Women – 18 or older – are invited to both Tidewater Performance Centers for unlimited, free access to the Total Body Conditioning classes led by degreed and certified personal and sports performance trainers.

“Sometimes, when you’re working on becoming the best woman you can be, you just need a little encouragement to get started,” said Natalie Conway, a physical therapist, wife, mother and Tidewater Physical Therapy’s Regional Director in Gloucester. Tidewater Performance is a division of Tidewater Physical Therapy.

“We want to encourage women to get fit as the main decision makers of the family, and put themselves first this week.”

Coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health, the weeklong observance is meant to bring communities, businesses, government, health organizations and other support groups together to promote the importance of women’s health.

“It also empowers women to make their health a priority and encourages them to take…steps to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases,” according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

While most women recognize that regular activity can help prevent unhealthy weight gain and prevent diseases, according to the department, many women “haven’t quite gotten around to setting up a regular routine.”

The Total Body Conditioning classes can be the beginning of that routine, Conway said.  The class starts with a dynamic warm up, including hopping and skipping, and is then tailored to participants’ personal level of fitness for strength training and conditioning. All levels of fitness are welcome.

Women can call the Tidewater Performance Center in Newport News at 757.223.5612 or in Gloucester at 804.210.1343 to reserve a space in any Total Body Conditioning class May 12 through May 18.

Classes are offered at various times throughout the day. A full schedule of classes at both locations is available online at www.tidewaterperform.com/about/tidewaters-schedule.

Forget to call or don’t want to come alone? Drop-ins are welcome and every woman is invited – and encouraged – to bring the other women in their life.

GET PREPARED

This football specific program prepares athletes for the demands of the Combine 360/Ignite Testing and is specifically designed to maximize core competitive skills in speed, agility and strength.

Emphasis is placed on improving:

• 40- yard dash
• 5-10-5 shuffle
• 185 bench press
• 3 cone drill
• vertical jump
• broad jump

If you are a High School Athlete wanting to maximize your Combine 360/Ignite performance and ranking in preparation for College recruiting

or

If you are a Middle School Athlete preparing to transition to a High School football program,

This is the program for you.

DATE

May 7 – June 13, 2013 -  7-8:30pm at Tidewater Performance – Newport News

• Six week session meeting every Tuesday and Thursday.
• Total Session – $300.00
• Maximum of 6 Athletes per class

TO REGISTER OR FOR MORE INFORMATION

Tidewater Performance

Newport News

Anita Pozin

757.871.8148 or 757.223.5612

To keep himself from the conflicted despair of wanting to bag the race alongside his peers, he focused on his Dad, a former professional cyclist and the challenges he now faces living with Parkinson’s disease. I can only imagine the conversation inside the 22-year old Phinney’s head:

“My body is strong. I have trained a ridiculous amount for this race. What idiots designed this course with a 27 percent incline? Why did I pick this stage race? I can win tomorrow’s time trial if I can just get in under the cutoff time today. If these guys around me will just dig deep and we all work together, we can finish. Why don’t I stop like the rest of them?”

“My dad would never quit. He didn’t achieve the success he did by pulling over to the side and jumping in the sag wagon. My dad never let anyone push him up a hill. Dad calls himself Turtleboy because he’s stuck in a body that won’t cooperate, even though his mind is as sharp as ever. I can do this. If my Dad can make himself get up every morning and face the day with a can-do attitude, I can finish this stupid bike stage. ”

One of the aspects of preparing for competition that we often neglect is the mental training that is a necessary component. This skill and practice is really what sets successful athletes at all levels apart from their peers. Coaches, personal trainers, and self discipline provide us with the opportunity to be pushed to the edge and experience the misery of going on even when we crave stopping to end the discomfort.

I was made aware that there are 1440 minutes in a day when I came across a video of Mark Williams from Human Dynamic Solutions speaking about Mindfulness training.  The video was sponsored by the 1440 Foundation.  Mindfulness sparks my interest as a performance enhancement tool for endurance athletes and as a mechanism for patients suffering from chronic disease or pain to improve their quality of life.

Shinzen Young wrote that, “mindfulness practice trains your nervous system to know itself better and interfere with itself less.”

I have no idea if Taylor Phinney or his Dad have had any formal instruction in this art of extreme focus, but as I read about the younger Phinney’s miserable day on the bike, I couldn’t help but admire his perseverance.  And for those of us who work with people living with Parkinson’s Disease, a chronic and progressive movement disorder that leaves a person unable to control movement normally, perhaps in Mindfulness training there is a  strategy to make daily life less frustrating.

In my personal quest to manage stress and maintain a positive outlook, I am continually drawn to the Buddhist teachings and wisdom of the Dalai Lama which remind us that essentially the only thing in this world any of us can truly control is our own behavior and that includes how we react to the situations and people we encounter in our daily lives. Jason Gay introduced many of us to Taylor’s Dad, Davis Phinney, “Turtleboy.”

