about his journey and his advice on how to establish as a sports physiotherapist.

What is your name?

Dr. Yuvraj Singh, MPT, PGDM, CFL 1

What is your educational background?

Bachelors of physiotherapy (BPTh) –  Seth G S Medical College – Graduation year 2007 (Internship done)

Masters of physiotherapy (MPTh) – Seth G S Medical College – Graduation year 2010

Postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM) – Symbiosis Institute – Graduation year (2014)

Cross fit level 1- www.crossfit.com – 2021

Why did you choose to become Musculoskeletal and sports physiotherapist?

I have been interested in musculoskeletal physiotherapy since the beginning. Being from KEM, we had good exposure to patients with musculoskeletal problems. I should also thank my teachers, Bhavana Ma’am, Bharti Ma’am, Dipti Ma’am,  who had a role to play in developing my interest in the musculoskeletal sciences.

We did not have a special branch of education for sports physiotherapy at our time, unlike now. After my masters, I was teaching at MGM when we noticed that there were many students who were interested in sports. That is why the management wanted to create a course in Sports MPT and I was entrusted with leading it. That is how I transitioned from MSK to sports physiotherapy.

What did you do soon after completing your Masters? 

After finishing my master’s, I got into academics. I was a full-time lecturer at MGM. I was teaching mainly biomechanics, musculoskeletal sciences, and a bit of sports physiotherapy. 

Later on, I moved on to a Startup for home care. At that time I realized there is a language of business that I need to get used to. That is why I enrolled myself in the PGDM course.  

Tell us more about the PGDM 

As I said, there is a certain language of business that I needed to learn. I had some free time in hand at that time so I decided to complete PGDM. That was a good experience and I am glad that I completed that course early in my career.

I started thinking more on the lines of whom do you serve? How do you create value for your clients? I decided to take up this course to get more comfortable in the role of startup cofounder. The startup did not work out the way we wanted it to, so we had to stop that. But what I learned during the PGDM course is still useful for me today since I have my own clinic now. 

What did you do after that? 

I got back to clinical practice. I was also offered a role at the biomechanics lab and lead the MPT course in sports physiotherapy at MGM. I was there for three and a half years. 

Later on, I left everything and focused solely on my clinical practice, positive physiotherapy clinic. 

How did you design the Master’s program for sports physiotherapy? 

When we started designing an MPT course for sports physiotherapy, the first question we were trying to answer was, what exactly is a sports physiotherapy? We studied various sports physiotherapy courses across the world including courses in India, UK, Australia. The next thing we were trying to figure out was how to modify and adapt these courses for the Indian community. 

I knew just going to the stadium and serving the acute field injuries does not compromise sports physiotherapy. It is an important job, but the MPT course on sports physiotherapy needed a lot more than that. 

We struggled in our first year but we kept on digging deeper. We met a lot of people in the field of sports physiotherapy. We reached out to athletes. We started an outreach program where we met a lot of players and coaches and asked about their requirements. We wanted to know exactly what the coaches and athletes wanted. 

We convinced MGM that the sports postings can not be in the medical college. They need to be outside and not only on-field but also in the sports academies where players and coaches practice. 

I think when medical colleges offer sports physiotherapy programs, they need to keep these things in mind. Colleges need to reach out to the players, coaches, sports academies and spend time with them to figure out what they want. Nobody is going to walk into the medical college on their own for their sports-related problem or injury. 

How did you think a physiotherapist can establish himself/herself as a sports physiotherapist?

I will give you an example, I had a student who came to me and mentioned she wants to become sports physiotherapist. As a teenager, she used to play badminton. I told her to go to the nearby badminton academy and spend some time there. For the first couple of weeks, I asked her to  just go there and observe. After a few weeks, ask them what their problem areas are and then figure out how you are going to address their problems with physiotherapy. 

Later we went on and designed the fitness tests for these athletes and figured out how to interpret the test results. Based on the results we had discussions with the coaches. We designed an individualized plan of care based on the performance level of the athlete. That is how we established ourselves there. 

The girl actually spent three months there to figure out the needs of the athletes. Now we are a lot more confident when we approach other badminton academies and we have results to prove that our sports program works. To create value, we need to integrate injury management, injury prevention, and performance enhancement with the needs of coaches and players. 

Tell us more about your CrossFit level 1 course

CrossFit is a school of functional exercises which are supposed to be performed at high intensity. It is a strength and conditioning course in one way. You can find detailed information about the course on www.crossfit.com The more I explored it, I realized its immense potential to be used in rehab.

Why did you decide to complete CrossFit level 1 course?

When I was developing a course on sports physiotherapy course with MGM, I realized sports science is different from musculoskeletal science. Strength and conditioning in itself has grown by leaps and bounds. Strength and conditioning coaches have a lot to offer to sportsmen. We may not be the right people to train the athletes for performance enhancement but we should know what exercises these guys should be doing. 

