King City man materializing dream of being independent physiotherapist

April 1, 2021 · 0 Comments

Ryan Lankester grew up in King Township.

He went to King City Public School, he played Nobleking Hockey, he played soccer with King United and then went to King City Secondary School as well. Sports has always been a part of his life – the Coach of the Year award in King United is named after his late father, Wayne.

He knew he always had an interest in working with athletes one way or another. He sustained many injuries playing sports growing up and he found it fascinating on how to treat them.

But what truly solidified his interest in working in the medical field is when his step father almost lost his leg. Through physiotherapy, he was able to avoid amputation.

“It solidified the drive, passion and goal to go into health care,” Lankester said.

He attended the University of Guelph and graduated with a degree in Kinesiology. Then, he attended the University of Toronto for physiotherapy.

“I figured this was the best of both worlds.”

He always knew in the back of his mind he never wanted a desk job. He wanted to be active and speaking to people on a daily basis.

Now, just six months after graduation, he has finally had the ability to do so.

Lankester is contracted with Align Health Centre in Newmarket.

“I rent my own space out there and have my office out there. I’ve only been practicing now for six months. I’m taking every day in stride,” Lankester said.

The soon-to-be 26-year-old is working with a lot of postural dysfunctions that he says is huge with everyone working from home. People, he says, are suffering from neck and back injuries.

He hopes to eventually work with golfers down the road.

“I’m a retired hockey and soccer player. I pretty much spend my summers on the golf course whenever I can. There’re so many golfers out there; they’re not necessarily high-performance golfers, they’re casual weekend players. Let’s say they have a tennis elbow or a golfer’s elbow and they want to add an extra 10 yards to their drive,” Lankester said. “It’s something I would like to specialize in moving forward.”

This covers everyone of all ages. He would like to target anyone who plays the game.

One thing Lankester suggested that golfers can do to prevent lower back pains that come with swinging the club is strengthen the deep core. Things like sit ups will not help this.

“We have tiny little spinal stability muscles that nobody really trains with a lot of core exercises typically given with personal trainers and stuff like that,” he said.

“And stretching. Hips are a huge one. Everyone sitting in the chair, they get chronically shortened hip flexors. IT bands. Glutes. Keep things loose there.”

Exercises that can be done to strengthen the deep core of the body for lower back pain are Bird Dog Exercises and Dead Bug Exercises that will assist posture. Planks are an option as well.

For a free, over-the-phone consultation you may do so through Align Health Centre online. For any further inquiries, you may contact Lankester at Ryan.Lankester@gmail.com.

By Robert Belardi