Gay reminded us that for people living with Parkinson’s disease, “ordinary life requires patience.”  And patience is at the root of mindfulness.

This educational piece was provided by Karen Kovacs, the Clinical Director of Tidewater Physical Therapy’s Gloucester Point location. Karen Kovacs is also a USAT Level 1 Triathlon Coach and accomplished endurance athlete.

Stacey Richardson, triathlon coach and owner of TriStacey Coaching offers great insight into how training differs from working out.  She points out that “coaches bring you through your fear of failure on a journey that leads to success greater than you imagined.”

Richardson suggests that “working out = staying in your jeans, having fun, no long term planning, no variations in fatigue. You generally feel fit but experience no profound adaptations in your physiology, may plateau, and your regime is not a progression but rather a routine. Nothing wrong with that. But it’s not training. For beginner triathletes this looks like swim, bike, run, rinse, repeat. And these same athletes wonder why race day is so exponentially more challenging than their daily regime.”

Stacey Richardson reminds us that “training = following a vision, doing workouts to your best effort, never giving up, growing wiser and more expansive in your views and knowledge of your chosen sport,  and following the lead of a trained coach who imparts knowledge, encouragement, and pushes you past your self-imposed limits and barriers. You’ll never know if you don’t try, but human nature is that we do not routinely set ourselves up for challenges greater than our limits. But really, what are our limits?  Confines of the mind that need further discussion.”

Stacey Richardson is a professional triathlete, USA Triathlon Level 2 coach, and freelance writer. See her blog and website for more thoughts on smart training: www.tristacey.com

Have you considered how a Performance Coach may help you reach your goals?

This educational piece was provided by Karen Kovacs, the Clinical Director of Tidewater Physical Therapy’s Gloucester Point location. Karen Kovacs is also a USAT Level 1 Triathlon Coach and accomplished endurance athlete.

Dr. Jeffrey Barth will present “Save the Brain: A Concussion and Brain Injury Awareness Night” on Tuesday, March 26, 7-8:30 pm in Gloucester at the T.C. Walker Educational Center.

The T.C. Walker Educational Center is located on T.C. Walker Road in Gloucester, near the high school.

Dr. Barth is the founder and co-director of the UVA Brain Injury and Sports Concussion Institute and senior scientist for Virginia NeuroCare of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center.

Free helmets will be distributed.

Admission is free.

RSVP is appreciated but not required.

Register online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/TBIawareness

Read more about the brain and protecting it here:

http://www.brainline.org/content/2012/08/brain-basics.html

The Tidewater Performance Center in Newport News will host Virginia Wesleyan College’s Head Men’s Soccer Coach Chris Mills at its Newport News location March 20 at 6 p.m. to provide high school athletes with valuable tips for playing at the college level.

This speaking event is free and open to both male and female athletes. The Newport News Tidewater Performance Center is located at 751 J. Clyde Morris Boulevard.

“The road to playing any sport in college requires a combination of academic and athletic preparation,” said Al Coustineaux, president of the Newport News Football Club. “By partnering with Tidewater Performance and Virginia Wesleyan College, this event will provide our athletes and parents the opportunity to learn what steps to take to make playing in college a reality from a current college coach and former Division 1 athlete.”

Mills is a 2006 graduate of Virginia Wesleyan College with a degree in recreation and leisure studies, with an emphasis on sport, tourism and recreation management. In 2007, Mills served as an assistant coach for the college’s NCAA Sweet 16 team. In 2008 he was also the assistant coach when the team won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

Mills also played for Virginia Wesleyan College, helping the college to a 57-17-5 overall record in four years, two regular season league titles, two league tournament titles and two NCAA appearances. Mills was a three-year starter and two-time All-Virginia honoree.

RSVP to Anita Pozin at apozin@tidewaterperform.com or 757.223.5612.

The Tidewater Performance Center in Newport News offers one on one, semi-private and small group personal and sports performance training. The Performance Center is part of Tidewater Physical Therapy’s family of clinics and Performance Centers, serving Southeast and Central Virginia. A second Performance Center is located in Gloucester, Va.

Learn more about Tidewater Physical Therapy at www.tpti.com.

This feat is trivial in a world where ten aid workers vaccinating children against the polio virus were recently murdered. But it does mark a personal accomplishment. Through consultation and dialogue with physical therapists, sports performance coaches, a kinesiology major doing an internship and another trainer, we have examined what made this journey so difficult.

Why couldn’t I do a full squat (and I kept asking myself if it really mattered)?  Is it a physiological limitation that cannot be corrected? Is it a flexibility issue that stretching will improve? If I can lie on the floor with my feet against a wall and mimic the desired position, does that mean muscle weakness is the cause? Or is it the pattern of how I have ingrained my body and mind to move that is the limiting factor?

