David Lesondak BCSI, ATSI, FST is an Allied Health Member in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. As their Senior Structural Integrator and Fascia Specialist he focuses on helping people get out of chronic pain, speed recovery from accidents, injuries, and surgeries, and increase people’s physical resilience.

David is the author of the best-selling book Fascia: What it is and Why it Matters, currently in 11 languages. The success of that book led to him creating the first fascia textbook designed for the medical and healthcare fields, Fascia, Function, and Medical Applications. A collaboration with top researchers and clinicians, it was nominated for a 2021 British Medical Association award.

David began his fascia journey in 2002 with Thomas Myers, graduating from Anatomy Trains Structural Integration in 2003. He remained on the Anatomy Trains faculty through 2008.  David was  videographer/co-producer of the Anatomy Trains Revealed, a 5 hour anatomy lab video deep dive. He next collaborated with Robert Schleip and the Fascia Research Group at Ulm University. Between 2010 and 2016 they would produce over 80 educational videos on fascia science.

In demand as a lecturer on all things fascia, he has been an invited speaker and workshop facilitator to such diverse groups as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Workshop on Myofascial Pain, the Academic Consortium of Integrative Medicine, the LA Clippers, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Australian, British, and Polish Fascia Symposiums, the World Fascia Congress, the International Fascia Research Congress, the Anatomy Trains Master Class Series, the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and many others.

He is delighted to share what he knows with you.

1: Learning Objectives

Student will be introduced to interconnected fascial anatomy and be shown how to think and treat in a global/fascia way, rather than local/muscle approach.

 

Students will apply the bio-tensegrity model to low back pain patterns.

 

Students will palpate and distinguish fascia touch, from other types of manual interventions, i.e. trigger point therapy, PNF, etc....

 

Students will learn specific techniques with active micro movements to engage both fascial plasticity and neuroplasticity.

 

Students will apply the bio-tensegrity model to low back pain.

 

Students will gain new assessment skills whereby they can measure their effectiveness by seeing visible changes in their student partners structure and function.

 

2: Detailed Course Description

 

The yearly cost of low back pain from individuals to societies ranges from the high hundreds of millions to billions. Restrictions in the fascia system can, over time, cause postural asymmetries and distortions that remain an overlooked and vital component to successfully resolving low back pain. In this one day workshop we will take a deep dive into this model of low back pain.

 

You will learn new ways to restore both structure and function to entire back, with powerful, ways to treat the back actively from cervical to lumbar (with special modifications for disc injuries), the adductor group and its’ role in proper pelvic support, and a safe, painless way to release the psoas, every time. Experiential ways  to increase proprioception, necessary to create a more lasting change will also be highlighting You will be given a strategies and techniques that you can begin applying immediately upon returning to your practice.

 

Student Requirements & Dress Code

Students will work in pairs. This approach requires both visual assessments and   proprioceptive experiencing. Students must wear appropriate underwear. Loose shorts and bra/camisole are also fine. Tight-fitting sports bras, those with an abundance of straps in the thoracic region, and racer backs are not recommended.