Blog Posts in August 2019

Impingement & Instability - Austin, TX - Course in Review

Austin! The Texas state capital. I traveled there to visit with the best little PT house in Texas! Star Physical Therapy. I was there to teach Impingement & Instability. Jon Hupp PT, PRC is the owner of Star and he is a dang good clinician and a good man. Many of you may know Jon but did you know that his daughter Skylar is an elite gymnast? She will likely get a nice scholarship as a result of her gymnastic skills. His son Sterling just started his senior year in high school football and has been doing some good playing so far! Jon’s wife’s name is Bear. Yes! Bear! I LOVE that! I met her and the minute I did I knew she was a nice lady and a kind person. She spends her time taking care of the kids and doing a ton of administrative work for Star.

Speaking of a ton, this I&I class had a TON of participants! Around 40. That’s a big class size for a secondary course but...well...Texas. A dentist named Alice Lam dropped by the first morning to visit. I do some work with Dr. Lam in Houston and she is fascinated with PRI. I&I is a complex course that explores WHY your patients have Impingement phenomena. Did you know that they WANT to impinge? It’s neurological. That’s probably why so many veteran PRI clinicians were there. There were 5 PRC’s there: Jon Hupp, Steve Cuddy, James Guzman, Sarah Luin and Josh Elrod as well as PRT, Josh Ogden. At the other end of the spectrum we had two PT students there. Both of them are my friends: Steven Blair and Phillip Wuellner.

I&I explores calcaneal, patellar, hip and scapular Instability and the varied impingements that can and do occur as a result. Be prepared for multiple surprises when you take this class. Some comments from this past weekend: “This changed how I look at the Hruska Adduction Lift Test!” “It changed how I consider the position of the heel as I address my scapular programs to decrease humeral glenoid mechanics.” Oh, and did I mention the ribcage? The deep-dive into detailed mechanics of the existing respiratory variations puts a massive neurological spin on ribcage-scapular function. Whew! I got a little crazy there for a second. Thanks Ron Hruska, for my mild derangement. I cannot WAIT to see all of you in this most fascinating course.

Michael Cantrell

Posted August 29, 2019 at 11:49AM

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Postural Respiration - Warner Robins - Course in Review

"Wow" was the word of the weekend at Cantrell Center for Physical Therapy, Sports Medicine and Wellness. This was one of the most enthusiastic groups this faculty member has observed with half of the attendees being new to PRI. In addition, The Cantrell Center had half of the total number of students in attendance which made this a real team effort for their facility and created a stronger culture of PRI for their facility. What I loved about this group was the balance of great questions and re-states from every one of the new students as well as the "veterans". There were two PRC's, including lab assistant Ken Smith, who stated what we all experience attending a PRI course-no matter how many courses we have had is that there is always more to absorb and learn!

Cantrell Center Exercise Physiologist "Gentle" Giant Jalen Lawrence asked some great questions on how to apply PRI to power lifting and being able to learn how to better "axial load" when lifting. This was one of the most important questions for his athletes. In addition, we discussed that PRI loves extension for performance. We just don't want to live there all the time and that flexing and internally rotating ribs is needed to down-regulate a system and help restore autonomic balance. HRV or heart rate variability was discussed in the context of Postural Respiration concepts. Autonomic function with parasympathetic inhibition upon inhalation vs. parasympathetic facilitation upon exhalation was discussed as a needed balance for HRV. Since breathing is such a common dysfunction, considering most of our patients present in a hyper-inflated, neurologically extended state, understanding diaphragm function and airflow management is a critical issue. This is not only an issue with people that come into our clinics with pain and dysfunction. It is a performance/recovery issue as well. Shout out to Mehmet, Marion and Michael from Florida who asked great questions and brought great energy. Thank you to all in attendance for making my weekend flow so well with all of you especially the "Cantrell Gang" who can collaborate and apply PRI in a supportive setting. Ken Smith, PTA, PRC was golden as our lab assistant and his energy helped move all of us along. Finally, thank you Tassie Cantrell for such a beautiful facility, great food and wonderful staff that attended and helped all weekend with set-up and clean-up duties.

Skip George, Chiropractor

Posted August 27, 2019 at 4:27PM

Categories: Postural Restoration Certified (PRC) Clinicians Courses Science

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Cranial Resolution - New York, NY - Course in Review

There is so much to consider when one focuses on the interplay between our autonomic nervous system, our somatic nervous system and our central nervous system. And, there is so much to get excited about when the interplay of these systems can be modified, re-integrated, re-oriented and re-calibrated through oscillation of novel conscious and un-conscious sensory afferentation. Our behavior, i.e. psychology of the conscious, revolves and resolves around fluctuation of brain lateralization, hemispheric specialization, dominance (subjective experience) as it relates to our brain’s individual unique asymmetrical and emotional processing. (page 31 of Cranial Resolution). According to the authors of ‘The Intersubjective Perspective’ (thank you Michael Zhao), focus on inter-related subjective experience unveils forms and patterns that conscious experience repetitively and unconsciously assumes over time (page 101). Therefore, our subjective experience of resolving conscious experience and patterns of behavior and biology through novel integration of these three nervous systems could generate “access to the underlying structures and organizing principles and patterns that unconsciously govern psychological life”. I absolutely love discussing behavior as it relates to evidence based autonomic research. The attendees at this course in NYC gravitated towards behavior as it relates to the limitation of subjective frames of interrelated and integrated nervous systems and their respective developed references. Thank you Borbala Suranyi for being my avatar! Thank all of you in attendance who asked poignant and clinical questions. The award to the one that asked the most insightful and driving questions that pushed us into wonderful engaging response from the entire group, goes to Jeff Eckhouse. Finally, thank you Alicia Ferriere and Finish Line for hosting another PRI course in NYC. I definitely feel at home when I am there.

