The Manual Man

The Manual Man The Official page of The Manual Man Physical Therapy, Nick Torres

05/07/2026

LOW BACK PAIN WITH FORWARD BENDING❗️
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If someone has pain with forward bending, I know the issue here is lack of spinal flexion, specifically at the lumbar region. With lack of spinal flexion, I’m thinking shortness of spinal extensors such as Lumbar paraspinals and QL.
I’m also thinking limitations in vertebral and SI joint gapping. So I know I need to incorporate some type of posterior depression of the pelvis during my treatment and with my neuro-education piece. Here are two of my favorite positions/techniques to get the job done. 1. Seated Forward bend and 2. Side-lying basking seal. Both are focused on creating space to allow spinal flexion to occur! ENJOY❗️
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Video 1: STM of lumbar paraspinal in seated forward bending, shown in FMLT course
Video 2: QL mobilization in side- lying basking seal, shown in FM1 course
Video 3: neuromuscular education with pelvic posterior depression in side-lying, shown in PNF1 course
Video 4: pre test using forward bend test, shown in foundations course
Video 5: post test using forward bend test

03/29/2026

MI GENTE: We are giving out evals for 100$ OFF! If you have been following us for a while and finally ready to give us a try, Comment below “TECH-NECK” and we got you with this special deal.
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For those with tech-neck that had been told to fix it by pulling shoulders back and down, that’s not the best advice. That will only create more of a pull on the upper traps which will then push the head and neck more forward in space. The trick here is learning how to use the muscle no one really talks about. The serratus anterior is the secret sauce that we use for those “tech-neck” people out there. It’s usually very weak and very neurological disconnected for those with forward head posture. We train to wake the muscle up and then how to breathe into the back of the stiff ribs, with it turned on. Waking this muscle up is a game changer for those with neck and upper back pain, but it’s also just the beginning!

03/22/2026

If this sounds like something you or someone you know needs:
either comment below or DM me ‘GOT PAIN’ and we got you with a FREE call with me to figure out solutions ASAP!
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And remember: it’s never too late and also it’s never OK to live with pain. We can get you out of it, and more importantly, keep you out of it…for good.
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Client:
Technique: seated L4 mobilization, localized with rotation and flexion, as well as nerve tension (taught by in their FMLT course)
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03/15/2026

When I see a flat foot, I think of a foot that is desperately trying to find a way to create IR stability, which is lacking in the hip/pelvic joint(s). In a practical-sense, it’s a foot that lacks outter-heel connection to the ground. So how exactly do I fix a flat foot ? I combine the two concepts together. I place the foot in a biased position that automatically orients it to outside heel pressure. Then I create internal rotation demands at the hip and pelvis level, while the outter heel is sensing the ground. Then think about the gait cycle and move the patient through different phases of the cycle with an underlying bias towards IR and outter heel grounding. Then TAAAA-DAAAA, a new foot position has been created.

I know we are all busy people, but it’s a really cool feeling when you take a second to look back at the years and real...
03/08/2026

I know we are all busy people, but it’s a really cool feeling when you take a second to look back at the years and realize just how far you have come. (I should probably do that more often)🤣
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Seeing .ciarra.__ putting in all that work, year after year, is truly inspiring. And it’s truly something special to be apart of it. Thank you ! .ciarra.__

09/02/2025

CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN‼️
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🗣️”My low back gets tight anytime I deadlift or squat.”
🗣️”My low back always seems to be in a state of tension, doesn’t matter how much I stretch!”
🗣️”I hurt my lower back once, now it’s never been the same!”
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If you have chronic low back pain, you should be assessing and treating a bone called the sacrum.
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The sacrum is the foundation of not only the lower spinal column, but also the pelvic girdle. It’s truly one of the most influential structures in the human body. One of my mentors the great and powerful calls the sacrum one of the keystone structures of the body. Its dysfunctional state can create a rippling effect of compensation up and down the chain. You might feel chronic tightness into the low back region with things like squats and deadlifts. You can try to mobilize/stretch your hips, even your pelvis or your lumbar spine as much as you like, but if your sacrum is stuck in a dysfunctional position, it will stay that way until you mobilize it DIRECTLY. HERE IS HOW!
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Video 1: P-A mobilization of sacral base, shown in FMLT course
Video 2: neuromuscular education of hip internal rotators
Video 3: 90-90 hip lift with hip IR, side-lying Left adductor pullback, shown in pelvic restoration course
Video 4: pre-test with Palpation +Forward bend test, shown in FMLT course
Video 5: post-test with Palpation +Forward bend test, shown in FMLT course
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Shoutout to as my patient/model
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07/15/2025

