Did you know that the holidays can be a time when stress can cause increase tension in your shoulders and neck? It can also be a time to trigger previous bodily aches and pains.
We are running around like crazy, shopping, cleaning, cooking and often not taking good care of our bodies during the holidays!
We overeat and spend way too much time sitting with little exercises to counteract this sedentary time.
Pay particular attention to your “body talk” during these times. If you are having increased stiffness in your back or neck or if you are having trouble straightening up after prolonged sitting,
you are at risk for development of pain.
What can you do?
· Avoid excessive sitting
· Move around—this hydrates the disc and other joints in your back and neck
· While performing typical holiday activities such as gift wrapping, baking and lifting boxes of decorations remember to stretch and keep limber. Implement these two easy stretches into your daily routine to help prevent tension headaches and back pain.
2-Part Neck Stretch VIDEO Knee-chest Low Back Stretch VIDEO
The holidays always contain periods of stress and science shows that stress can make pain greater. However, science also shows that laughter, joy, love, singing and mediating can all calm the brain and reduce pain.
I hope your holidays contain little stress but much of what the
holidays are for; laughter, love, singing, and appreciating the blessings we have. Have a joyous, happy, and pain-free holiday!
Excel's own CEO Jeff Ostrowski, PT, discusses the biz, the healthcare system, today's private practice strengths/obstacles and all things physical therapy on this PT Talker Podcast.
Are You Running Your Physical Therapy Practice as a Business?
A passion for helping individuals overcome limitations and regain function is often the motivation behind starting a physical therapy clinic. Yet, many physical therapy clinic owners don039#t always think of their practice as a business. Today039#s expert makes a case for running a physical therapy clinic as a business. Jeff Ostrowski, PT, and CEO of Excel Physical Therapy Services and Excel Consulting Crew shares tips for providing outstanding patient care while focusing on your bottom line.
Despite the trend of lower payments for physical therapy services, Ostrowski is cautiously optimistic about the future of physical therapy. He believes physical therapy businesses need to learn how to do more with less, maximize the productivity of every physical therapist on staff and utilize marketing and branding to set their clinic apart. He shares details about innovative approaches like incentive plans designed to reward productive and efficient physical therapists and reasons why the best physical therapists are often the busiest. Listen now to find out more.
Excel Physical Therapy and Fitness named one of Philadelphia039#s Future 50 by SmartCEO Magazine
Philadelphia, PA – November 2010 –SmartCEO, a regional executive business publication, has named Excel Physical Therapy and Fitness as one of the Delaware Valley039#s Future 50, which recognizes 50 growing companies that represent the future of the region039#s economy and are exemplary leaders in the industry.
Smart CEO039#s Future 50 is the largest and most highly anticipated program of the year for the Magazine. The honor recognizes steadily growing companies that remain true to their missions to provide exceptional products and services to their customers. Companies are selected based on an executive survey and the company039#s revenue and employee growth over a three-year period.
“After 20 years in business this honor is particularly significant because it recognizes that Excel is continuing to expand and evolve,” says Jeff Ostrowski, CEO of Excel Physical Therapy and Fitness. “In the past year, Excel has started a consulting arm for other private practices and this recognition strengthens our resolve to help other businesses succeed.”
Each Future 50 winning company CEO will be profiled in the January issue of SmartCEO, making it one of SmartCEO039#s largest and most-coveted issues. In addition, more than 650 C-level attendees will celebrate this elite group of businesses at the Future 50 black-tie awards gala in January.
About Excel Physical Therapy and Fitness
For 20 years, Excel Physical Therapy and Fitness has been providing physical therapy and fitness programs dedicated to improving quality of life throughout its communities. Excel has grown to become the largest privately owned physical therapy practice in the Delaware Valley with eight locations throughout the region and home to the area039#s most knowledgeable physical therapists. Excel is proud to be the only physical therapy network in the country that is 100% certified in Functional Movement Screens (FMS), as well as have the most physical therapists certified in Active Release Technique (ART) on the East Coast. Excel was recognized by the Philadelphia Business Journal as one of the Best Places to Work in 2009 and was recognized by the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Daily News and Philly.comas one of the Top Workplaces in 2010. In addition, Excel was named one of SmartCEO039#s Future 50, which recognizes 50 growing companies that represent the future of the region039#s economy and are exemplary leaders in the industry. For more information on Excel, please call 1.866.88 EXCEL (39235) or visit www.excelphysicaltherapy.com.
