by 5dmin | Dec 18, 2018 | Blog, Podcast
On Episode 5 I sit down with my friend and mentor Dr. Kelly Starrett to learn about dialing in very specific things that will help you where ever you are on the spectrum of human, adaptive, able bodies, injuried, old, young etc. Kelly also keenly discusses the biopsychosocial model of physical therapy and how it is revolutionizing how they take care of ourselves. Listen, apply to your life, and pay it forward.
Here are topics covered on the show
- Most Embarrassing Moment In PT School
- How following the practice act makes you a bad physio
- How coaching changed Kelly’s practice as a physio
- What makes people change behavior
- Working with adaptive athletes
- 1st principles
- The mental health side of improving health
- Embracing being tribal animals
Here is how to reach Kelly Starrett
MobilityWOD Website
Instagram
Listen to My New Normal Podcast here:
by 5dmin | Dec 11, 2018 | Blog, Podcast
Imagine this: you grew up in in bad gang ridden neighborhood in Chicago, your only escape was basketball, but before puberty was even over you lost the use of your legs. How would you deal with that? Many people would give up on life or give in to being a part of a gang to feel accepted.
Meet Jaime Baltazar. The previously mentioned hypothetical is his new normal and un like many others he did not give in or give up even when his surroundings would have made it easy. Instead he became a wheelchair basketball badass for University of Illinois and parlayed that skill into a career as a basketball coach. Tune into this weeks episode of the My New Normal Podcast to hear Jaime’s story and find out the secrets to his unwavering mindset.
Topics Covered on This Weeks Podcast Are:
- Jaime’s Story
- Dealing with judgement from living life in a chair
- Adapting to a chair sport after playing in out of the chair
- Dealing with gang violence
- The mindset of resilience
- The impacts of high intensity functional fitness on sport
Listen to My New Normal Podcast here:
To learn more about wheeled athletes & most common injuries that put someone in a wheelchair such as spinal cord injuries check out: https://www.drtheresalarson.com/wheeled-athlete-spinal-cord-injuries/
To check out my Functional Training for the Adaptive Athlete Online Course (eligible for 0.5 CEU’s for NSCA under Category D), visit: https://www.drtheresalarson.com/adaptive-trainers-course/
The Summary:
Today’s guest on My New Normal Podcast is Jamie Baltazar is the head coach of the San Diego Wolf Pack, which is an all military, wheelchair basketball team located in San Diego, CA.
I assisted on the team for a season and then had the great opportunity to continuously work with the athletes in my adaptive CrossFit programs.
Jaime (pronounced Hi-May) experienced a thoracic level 12, and lumbar level 1 spinal cord injury. He was shot just near the ribcage and has an incomplete spinal cord injury, but he hasn’t let that stop him and is absolutely crushing life.
Jaime grew up in Southside Chicago, in the Back of the Arts neighborhood, which was primarily Latino. He was raised by his grandmother, who kept him active in sports and the church to stay out of the gangs that really ran his neighborhood.
When he was 17 he was the victim of gun violence, in a “wrong place wrong time” situation where a gang retaliated, and he just happened to be in a place where the opposing gang hung out. He was shot while in his car, in his ribs and the bullet is still lodged in his spinal cord. The last memory Jaime has of using his legs is putting his car into park.
Fortunately for Jaime he was able to rehab at the Rehab Institute of Chicago, which ranks as the top rehab facility in the nation. Through that facility he continued to be involved in sports and was able to get a scholarship to the University of Illinois to play wheelchair basketball.
At Illinois, he not only won TWO championships with the team, he majored in Sports Management and minored in Sociology, and started to pursue his passion to work with at-risk youth.
God had different plans for him though, and he got involved with the Warrior Games and coaching wounded and ill soldiers in an Olympic style tournament. Through the Warrior Games, athletes then get picked to compete at the Invictus Games.
Jaime is an incredible individual and this episode is PACKED with information not only for adaptive athletes, but anyone that is needing to feel inspired.
In this episode we’re talking about:
- Jaime’s injury and how he adapted
- Wheelchair basketball and how to get involved
- How we can be more accepting to the adaptive community
- The challenges that Jaime faces daily
- Movements that can help wheelchair athletes adapt
by 5dmin | Dec 5, 2018 | Blog, Podcast
On the 3rd episode of the My New Normal Podcast I am joined by my friend, former client oh and super bad ass Paralympic athlete Alana Nichols to talk about how she learned the character trait of resilience.