I also realized that when we are treating someone at an elite level, the player’s health team is going to involve people such as the strength and conditioning coach, exercise physiologist. I do not necessarily see myself as a strength and conditioning coach. 

I completed the CrossFit course firstly to understand the basic principles and secondly I wanted to integrate some of these exercises in the rehabilitation since these are functional exercises.

How are you applying what you learned from the course in your clinic? 

We do injury management as a physiotherapist. But once the injury management is done, we are having our players engage in CrossFit styled exercises with us so that we can bring them closer to the real-world stresses. 

When I finished this course, I realized my concepts of musculoskeletal rehab were very conservative. I used to be afraid to use weights or barbells for my patients because I was worried that it may cause further injury to our patients. Now we have started using strength and conditioning principles for all of our patients and not just sportsmen. I am happy to say we are seeing far better results since we started doing that.                

There is a misconception that strength and conditioning exercises, CrossFit should only be used for athletes and the younger population. It can be used for anybody with musculoskeletal problems.

For example, if we are seeing a 72-year-old, female patient with OA knees, On day 1 we may have her do floor exercises such as bridging, clamshells, yoga. On day 2 her program might involve strength training with kettlebells, weights when she might be doing squats, deadlifts. On day 3 we may have her go for a walk or swimming. 

Tell us more about your journey with the Positive physiotherapy clinic?

I was initially working at a small polyclinic and practice was going well. In 2017,  we realized we need a bigger space. That is how we started the positive physiotherapy clinic. When we were doing that transition, we knew that we needed to make a few changes in our treatment approach. I reached out and met a few good  people. I wanted to know what others are doing for their patients  and how they are doing it. 

There is a need for physiotherapy which is more optimistic, which helps people get stronger than instilling fear of movement. As we grew and learned more, we shifted from electrotherapy to exercises and counseling. We shifted from moderate-intensity exercises to higher-intensity exercises. We are trying to push boundaries. We are now confident about inviting elite sportsmen to our clinic for treatment. 

This needed a lot of reflection and awareness about where we stand. I had to figure out how to  actually create value for my clients. 

What is the typical day of work for you?

We are open in the morning from 9 to 1.  In the evening we start at 4 to 8:30/9. We have at least 2-3 people working in the clinic. 

We want to reach out to the sports academies to include sportsmen in our client base. We were doing that in 2019 but we had to stop because of the pandemic.

What do you like about being a musculoskeletal and sports physiotherapist?

I really have a good team here and we enjoy working with each other. The chemistry we have is infectious and it even helps patients to be more optimistic. We always look ahead and ask ourselves what is next, and eventually, we grow. As a team, we enjoy treating patients and helping them get better. 

As a musculoskeletal and sports physiotherapist, what do you think can be improved in the field of ?

The one thing I want to tell everyone who wants to pursue sports physiotherapy is that, unlike musculoskeletal physiotherapy, we are still learning about the problems our clients (athletes) face and what exactly they want. Do not think sports physiotherapy is the same as musculoskeletal physiotherapy. If sports physiotherapists really want to serve athletes in a better way, they need to spend time with athletes, coaches with a clean slate and understand what they want. 

I think academic postings need to be in the clinics, in the real world instead of only in the acute care setups in the medical hospitals. Students need to learn more about real-life challenges.

I also see many musculoskeletal physiotherapists are afraid to use weights. It is okay to have a basic level of understanding but we need to be willing to grow past conservative physiotherapy. I see strength and conditioning as a science growing immensely and we need to internalize strength and conditioning principles in our practice. 

Can you name the books and courses that helped you as a MSK and sports physiotherapist?

Book – Explain pain

Course – CrossFit

What is next for you?

I want to reach out more to the sports academy and start spending at least one day a week over there. We had started doing that in 2019, but we had to stop due to the pandemic. We are hoping to resume our work with sports academies in the next 3-4 months, hopefully pandemic eases down till then.

What is your advice for someone who wants to become a sports physiotherapist?

to become a sports physiotherapist, I think all of the education should not happen only in college. After your college hours, you can join and work with someone who is working in the same field you want to be in. You should read more research papers on the topic. Do not just rely on your college. 

Do not get into the master’s course just because everybody else is doing it. Do not just go with the flow. Figure out what you like and where your interests are. Work with someone in the same field and then decide for yourself. 

You need to be willing to learn and grow. At the same time, you should also be willing to let go some of our old outdated concepts. 

Where can people find you?

On our clinic’s Fb page: positive physiotherapy clinic.

You can also ping me on Whatsapp: +91 87798 53459

If you live near Vile Parle, you can drop in at the clinic anytime.