When a casting agency called Excel Physical Therapy and Fitness looking for a physical therapist to be on the movie set of Dark Fields, or actress Abbie Cornish, I quickly volunteered. I had seen this movie being filmed up by Callowhill St. in March and knew Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro were Abbie039#s co-stars. A couple of weeks ago, Abbie had fractured her ankle while performing martial arts with her personal trainer and was placed in a “walking boot” to protect it while it healed. My job, along with my boss, co-owner of Excel, Joe Ruhl, was to make sure we managed her pain and alert the producers if we believed her ankle would be compromised while filming.
My day started early, and I was soon introduced to Abbie after being led down a long row of trailers. Abbie was sweet and easy to talk to and asked me to come into her trailer to work on her back which had been acting up. If you ever wondered what the inside of those trailers look like, just envision a cheap 70039#s motel room. We both had a good laugh at living the “glamorous life” when she couldn039#t find soap and had to offer me toilet paper to dry my hands while I washed up to perform a massage.
During the massage, she quickly brought me up to speed about the movie. It is a thriller in which Bradley Cooper plays a former drug addict and struggling writer. He finds a super drug which makes him incredibly smart and he rises to success. Abbie plays his on again, off again girlfriend. The movie039#s twist is that he needs to get off the drug; however coming off means death. The rest of the movie, he tries to find a way to end his addiction without dying.
An hour later, we were called on set, (yes, someone really does rap on the door and say “Ms. Cornish, they are ready for you on set”) and we were taken down to an area of the Philadelphia Zoo they had cornered off and made to simulate Central Park in New York. Abbie had filled me in that while the movie was set in New York City, much of the filming had been done in Philadelphia due to it being much cheaper to film in our lovely city. By the way, she is a huge fan of Philly.
I was thrilled to be placed behind the monitors, where I could watch Director, Neil Burger consult with Abbie after each scene. For the next 4 hours, I watched as they shot the same one minute scene over and over again. No wonder why it takes so much money to make a movie! I was able to watch as a stunt double stood in for Abbie during a chase scene and was also privied to seeing a fight scene being rehearsed, then filmed. It was a fantastic feeling to be able to consult with the producers and Abbie during her more arduous parts of the scene. Everyone was incredibly nice and I was reluctant to go, when my co-worker Joe came to relieve me.
Will I go see Dark Fields? Absolutely!! I just have to know why Abbie was being chased by a man with a knife!!
- Sarah Walmsley, PT, VP of Marketing. Also featured on Philadephia Magazine's “Be Well Philly” blog on 11/4/10.
Warming up and stretching are key components to injury prevention, but they are often cut out of training due to time constraints. Active dynamic warm-up exercises consist of multiple joint stretching, which elevates your heart rate and gets the blood pumping. Instead of warming up for 5-10 minutes before training and then stretching for 5-10 minutes, this allows you to get both components in at one time!
Dynamic stretching also encourages you to contract muscle groups throughout their range while challenging your balance. It primes your muscles for performance by replicating the motions that will be used during your training. It is much more sport specific and more effective in comparison to the classic “hold and stretch.”
Excel Physical Therapy and Fitness CEO Jeff Ostrowski along with Glen Mills Clinic ManagerGreg Masiko, Senior Physical TherapistCam McCormack, PT Aide Ryan McLean, former personal trainer Andy McCormack and former patient Brad Denning will be competing as a team in the Tough Mudder, on Saturday, November 20th at Raceway Park in Englishtown NJ.
The Tough Mudder is billed as the toughest one day endurance event on the planet. A 12.5 mile obstacle course race that is 3-4 times longer and much tougher than a typical mud run. An “Ironman meets Burning Man” competition, the obstacle course is designed by British Special Forces to test all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. Forget finish times. Simply completing a Tough Mudder is a badge of honor.
This tri-state event is bigger than any other Tough Mudder event in the past. The course is longer, with more obstacles and nearly four times as many participants than usual. If you think you are tough enough to go through this challenge with the best of the best, you can register here.
* All Tough Mudder sponsorship proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior Project.
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120 West Germantown Pike Suite 100 Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
olidays can be a time when stress can cause increase tension in your shoulders and neck? It can also be a time to trigger previous bodily aches and pains.
s contain periods of stress and science shows that stress can make pain greater. However, science also shows that laughter, joy, love, singing and mediating can all calm the brain and reduce pain.