Alana broke her back during her senior of high school while attempting a back flip on her snowboard. At this point Alana was a highly recruited softball player in New Mexico and the injury completely destroyed her identity, but it didn’t stop her. She eventually became a 6 time medalist in the Paralympics.
Tune into this episode to hear Alana’s story and learn how she was adapt to her new normal and become more successful as a professional athlete than most of her able body peers.
- How Alana got injured
- Finding your identity post injury
- Finding your tribe
- Building empathy
- The importance of finding a coach who can challenge you and make you feel normal as an athlete
- How functional fitness can be applied to sports
- The conscious decision to be active as an adaptive athlete
Learn More About Alana Nichols
http://www.alanajanenichols.com/
https://twitter.com/alananichols21
https://www.facebook.com/alanajane21/
https://www.instagram.com/alanathejane
To learn more about wheeled athletes & most common injuries that put someone in a wheelchair such as spinal cord injuries check out: https://www.drtheresalarson.com/wheeled-athlete-spinal-cord-injuries/
To check out my Functional Training for the Adaptive Athlete Online Course, visit:
https://www.drtheresalarson.com/adaptive-trainers-course/
<<You can receive 0.5 CEU’s for NSCA under category D>>
by 5dmin | Nov 28, 2018 | Blog, Podcast
I’m so stoked about this episode of My New Normal! I’m joined by Chase Gentilhomme, a Service Warfare Naval Officer, CrossFit Coach, Adaptive Coach, and soon to be Physical Therapist. And Keith Concar, an Adaptive Athlete, a giver, an empath, and a total badass who would do anything for anyone.
Keith fractured his spinal cord in a motor vehicle accident and has a T12 “incomplete spinal cord injury”. Which means he can still feel and has some access to levels below that injury.
This episode of MNN is about having a serious episode or injury in your life and either maladapting or adapting. Can you be resilient and change?
There’s a point after the injury or serious episode where you have to make the choice to search for the optimal instead of settling for your current situation. And that’s what it means to ADAPT instead of maladapting.
Keith’s injury occurred when he was down in New Orleans helping people during hurricane Katrina. He was hit while riding a motorcycle and was hospitalized for a month.
Instead of falling into depression with his new diagnosis of being paralyzed, Keith shifted his focus to the nurses and doctors he was surrounded with who had lost everything. He bonded with the people he had met while working in the city. He consoled and talked to the woman who hit him in the accident.
Keith adapted instead of maladapting.
While Chase doesn’t have an injury like Keith’s, his history is comprised of several injuries and surgeries. His story is one of constant adaption to find his passion which is working with people and adaptive athletes.
He started out as a college athlete and engineering major, then graduated with a major in Sociology. After working with athletes and doing some bodybuilding, he decided he wanted to serve his country and defend our freedoms, so he joined the Navy.
Upon joining the Navy, he found CrossFit and furthered in understanding of movement and functional movement. He went from wanting to be the strongest and fastest, to understanding that mobility and recovery is such an important part of maintenance and good movement.
When Chase arrived in San Diego he began to look towards what he’d do when he got out of the Navy and came full circle to Physical Therapy and met Dr. T.
Chase never settled and kept adapting.
Topics Covered On This Episode
- Ice Breakers: spirit animals, 5 words to describer yourself and what do you want to do when you grow up
- Origin stories
- First line of care for adaptive athletes
- How to mentally deal with traumatic injuries
- How to grow past “why do bad things happen to good people”
- Dealing with a diagnosis and learning how to not let it become you
- How to become an adaptive coach
- Putting yourself out there after trauma
- Weeding out people that don’t really matter
Listen to My New Normal Podcast here:
by 5dmin | Nov 21, 2018 | Blog, Podcast
When it comes to wheel chair and spinal injuries there is always a what’s next despite what your doctor says. Often times people dealing with spinal cord injuries or family members helping a loved one who has a spinal cord injury can feel hopeless. On Episode 1 of the My New Normal Podcast I sit down to educate on conditions that most commonly put people into wheelchairs. On this episode I get into the nitty gritty of the diagnosis and then spend some time talking about why your diagnosis is not your new normal, because it does NOT determine your function.
Topics Covered On The Podcast
- The 4 most common reasons people get put into wheelchairs
- The basic anatomy of the spinal cord and what happens in spinal cord injury
- Bodily systems that can be effected by a spinal cord injury (Integumentary, Cardiovascular…etc)
- AIS/ASIA scale of spinal cord injuries and ABCDE classifications
- My levels classification system for adaptive athletes with a spinal cord injury and how to adapt movements based on this screen