The upper thoracic spine ends up being the primary driver of a great amount of the NECK PAIN cases we see.
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Think about the neck as the “building” and the upper thoracic spine as the “foundation” for that building. If the foundation is stiff, not moving well, and lacking neuromuscular control, that spells bad news for the building living above it.
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We see this specifically with the extension and rotation of the upper thoracic spine. If extension is limited, it will drive the neck into a forward-head posture (no where else to go but forward). A lack of extension usually falls suit with a lack of rotation. Only thing is with the rotation limited in the upper thoracic, the cervical spine has to take up the slack and you end up with hyper-tonic cervical muscles that are just working way too hard through the day.
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So if you have neck pain, check out your upper thoracic spine mobility and stability. That may help tremendously.

05/14/2025

Anterior shoulder Pain‼️
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Many times, people will have pain in front of the shoulder secondary to lack of internal rotation and extension of the humerus and/or scapula. This lack of range, now drives the humerus forward, as a compensatory strategy to complete the motion you are attempting to achieve (ex. Bench press).
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How do we fix this?
First mobilize the anterior shoulder in a position of extension and internal rotation. We use a contract-relax technique to slowly take up more and more range of motion. You want to get as deep into the range as possible during your mobilizations, because the patient will likely be driving into that same deep range in their workouts.
Second, we must train that new range and cue patient to not allow shoulder to dump forward in space. We must facilitate and cue the rear shoulder muscles to fire, to prevent the anterior shear from occurring.
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Video 1: prone end-range internal rotation mobilization, shown in FMUT course
Video 2: continued
Video 3: neuromuscular education, shown in FMUT course

I think I’ve lived most of my life always moving forward and always thinking about the next thing. I think becoming a da...
05/13/2025

I think I’ve lived most of my life always moving forward and always thinking about the next thing. I think becoming a dad allowed me to STOP and just appreciate life. Appreciate my amazing beautiful wife. Appreciate my little baby girl (that just turned 4 months old). And appreciate also what I’ve done so far in my life. Being a dad is not easy, but it’s also not hard. It’s exactly what I needed in my life.

04/17/2025

Knee Joint Manual Mobilization‼️
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Many times I see lateral displacement of the foot contact to the ground. This coincides with a tibia that is laterally sheared, compared to position of femur. This usually also coincides with over-activity of the lateral musculature of the lower extremity and under-activity of the medial, specifically the hip adductor and medial hamstring muscles.
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Here, we mobilize the tibia into a medial shear, placing the knee joint on its axis, relative to femur. We then educate the adductor, internal oblique and glute medius muscles to maintain this position.
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ENJOY‼️
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Video 1: medial tibial shear , shown in FMLE course
Video 2: modified medial tibial shear
Video 3: hruska adduction lift test , shown in Pelvis Restoration course

04/06/2025

ACHILLES PAIN‼️
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For anything you put your body through, let’s say running for example, you gotta be sure it has the necessary mobility, stability, strength and resilience to do it, and do it GOOD!
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In others words: don’t write checks your body can’t cash. You will end up injured, in pain, or sore in ways that will make you not want to perform that “thing” in the future.
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For Mobility: the end-feel is KING 👑. It can look like you have good plantar-flexion of your ankle, but until you spring that end-range, you never really know.
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Video 1: posterior glide of distal tibia, shown in FMLE course
Video 2: anterior glide of talus, shown in FMLE course
Video 3: anterior glide of distal fibula, shown in FMLE course
Video 4: neuromuscular education

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