The NeuFit Undercurrent Podcast

Greg Pignataro, CSCS, recently set the Guinness World Record for performing the most Nordic Hamstring Curls ever recorded in one minute! On this episode, he talks about his experience preparing for and setting the record -- including how the Neubie helped him along the way. He is also a certified ATG coach (ATG is the "Athletic Truth Group", the training system started by Ben Patrick, best known as the "Knees Over Toes Guy". We talk about the major principles of the ATG training system, some of the specific exercises and tactics they're using, and ways that Greg uses the Neubie to amplify the benefits of ATG workouts to help clients make more progress faster. And, if you want to learn to get your first Nordic Hamstring Curl, Greg also has a program called "Nordic Curl Now" available at neverpastyourprime.com/nordic/.

Frank Mocerino, founder of The Ohm Store, joins the Undercurrent Podcast to share his insights on truly effective customer service. He describes why his company has a 100% satisfaction guarantee that includes a no-time-limit return policy, why a Nordstrom employee once refunded a customer for a tire (which the customer obviously purchased from a different store -- yes, it's true), and why these examples are really just about treating customers like people and may not be such radical ideas after all. And, of course, we bring home the concepts by discussing how they can be applied by PT, Chiropractic, and other practices to thrive in their local markets.

After Brian Gallagher, PT, won "National Practice of the Year" in the early 2000's, he became a judge for the award in future years. While evaluating nominees for that award, he saw common themes among the most successful practices. Now, as the founder of MEG (Management Expansion Group), Brian shares those lessons (and his wealth of other experiences) to help PT Practice Owners improve their marketing, operations, compliance, billing, hiring, and culture. In this episode, we talk about: The biggest challenges facing PT practice owners Brian's 4 Keys to Building a Successful Business The 10-minute meeting that can supercharge your team and culture Why it's so important to stand out in your local market (and how technology like the Neubie can help) The optimal balance of cash and insurance revenue How to balance the agility of a startup with the consistent procedures of a larger and more established practice ...And more! It's full of actionable insights, so if you are a practice owner (or would like to be one someday), be sure to listen to the whole conversation. And if you want to learn more about Brian's services and sign up for a free practice assessment, check out https://resources.megbusiness.com/resource-guide-for-pt-owners. (Plus he has a special offer for the practice owners who are a part of NeuFit Nation!)

My guest today is Megan Evans, founder of The MS Stage. She used her background in dance and theater to create a practice that has helped her cope with her own MS challenges, using that to build an empowering mindset that has made a huge difference in her own healing journey. Now, through The MS Stage, she is coaching other people through movement, meditation, and mindfulness practices that have helped them upgrade their beliefs and mindset in ways that have enabled them to take action, make changes, deal with suppressed emotions, and move themselves onto a healing path. (Her courses are for women so far, but she plans to have offerings for men in the future too). In this episode, Megan shares her story, gives us a sample of the movement and meditation practices that are part of her program, and talks about her experience in her first few weeks of using the Neubie! Find out more about her work at www.TheMSStage.com.

In this episode, I'm joined by Lisa Chase, PT. She's the Co-Chair of the Functional Manual Medicine Certification Program at Michigan State University, former Medical Director of the WTA Tour (professional women's tennis), and owner of Back 2 Normal Physical Therapy in St. Petersburg, FL. She describes how she's spent her career looking for "game changers" in the physical therapy profession. The first she found was the Michigan State treatment model, including the manual therapy techniques in the curriculum that she now teaches. She discusses some of these concepts and techniques, including muscle energy, biomechanics, and manual therapy. Her most recent "game changer" has been the NEUBIE, and she shares how she's been able to use the NEUBIE to amplify the benefits of her manual therapy plus exercise treatment model, and also help people who would have been more difficult to treat manually because of their neurological guarding. With some of her stories from professional tennis and other clinical pearls, this episode is jam-packed!

Following up on our "re-introduction" to the nervous system from two episodes ago, we are going to take a deeper dive into the topic of pain. While most people think pain is an input ("that hurt me"), pain is really an output signal from our brains. The brain triggers pain in response to perceived threat, and that threat can be real or imagined, physical or non-physical. We review some real-world applications of these principles and how it can lead us to more effective treatment strategies. "Sports Medicine Said to Overuse MRI's" https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/health/mris-often-overused-often-mislead-doctors-warn.html Article on Back Pain and Imaging: https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/372/bmj.n291.full.pdf

In this episode, I'm joined by recently retired IFBB Pro Bodybuilder, Mike Giliotti. Mike is a master trainer with expertise in corrective exercise working as part of a multi-disciplinary team in Staten Island, NY to help people with all aspects of their health and physique. He shares his experiences using the Neubie with himself and various clients, including his own introduction to the Neubie that included a near-miraculous reversal of his chronic knee pain. It allowed him to continue training while keeping his knee pain at bay, and led to 4+ inch growth(!) in his legs. He also shares his wonderful perspective on mind-muscle connection, being mentally present and aware during exercise, some stories of client transformations and successes, and some of the particulars of how he's implementing the Neubie.

In this solo episode, I attempt to make the nervous system less intimidating by sharing some concepts and models that can help us all understand the nervous system. One of those concepts is the "black box," a theoretical object that accepts inputs, processes them, and creates outputs. We can view the nervous system as a big feedback loop that operates in this manner, and I share several examples of how the loop works to bring it to life. Another concept that helps us understand how the nervous system works is to understand that the brain's #1 priority is survival and protection. Because of that priority, the brain would rather have us do less and not more in order to keep us safe, and our brains often impose limitations on our bodies. Finally, we'll discuss how the purpose of functional neurology is to impact this loop by providing the right inputs, and what that can mean for rehabilitation and performance. Focusing on the software of the body, the nervous system, opens up breakthroughs in healing. This episode will help you better understand how to make those breakthroughs in your own lives and the lives of your patients/clients.

In this episode, Dr. John Marchese D.C. talks with us about Functional Neurology. We discuss how to precisely identify overactive or underactive brain areas and to guide them to optimal levels, what impact that can have on patient outcomes (even in "orthopedic" cases), how he uses the Neubie through the lens of functional neurology, his thoughts on asymmetrical training, and some common strength and conditioning tools that can actually create some problems when you look at them from a neurological perspective (including a bit about foam rolling, assault bikes, and more).

For this, our 50th episode of the NeuFit Undercurrent Podcast, I'm proud to welcome our biggest guest yet. Not just big physically, standing 6 foot 10 inches tall, but also big in the world of tennis. John Isner is the highest-ranked American tennis player in the world, has won dozens of professional tournaments, and holds the record for the longest tennis match of all time at over eleven hours long. It takes a special kind of resilience and determination to perform at that high of a level every season -- and to continue doing it at age 36. Listen in as John describes how prioritizing his fitness and enhancing his recovery with the Neubie has enabled him to perform at the top level of his sport at an age where many of his competitors are declining or considering retirement.