Sports Performance Rehab
Force Physical Therapy works with youth, high school, collegiate, and hundreds of professional athletes each year from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, and UFC.
Since 2010, we have served as the medical directors for the Bommarito Performance Systems NFL Combine Preparation Program and accompany athletes yearly to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. We also provide onsite rehabilitation, recovery, and prehab to all Bommarito Performance System athletes. To learn more about Bommarito Performance Systems, click here.
We are also the official medical and performance provider for the United States Sailing Team. Since 2012, we have traveled internationally with the team to cover world championship events annually as well as treat the team during the Rio (2016) and Tokyo (2020) Olympic Games with plans to provide medical services at the upcoming Olympics in Paris (2024). To learn more about the US Sailing Team, click here. To learn more about how we can help you, your kids, or your local sailing club stay healthy and optimize their performance contact us at: info@forcesportstherapy.com
Top Athletes served
QB
RB
WR
TE
OL
DL
LB
CB
Safety
2016 - Rio, Brazil
2020 - Tokyo, Japan
2024 - Paris, France
In Person Evaluation and Treatment Plans
Initial Evaluations are 60-90 minute full body comprehensive examinations where we discuss your injury history, identify deficiencies, and create goals for future sessions. No long waits necessary before starting your rehab. The evaluation also includes a treatment session on the same day!
Follow-up treatment plans are roughly 60 minutes and can include anything from foundational exercises to advanced drills & progressions on the turf, weight room, or track. Sessions also incorporate manual therapy techniques and modalities such as blood flow restriction, dry needles, compression recovery boots, muscle stimulation, laser, etc., depending on your goals!
Remote/Virtual Evaluation and Treatment Plans
We acknowledge that only a small percentage of the population is able to travel down for a week or an off-season which is why we have expanded our practice to include remote consultations via phone/video calls.
To date, we have helped athletes from around the US, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Poland, Ireland and more…we are here to help you!
Based on your timeframe, available equipment, and specific objectives we can develop weekly/monthly programs OR several months of periodization to help you reach your goals!
Maintenance / Prehab / Recovery Packages
Games are strenuous…
Practices are demanding…
Seasons can be grouling…
This is why we have developed a maintenance package for athletes looking to take care of their bodies in season or during an intense off-season training program.The maintenance package includes a variety of modalities and manual therapy techniques based on your current deficits.
This package is best suited for athletes with no current significant injuries who are striving to optimize their health, minimize soreness, and reduce the probability of future injuries occurring.
Load Management Consultations
Playing on multiple teams simultaneously? Bouncing back and forth between practice/games/tournaments, skills coaches, and strength & conditioning?
Work Smart AND Work Hard.
We know proper load management is a tricky area as there is not one correct answer.
Every athlete is unique…
Every athlete has a different training age…
Different training experiences…
Different short term and long term goals…
Our goal of the consultations is to provide recommendations on prioritizing and progressing workload throughout the season, year, and develop long term plans for success.
Why we recommend every healthy athlete has a Force Baseline Screen
Injuries happen, it’s part of playing sports.
We can not control when every injury happens BUT we can provide the likelihood of future injuries occurring in distinct instances.
How?
Baseline Screens.
Our screening process is recommended for coaches with a team, parents with children, and athletes looking to ensure if an injury does happen, they already have preexisting data of their healthy strength values.
The numbers collected come in handy because if an injury happens, we now have objective goals on what the athletes values should be prior to returning to sport.
Modalities / Equipment
Blood Flow Restriction training (BFR) can be used at all phases throughout the rehabilitative process and is commonly used by our patients on active recovery days as well. Depending on your goals, we can either use the BFR Delfi cuff on one arm/leg or B-Strong cuffs on both arms/both legs to increase strength, endurance, and/or muscle mass. Our high grade BFR device (Delfi Personal Tourniquet System) requires an active medical license and individualizes limb occlusion pressure to each patient. The pressure is monitored by our staff in real-time throughout the treatment session to optimize patient safety.
