by 5dmin | Jan 15, 2019 | Blog, Podcast
Welcome to Episode 8 of My New Normal with special guests Amanda Bonham and Movement Rx’s own Dr. Megan Graff! This episode really has it all: we’re talking pregnancy, what it’s like to be legally blind, what it’s like to train pregnant, what it’s like to live in SoCal, and so much more. Without further ado, let’s get into it!
Amanda is from Tennessee, but moved to SoCal when she met her husband. She’s a massage therapist and has been for about 11 years. Megan moved to California from Texas for Movement Rx (yay!!) and the adaptive community and the Challenged Athletes Foundation.
Amanda was diagnosed with her condition (Stargardt Disease) when she was 10 years old, which was a pretty traumatizing experience for her. At the time, no one really knew much about it so no one explained to her that she had a degenerative eye disease. No one explained that her condition would worsen, so she didn’t appropriately prepare herself for the inevitability of going blind.
In high school her vision started to more rapidly change and she needed more visual aides, which is when she realized that things were going to change. She switched to a private school and commuted to school and started to shift her plans for the future.
Amanda’s way of coping in high school was denial and avoidance. She struggled with depression, anorexia, and cutting. She was placed in multiple treatment centers, but none ever took. Her first day of her Junior year in high school she had a major breakdown and was asked to leave and was sent to a lockdown treatment program where she spent 11 months.
During the treatment program, which she credits with saving her life, she was forced to address her condition head-on and finally cope with the anger and emotions that she hadn’t dealt with before.
TRIGGER WARNING: this episode contains conversation about food disorders and suicidal thoughts.
In this episode we’re talking about:
- What it’s like to be blind
- What it’s like to be blind and pregnant
- Training when you’re pregnant and blind
- How movement can help people cope with PTSD
- How to train someone who is blind and pregnant
- And so so so so much more…..
Listen to My New Normal Podcast here:
by 5dmin | Jan 9, 2019 | Blog, Podcast
Imagine this: you’re an Olympic sprinter in the final heat of the gold medal race and you are nervous as hell. Not because you are doubting your skill, training or grit, but because you’re worried that you might have an epileptic attack at any moment and lose control of your arm.
Sounds frightening to say the least. Well my friends this is what Jenny LaBaw has dealt with her entire life. Diagnosed with epilepsy at a young age Jenny has battled through all sorts of social and physical issues related to her disease, but because of her resolve has managed to be crowned the 6th fittest woman in America, be a collegiate soccer player oh and run across the entire state of Colorado in a month (531 miles).
Tune into this weeks episode to hear Jenny’s story and learn more about these topics:
- What is epilepsy and how does it effect Jenny
- How Jenny manage her disease throughout playing high level sports
- Why Jenny kept her disease private and why she eventually decided to go public
- Why Jenny got into CrossFit and why she’s not doing it as much
- Moving Mountains: Jenny’s run across Colorado for awareness
- Why Jenny thinks sharing your story is important and what affect others have on her
- How to develop mental grit and not be defined by your diagnosis
To learn more about Jenny head over to her website https://jennylabaw.com/
or follow her @jennylabaw on all the social media
Info on Epilepsy Foundation: https://www.epilepsy.com/
Listen to My New Normal Podcast here:
by 5dmin | Jan 1, 2019 | Blog, Podcast
Welcome to Episode 6 of My New Normal Podcast! Today I’m joined by the amazingly awesome Sara Olson and David “Chef” Wallach from Crossroads Adaptive Athletic Alliance.
Crossroads Adaptive Athletic Alliance is an amazing non-profit organization that helps adaptive athletes participate in fitness through education, grants, and competition.
Chef’s adaptive story started way back when he was a child and he tried to “stop himself too many times with his head.” He suffered multiple concussions due to his daredevil nature and was consistently trying to push the envelope. Chef had trouble in school and was labeled by some teacher’s as learning challenged or disabled. As he later discovered, the troubles he had as a child were more likely related to the injuries he suffered.
But by his own account, his true adaptive story started when a marine named Nick Tom walked into his gym. Nick was wounded very seriously fighting in Kandahar and was a bilateral, above the knee amputee, among other very serious injuries. Nick was so optimistic and so quickly progressing through his PT at Walter Reed that he was referred to the gym as a higher level of therapy.
When Nick arrived, it really started a conversation about how they should create a coach/client relationship between adaptive athlete and coach and how a set of metrics should be defined to show progress and data, and what are the places that progress should be shown. And not only that, but how do we make it easier for ALL athletes with permanent differences feel comfortable and included.
Sara’s background is in the Navy as an EOD tech, currently reserves, but by nature of her job she has many friends (of results of incidents in the field) are now adaptive athletes. She got a call from Chef and a mutual friend about hosting a functional fitness competition for adaptive athletes and thought “sure, how hard can this be!”
When they really started getting into it, they discovered that less than 50% of the competitors were veterans and that what the athletes needed was a community to get involved in deeper than a yearly competition.
In this episode we’re talking about:
- How Crossroads Adaptive Alliance helps the Adaptive Community
- Chef’s Adaptive Journey
- Sara’s Adaptive Journey
- The evolving nature of the coach/athlete relationship
- How to be a better coach to the Adaptive Community
To Learn More About Crossroads Adaptive Alliance go here:
Homepage
https://www.facebook.com/CrossroadsAlliance/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqbpB-dkO4HvYvfWjP-xhrg
Listen to My New Normal Podcast here:
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>>
