IOL Strength and Conditioning

After a particularly involved corrective exercise discussion in the forum, or via email after a blog post on recovering joint mobility, queries pop up about how to find local help with fixable dysfunctions. The desperation is understandable: Can’t someone just tell me what to do so I don’t have to study a bunch of anatomy?

At this point in the fitness and wellness industry, it’s almost an impossible question. If you get yourself in the right hands, anyone from a personal trainer, a physical therapist, a chiropractor, a physiatrist, Feldenkrais practitioner or Rolfer can sort out the movement problems of a live person in about an hour. In allopathic medicine, it would be the physiatrist, but they mostly work with patients in pain; I’m not sure what the response would be if you showed up with no symptoms, wanting to know how to fix your problems.

The thing is, finding the right person is real iffy, pretty doubtful, in fact. In the next few years, more and more people will be practicing using these assessment techniques, but we’re just not there yet. And, of course, each body is incredibly complex, so a person without a good deal of experience will have the basics, but the more subtle structural issues may go unnoticed. It really takes a good eye, a lot of opportunity to look at people, and a lot of patience to carry them through the trial and error process as they learn their craft.

For that reason, my first recommendation for a reader looking for local assistance would be Rolfing, because their regime is a systematic, ten-session, bottom-up process that covers the entire body, including the deeper parts we don’t usually think about. By the time the ten weeks are over, the fascia that contributes to holding things like feet tilted or arches dropped, hips twisted or tilted, abdominals tight, neck stretched, etc etc etc, has all been loosened, and the recipient has been retrained out of his or her faulty postural habits. For now, Rolfing is my initial recommendation for a full-body makeover when a local specialist isn’t a sure thing; if you can find a KMI-trained practitioner, so much the better — this is structural integrity similar to Rolfing, but with two extra sessions, all twelve based on the body’s myofascial slings.

But Rolfing takes a ten-week commitment, and the work is paid out of pocket. Shifting a 40- or 50-year-old back to feeling like 20 is priceless, and hopefully some readers and forum members will decide to go that route in the months and years to come. A slightly less reliable option is myofascial release therapy such as that taught by John F. Barnes in Sedona, Arizona. The reason I called it slightly less reliable is without the Rolfing treatment structure, the client is relying on the therapist’s good judgment. In many cases, this will be faster and possibly better than Rolfing because the person may have one very specific need the Rolfing program doesn’t get to until a later treatment, but that the MF release therapist can target on the first session. The downside is some people have a better eye than others, and if your therapist happens to be an other, you may end up chasing your tail a little.

A cheaper and shorter-term option is a near-local practitioner. How about this? Find a corrective exercise expert within driving distance; head down the road and make a long weekend of it. For a reasonable fee to cover a couple hours’ time, you could walk away with your current dysfunction evaluation and list of the exact exercises and stretches that will convert your ailing body from aching to fully functional. A couple months of dedicated effort and you’ll feel reborn.

Here are the options on my current list. I’ll update it from time to time as I discover more corrective exercise specialists. Feel free to drop me your name and link if you work with individuals with assessments and corrective exercise programs, or if you have suggestion for this list. I’m at ldraper@davedraper.com.

Find a local Rolfer

Find a local KMI-certified practitioner

Find a local Feldenkrais practitioner

Find a local myofascial release therapist

Gray Cook and Lee Burton have a program to train personal trainers and physical therapists in screening; find a certified Functional Movement Screen specialist.

Dr. Eric Cobb has trained practitioners in Z-health, right up our alley.

Pete Egoscue has a few clinics where they also do this work.

Paul Chek has trained practitioners in corrective exercise.

Another option: MAPS Certified Orthopedic Manual Therapists, a program developed by Australian physiotherapist Geoffrey Maitland, who appears to be expanding upon Rolfing practices similar to Tom Myers’ KMI stuff, combined with joint mobilization.