View More
Alter G: The Alter G, anti-gravity treadmill, is a pressurized air chamber that can be used for neurological patients, musculoskeletal injuries, as well as to improve endurance for healthy athletes. Using differential air pressure technology, you will have the ability to experience the sensation of reduced body weight / gravitational load in 1% increments. This precision can help you move with less pain or even pain-free when compared to walking on traditional surfaces.
Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) is a manual therapy technique using stainless steel tools for specific areas of the body. IASTM enables clinicians to effectively address scar tissue and myofascial restrictions. Combined with appropriate mobilization of joints and exercise to promote proper movement patterns, the physical therapist is able to diagnose and treat areas of soft tissue exhibiting signs of tissue dysfunction. This technique can also help speed up
Shockwave Therapy: Extracorporeal shock wave therapy is a noninvasive treatment that involves delivering high-energy acoustic shock waves to a targeted tissue. This technology is known to decrease pain and promote healing of soft tissue injuries by boosting circulation. Additionally, shockwave therapy may reduce chronic pain by overstimulating nerve endings, creating a decrease in pain sensitivity. In order for this treatment to be effective, high-energy waves or pulses need to be targeted to the affected tissue. For example, if a patient had elbow pain due to tennis elbow, the device will be directed at the elbow.
Other benefits of shockwave therapy include stimulation of fibroblasts, needed to heal connective tissue injuries. It also stimulates osteoblasts, which builds new bone formation. These high energy waves have been known to dissolve calcific deposits such as bone spurs as well.
Conditions treated: Shockwave can be incorporated as part of a treatment plan to improve a host of injuries including: plantar fasciitis, shoulder pain, heel spurs, carpal tunnel, golfers elbow and tennis elbow, achilles tendinopathy, patellar tendinopathy (jumper’s knee), low back pain, knee pain, sciatica, piriformis syndrome, calcifications, hip pain, and a host of other conditions.
Simple 3 Step Procedure:
- Step 1- The therapist will locate and assess the specific area of pain intended to be treated.
- Step 2- The therapist will apply a sufficient amount of gel to the affected area in order to transfer the acoustic shock waves efficiently and smoothly.
- Step 3- The device is slightly pushed against the treatment area and applied for a specific duration, frequency, and intensity depending on the severity and location of pain.
We typically recommend a minimum of 4 sessions starting at 2 sessions/week.
If you’re interested in a ShockWave Package, contact us to discuss:
A) ShockWave specific treatments
OR
B) ShockWave + Physical Therapy options
Meloq: This digital dynamometer quantifies muscle force output. We use the device as part of our Force Baseline Screens and for return to play patients. This force gauge aids in objectifying affected versus non-affected limb strength to determine percent relative symmetry.
ARP Wave: Accelerated Recovery Performance, ARP, Wave is a neuro recovery intervention used to expedite acute and chronic injuries. ARP Wave can aid in decreasing muscle spasms as well as reduce the amount of atrophy occurring post injury. The device can also maintain or increase joint range of motion and increase neovascularization.
Laser: Our Class IV laser, commonly known as Low Light Level Therapy or photobiomodulation, is a form of red light therapy. We use this modality to provide heat to your specific location of pain. The focal heat is known to increase tissue temperature, leading to increased blood flow and stimulating repair at the cellular level.
Hivamat: This patented treatment method (Histological Variable Manual Therapy) is a form of deep oscillation therapy used to treat swelling, relieve soft tissue pain, and help increase the speed of recovery.
Dry Needling: This technique blends anatomical & physiological understandings of the musculoskeletal and neuromuscular system where fine filament needles are inserted through the skin to reach specific trigger points. Once the sterile filament needle reaches the targeted tissue, it can break up shortened tissues, inhibit a reflex arc from the nervous system to the tissue, normalize the inflammatory response, and centrally mediate the pain. All practitioners utilizing dry needling undergo rigorous training in multiple courses to become accredited to practice dry needling in the state of Florida.
