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We’ve all seen it. Physical therapy clinics around the Charlotte area treating people of ALL shapes, sizes, ages, and activity levels. Of course, physical therapy is needed in most, if not all, situations and ALL of these categories of people will benefit – whether it’s Mrs. Betty learning how to walk again after a knee replacement or a highschool baseball athlete dealing with shoulder pain.
However, if these physical therapists see the full spectrum of injuries, are they truly specialists in what YOU are looking for? As a CrossFit athlete myself, I see these classic clinics that most think of when you hear the words, “physical therapy”. You know, the clinics that have 1-10# dumbbells, bands of every color and resistance, and every modality known to man (ice, heat, e-stim, ultrasound). The ones that you will RARELY, if ever, see a squat rack or pull-up bar, barbells, rings, or turf. If you’re trying to get back to CrossFit and have shoulder pain with a bar muscle up, knee pain with a heavy squat clean, OR just want to learn butterfly pull-ups without hurting your shoulders…which clinic would suit you best? Which clinics and therapists would be experts and really KNOW the demands of your sport and how to get you back to 100% pain free?
CrossFit physical therapists understand the ins and outs of your sport and most importantly, understand that CrossFit isn’t the problem. The very thing that makes CrossFit such an effective fitness and wellness tool, variety and intensity, are what expose the athlete’s faulty mechanics and imbalances. The problem is that athletes don’t fully understand the stress they are imposing on their bodies when they perform movements incorrectly. They are often performing complex movements, racing against the clock, or under the stress of heavy barbells. However, it’s not the sport, it’s just the faulty movement patterns and poor body mechanics that ultimately lead to injury. While physical therapists do focus on movement, there are few who can adequately break down the movements of a deadlift, snatch, or muscle-up, for example. To effectively treat and educate you as a CrossFit athlete, the physical therapist must understand these specific movement patterns and be able to cue you to move properly. The CrossFit physical therapist is a movement specialist with a deep understanding of human anatomy, and the most adept healthcare practitioner to get CrossFit athletes back to their sport pain free, quickly.
On one hand, without a doubt, there are some great physical therapists in the Charlotte area that are athletes themselves. BUT most of them simply don’t have the equipment or time necessary to challenge CrossFitters in the ways that are needed for full return to sport. OR on the other hand, some physical therapists don’t even know what CrossFit is or why you’d want to participate in it. I imagine walking into the local physical therapy clinic, complaining of shoulder pain with butterfly chest-to-bar pull-ups, and seeing the look on my therapist’s face as they say, “what’s that?”, “that’s why you shouldn’t be doing those”, or “you just need to take some time off and rest”, or my personal favorite, “yeah, it’s because CrossFit isn’t good for you and it’s too hard on the body”. **insert eye roll here**
At The training room, we are experts in treating athletes just like YOU. As past collegiate athletes that compete and/or participate in sports like CrossFit, and know what it’s like to consistently push their bodies to the limit, we KNOW what you go through. We’ve all experienced our own fair share of aches/pains that affect our ability to perform the way we want.
We have the ability to spend an entire hour with you to watch and analyze how you move, break down the components of the painful movement, identify the exact cause of your pain, come up with a plan of attack, and start treatment on it right away. We have the ability to test your limits and progress your fitness by having access to a full gym that suits the needs of every Crossfitter. We’re able to test your progress by loading up the painful movement pattern within sessions. No guesswork and no waiting until the next session to try it out on your own and hoping it goes well. We can see you in real time and work on whatever the issue is, right then.
We believe that it’s a healthy mode of exercise, and shouldn’t be feared or thought of as dangerous. If you’re a CrossFit athlete in Charlotte, North Carolina and are in need of expert guidance or treatment from a CrossFit Physical Therapist – book an appointment now!
Thanks for reading,
Aerial B.