If you’re shopping for a personal trainer in the phone book, the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) has an advanced specialization for corrective exercise. It appears they offer no online directory, however the initials the trainers will use is NASM-CES.
By state:

Alaska:
Juneau, AK, Corey Pavitt, D.C. at Pavitt Health and Fitness

Arizona:
Scottsdale, AZ, Josh Henkin at Innovative Fitness
Chandler, AZ, Patrick Ward
Chandler, AZ, Keats Snideman
Mesa, AZ, Michael Lovegren

California:
Santa Cruz, CA, Suzie Lundgren
San Diego, CA, Anthony Carey at Function First
San Diego, CA, Justin Price at The BioMechanics
San Diego, CA, Todd Durkin’s team at Fitness Quest 10
San Diego, CA, Jason Karp
Santa Clarita, Alwyn or Rachel Cosgrove at Results Fitness
Montrose, CA, Lenny Parracino
Danville, CA, Clay Hyght, D.C.
Santa Monica, CA, Core Performance Center specialist
Santa Rosa, CA, Lana Pacheco
Venice, CA, Howard Skora
Visalia, CA, Justin Levine
Los Angeles, CA, Jacques Taylor

Colorado:
Greenwood Village, CO, Greg Roskopf does similar work with his Muscle Activation Techniques

Connecticut:
Hartford, CT, John Izzo
Middleton, CT, Andy Moses
Florida:
Orlando, FL, Chuck Wolf at Human Motion Associates
Tampa, FL, Brad Kaczmarski
South Beach, FL, Tom Furman
Boca Raton, FL, JC Santana’s Institute of Human Performance
Jacksonville, FL, Giles Wiley

Georgia:
Columbus, GA, Bill Long
Kennesaw, GA, Bill Sonnemaker

Illinois:
Evanston, IL, Evan Osar
Naperville, IL, Nicki Anderson
Chicago, IL, Robert Lardner
Chicago, IL, Adam Wolf

Indiana:
Indianapolis, IN, Bill Hartman or Mike Robertson
Also in Indianapolis, Robb Rogers’ group at St. Vincent’s Performance Center
West Lafayette, IN, Cody Sipe

Louisiana:
Mandeville, LA, Charlie Hoolihan at the Pelican Athletic Club

Maryland:
Towson, MD, Dan Cenidoza
Baltimore, MD, Nick Tumminello

Massachusetts:
Winchester, MA, one of Mike Boyle’s trainers at MBSC
Hudson, MA, Eric Cressey and his guys at Cressey Performance
Woburn, MA, Aaron Brooks of Perfect Postures
Boston, MA, Peter McCall
Natick, MA, Eric Beard

Michigan:
Adrian, MI, Gary Gray’s team at the Gray Institute
Gary Gray is at the forefront of this industry and has provided much of the training used by others in the corrective exercise and performance fields.
Pontiac, MI, Bob Budai and team at Functional Strength Training

Minnesota:
Woodbury, MN, Brad Nelson
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, Joe Licht
White Bear Lake, MN, Mike Nelson

Missouri:
St. Louis, MO, Tracy Fober at IronMaven

New Jersey:
Fair Lawn, NJ, Martin Rooney at Parisi School
Montville, NJ, Eric D’Agati at One Human Performance
Freehold, NJ, Charlie Weingroff at CentraState Sports Performance
Manasquan, NJ, Jon Messner
New Milford, NJ, Andrew Schmitt
Medford, NJ, Keith Scott and crew at Breakthru Physical Therapy

New York:
New York, NY, Ming Chew
White Plains, NY, Anthony Renna at FiveIronFitness
Manhattan, NY, Chris McGrath
Brooklyn, NY, Annette Lang

North Carolina:
Raleigh, NC, Tom Dalonzo-Baker and his crew at Total Motion Release

North Dakota:
Minot, ND, Adam T. Glass
Ohio:
Dayton, OH, Shane England, Chris Kissel and Angelene Moore at Personally Fit

Oregon:
Newberg, OR, Dewey Nielsen at IPT

Oklahoma:
Edmonds, OK, Jay Dawes at OneEighty

Pennsylvania:
Pittsburgh, PA, Brett Jones
Yardley, PA, Kareem F. Samhouri
Shenandoah, PA, Tom Deebel, D.C.
Swarthmore, PA, Bruce Kelly

Tennessee:
Nashville, TN, Mark Snow
Nashville, TN, Ward Williams