Cranial Resolution, New York City, Postural Restoration Institute

Ron Hruska

Posted August 21, 2019 at 4:11PM

Categories: Clinicians Courses Science

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PRI Integration for Pediatrics

As we prepare for the first ever PRI Integration for Pediatrics course this October in Chapel Hill, NC it is hard not to be excited! Anyone who works with children on a daily basis knows how rewarding it can be. However, when it comes to getting them to exhale into a balloon, or squeeze a ball between their knees it can become challenging very quickly. Lisa Mangino, PT, DPT, PCS, C/NDT, PRC has spent countless hours considering the many ways PRI can be incorporated into a Pediatric setting, and through the creation of this particular Affiliate course we can all learn her intervention stragies which she applies to a younger population of patients.

Check out the video below for a sneak peak of some of the ways Lisa incorporates PRI into her practice!

And for more information about this course as well as the dates and locations it is being held, check out the PRI Integration for Pediatrics course page!

RJ Hruska

Posted August 20, 2019 at 9:41AM

Categories: Clinicians Courses Techniques Science

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Job Openings in Scottsdale, Arizona

We are looking for a passionate highly motivated trainer and as well as a physical therapist looking to join an amazing team here at Premier Fitness Systems. We have a state of the art 5,000 sqft studio located in North Scottsdale, AZ. We have been in the game for 10 years and are always looking for new team members looking to grow their knowledge and become part of something great. PFS has become one of the top golf fitness gym's in the world as well as expanded into working with athletes from the MLB, UFC, NFL and a number of other sports. Currently we are looking for another full time trainer/coach as well as a physical therapist looking to work with athletes of all ages, ready to take their knowledge to the next level, and someone who is going to bring something new to the table for our staff. PRI has become an important part of our methodology and are looking for new team members that embrace it's benefits for returning athletes and regular Joes to sport. Some of the certifications that we like to see: DNS, CSCS, FRC, PRI, TPI, Animal Flow, Ido Portal, FMS, and many others. Please email Greg at trainpfs@gmail.com with your resume and we will get back to you if you're a good candidate and take things from there. We are looking to hire in the next month FYI!!!

Check us out at www.premierfitnesssystems.com

Also check out our instagram pages@pfsgolf, @brandon_pfs, @ando_pfs, @parkercondit_pfs, @pfsfitness, @reedhrynewich_pfs, @utlimate_lady_badass

Greg Mc Lean

Posted August 14, 2019 at 7:02PM

Myokinematic Restoration - Reno, NV - Course in Review

Had a beautiful weekend with Kasey Aikin, DPT, PRC in my home state of Nevada teaching Myokinematic Restoration to a really great group. A big thank you to our generous host at the University of Nevada Sports Medicine, Jay Henke, M.Ed, LAT, ATC. He made us feel right at home in every way and even provided me with a list of his favorite local places to eat, which is a treat for a foodie like me. The University of Nevada Reno is nestled in the mountains and foothills of northwest Nevada, which is something you really need to see if you haven't been. As an alumni of the University of Nevada, I have really come to appreciate the northwestern Nevada beauty of Reno, Carson City and Lake Tahoe. Returning to my home state helped me again appreciate all the great people who live there.

And it was a treat to be able to co-teach with the newest PRI faculty member in training, Kasey Aikin, DPT, PRC. She does a great job with the Myokinematic Restoration course material and is really able to connect with the class attendees. She is from the great state of Texas and she brings a hospitality all her own wherever she goes. It was an honor to get to team-teach this course with her and to get to both teach and learn from her this weekend. She reaffirmed what I already knew about our PRI Faculty, that we are all unique with our own unique gifts, attributes and passions that allow us to connect in special ways with a variety of course attendees. Kasey is definitely passionate and she made the course experience great for everyone in attendance.

PRI Faculty James Anderson and Kasey Akin co-teaching Myokinematic Restoration

This Myokinematic Restoration course material is really useful for all types of clinicians as well as sports medicine and strength and conditioning professionals for a variety of reasons. First, it outlines which muscles are needed for non-compensatory gait mechanics when in the Left AIC Pattern and what the specific deficits are on each side. Second, it explains and outlines the use of Ligamentous Muscle as a powerful resource for stabilizing hip joint or pelvis instabilities. And third, it provides 2 powerful resources, The Hruska Adduction Lift Test and the Hruska Abduction Lift Test, to monitor pelvic and hip gait performance in all 3 dimensions.

Lab practice during the Postural Restoration Institute Myokinematic Restoration course, Reno, NV

I was first drawn to the science of Postural Restoration via the material in this course. It challenged my thinking and gave me a structural framework for prescribing movement and outlining performance that I rely on heavily to this day. The course is a great introduction to PRI for people from all backgrounds and it remains one of my favorite to review, utilize and teach.