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What happens when an experienced endurance athlete is forced to stop?

In this episode of the Chiro London podcast, we sit down with Simon McNamara from the Sigma Sports Masters Race Team to talk about injury, resilience, and rebuilding stronger than ever.

In 2025, Simon suffered a Lumbar disc herniation that brought his racing season to an abrupt halt. Like many athletes, he initially tried to push through the pain — even taking on long rides in the Alps — before realising the damage was worsening. The injury ultimately forced him to step away from the bike for three months and cancel major race plans, including Badlands Gravel.

With the support of Putney Chiropractic Centre, part of Chiro London, Simon began a structured rehabilitation journey. A key turning point? Discovering the importance of core strength — something he had never prioritised, even after a previous back surgery.

Now in 2026, Simon is back training, feeling stronger than ever, and preparing to return to racing — including a comeback at Badlands.

In this episode, we cover:

• The warning signs of a serious back injury
• Why “pushing through pain” can backfire
• The role of chiropractic care in recovery
• Simple core exercises every cyclist should be doing
• How to come back stronger after time off

Whether you’re a competitive athlete or a weekend rider, this conversation is packed with insights on injury prevention, recovery, and long-term performance.

🎧 Listen now and learn how to turn setbacks into strength.

Links to the low back rehab exercises

Stretch

https://vimeo.com/404597012

Strength

https://vimeo.com/404593074

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Not our usual programming so unless you are interested in masters cycling change channels now.

However if you are keen to be inspired by Chris McNamara’s epic year on the bike, the same year he turned 50 then tune in and cancel everything for the next 60 min. He’s super open about his year and we talk races, tactics, nutrition, training and all that you need to know from the recently crowned British 50+ gravel champ, straight into a step on the world masters gravel podium followed by the yellow jersey in the Mallorca masters.

The reason this chat is on the chiro London podcast is because chiro London is my gig and has been for the last 20+ years. There is a tenuous link in that he gets a tune up once a year with geography being a challenge and I’m not sure I can claim any impact at all on his achievements. But as my podcast platform was here it was the easiest place to park this episode. Enjoy .

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Episode 93 of the Chiro London podcast is a flashback to some archive audio I found from an interview on the BBC 5 Live late news show on a day where the news was all about the Queen having low back pain. She was unable to open the new Arsenal Emirates Stadium because her back wouldn't let her leave Buckingham Palace.

The BBC 5 Live team called up our clinic randomly. We didn't have any direct connection. It was just a bit of a cold call and they asked if I, Craig McLean, would be willing to do an interview with the late news show at 10:00 p.m. that night.

The first part of the interview went fairly smoothly and they just had a bit of banter and conversation around the Queen's back and back pain in general and how it has a big impact on the Uk works force with days off for back pain.

But then the interview took a turn halfway through where one of the panel members had a dodgy shoulder, neck, upper back problem. He'd been seeing a physio for months, was due to have an injection in the shoulder and so they just laid down a challenge to see what I could do for him when they were breaking for news, sport and weather.

So I was up for the challenge, I took the guy out to a little reception area bench. We did a little bit of Chiro work on him and you get to hear what happened in the second part of the interview when he made the statement, "I feel better in five minutes with you than I have with months on the physio bench."

This was nearly 20 years ago. I was 35 and what a laugh it was.

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