Expectations:
While the symptoms post dry needle vary from patient to patient, a majority of patients experience pain relief and/or increased mobility immediately following treatment. Soreness lasting 1-2 days is a normal response following a treatment session. Additionally, a smaller percent of the population may experience achiness directly following the treatment lasting 1-2 days. The soreness or achiness can be decreased with heat, light manual therapy, or low level exercise. It is not uncommon to experience mild bruising at the site, which is not a harmful response. In order to reduce the severity of the bruising, a patient may apply ice.
Conditions treated: Dry needling techniques can be incorporated as part of a treatment plan to improve a host of injuries including: cervical pain, headaches/migraines, shoulder pain, thoracic outlet syndrome, carpal tunnel, golfers elbow and tennis elbow, tendinopathy, low back pain, hamstring/calf strains, knee pain, sciatica, piriformis syndrome and a host of other conditions.
Normatec Boots: Our lower body compression boots are a modality we use post session or part of our recovery package to jump start the recovery process. You can target the compression to a specific area of your lower body or choose a full flush for the entire lower extremity.
Cupping: Cupping has been used for thousands of years throughout the world but popularized in western medicine over the past decade. At Force, we incorporate various dry cupping techniques to reduce myofascial adhesions, increase blood flow, and speed up recovery.
Aquatherapy: Using the Edith and Saul Schmidt Aquatics Complex, we have access to a six-lane, 25 yard heated indoor and outdoor pool. We traditionally use aqua therapy as an alternative active recovery day to maintain power, speed, and/or range of motion without overloading the joints and tendons.
Game Ready: Our cold compression therapy system is commonly used for acute and chronic injuries as well as post-operative patients to help in decreasing pain and reducing swelling. The system consists of a unit filled with ice and water which attaches to a sleeve that is designed for a specific body part. We currently have cold compression sleeves for the ankle, knee, hip, elbow and shoulder.
Compex / Marc Pro / H Wave: Our FDA(k) cleared portable muscle stimulators can assist with expediting the recovery process, relieve pain, as well as improve performance. The Compex has 6 different settings depending on if the device is being used pre-treatment for warm up, intra-treatment for strength, or post-treatment for active recovery/cool down. Our athletes favorite settings are typically training recovery which brings blood flow to the area without fatiguing the muscle and resistance which stimulates the muscle fibers at a higher intensity to improve strength gains in the targeted area.
ProteusTM: Patented 3D resistanceTM takes cable and free weight training to the next level. With the ability to assess, adapt, and accumulate strength & power data in various movement patterns, the ProteusTM incorporates sports science into training and rehab. The 3D resistanceTM is intended to directly counter any movement, keeping resistance constant through the entire range of motion.
Kbox: Exxentric kBox4 Pro is a form of Flywheel training that increases the effectiveness of your rehab program by applying the inertia of a flywheel instead of simple gravity to create optimal resistance. There is no upper limit to how much kinetic energy you can generate with flywheel training. This means that you can always use a higher force and accelerate the flywheel more. Resistance is variable such that if you pull less, the flywheel will resist less. Additionally, a built-in KMeter II provides real time feedback and in-depth analytics including power/force metrics (eccentric and concentric peak power, average force, and average power), range of motion, speed (m/s), and energy generated (kJ).
Shuttle MVP: The Shuttle MVP is a three-in-one machine; used as a leg-press, plyometric jumping, and general rehabilitation. With resistance from 12-300 lbs you can progress from post surgical rehabilitation to the highest of ability levels.
TechnoGym Skillmill: The Skillmill is a curved treadmill with a non-motorized belt, meaning the more powerful you push, the faster you go. Multidrive TechnologyTM with various settings, the Skillmill can be utilized to improve power, speed, or endurance.
Functional Capacity Evaluations: FCE’s are an objective measure used to determine fitness level of employees prior to commencing or returning to work from an extended leave of absence. This set of tests assess various reaching, pushing, pulling, sitting, standing, and climbing activities in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of an individual’s fitness capacity. Typically, Functional Capacity Evaluations are 4-6 hours in length, but depending on the specific characteristics being tested, the entire assessment may take more or less time to complete.