During a recent training session, my coach, Justin Heinle, used rubber exercise bands and verbal cues to modify how I was getting into the squat position; he enabled me to initiate the movement differently and I was able to do the squat almost perfectly. Seriously. No locked lumbar vertebral segment. No tight latissimus dorsi. Glutes aren’t weak.

The brain-body connection has a glitch and by altering the way I was trying to do the squat, I experienced success. It was (and still is) the neuromuscular coordination of all of the components of the motion that needed correction. And believe me, that is significantly more challenging to fix than stretching a tight muscle or strengthening a weak one. This discovery was exciting for me because I know that by practicing the correct way to move, the proper squat is within my reach.

The solution came by focusing on the big picture: the whole movement and not the components in isolation. The exchange of ideas and discussion that evolved from a PT (me) and performance coaches well versed in movement pattern analysis talking about why the squat just wasn’t improving resulted in an “ah-ha” moment when I performed the task correctly. Now, finally, I may be able to tap into Olympic lifting techniques that have so far been elusive. More importantly, the conversations that included the professional knowledge of trainers who have studied sports performance enhancement and injury prevention with the more rehabilitation biased PT may contribute to helping people achieve goals faster. Welcome to working together at Tidewater Physical Therapy and Tidewater Performance.

Physical health. Life balance. Do great things in the world.

This physical therapy educational piece was provided by Karen Kovacs, the Clinical Director of Tidewater Physical Therapy’s Gloucester Point location.

Group classes at the Tidewater Performance Center are led by degreed and licensed personal trainers and sports performance coaches.

Fitness classes are designed to provide clients with total body conditioning, where the student athlete classes, divided by age group, aim to help athletes from all sports with, among other skill sets, speed, agility, endurance and strength.

Monday

9:45 a.m.: Total Body Conditioning (Fitness)

5:40 p.m.: Total Body Conditioning (Fitness)

6 p.m.: Sports Performance (Middle School Athletes)

7 p.m.: Sports Performance (High School Athletes)

Tuesday

5:40 p.m.: Total Body Conditioning (Fitness)

Wednesday

9:45 a.m.: Total Body Conditioning (Fitness)

5:40 p.m.: Total Body Conditioning (Fitness)

6 p.m.: Sports Performance (Middle School Athletes)

7 p.m.: Sports Performance (High School Athletes)

Thursday

5:40 p.m.: Total Body Conditioning (Fitness)

Friday

9:45 a.m.: Total Body Conditioning (Fitness)

6 p.m.: Total Body Conditioning (Fitness)

Saturday

8 a.m.: Total Body Conditioning (Fitness)

9 a.m.: Sports Performance (Middle School Athletes)

10 a.m.: Sports Performance (High School Athletes)

The Tidewater Performance Center in Newport News offers one on one, semi-private and small group personal and sports performance training. The Performance Center is part of Tidewater Physical Therapy’s family of clinics and Performance Centers, serving Southeast and Central Virginia. A second Performance Center is located in Gloucester, Va.

Learn more about Tidewater Physical Therapy at www.tpti.com.

The collection efforts were in support of Erin Padgett, PA-C, a Physician’s Assistant at the Orthopedic & Spine Center in Newport News.

Padgett is an avid runner and fundraiser training for an endurance run with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training (TNT) Program.

In exchange for training and support, TNT participants raise funds for cures toward blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.

Part of Padgett’s fundraising included work for Green Sneakers, which collects old and used tennis shoes to provide affordable footwear to people in need around the world.

For every pound of shoes that Padgett collected – 1,135 pairs total, weighing in at 1,600 pounds – Green Sneakers will donate 50 cents to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

“Tidewater Physical Therapy and the Tidewater Performance Center are proud to help Erin achieve her goals,” said Paula Lumsden, Marketing and Communications Coordinator with Tidewater Physical Therapy. “We look forward to working with Erin in the years to come as she continues her training and her philanthropic efforts.

Lumsden called Padgett and her efforts, “truly inspirational.”

“I started team in training last spring when I wanted to run my first full marathon” Padgett said. “I lost a very close family friend, Stacy Philips, at the age of 19 after being diagnosed with a rare tumor called a Thymoma. She put up an incredible fight, however in the end the cancer won.”

Padgett plans to run the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in Washington, DC in April.

“During my long runs it was very inspirational to think of Stacy,” Padgett said. “When I thought my legs could no longer go on, I thought about her struggles and how she fought with everything she had while wearing a smile. I can’t imagine how many mornings she woke up and didn’t want to face the pain the day had to bring. If she never gave up and persevered on then I, a healthy 28-year-old, could run 26.2 miles in her memory. I continue to run in her memory and all the many others who have lost the battle to cancer.”

“I am very excited about having the opportunity to work for Tidewater Performance, because I am given the chance to positively change the lives of everyone I work with, both fitness and athlete,” said Heinle. “I can confidently tell our clients that no one is going to put as much effort and energy into their fitness and performance workouts as my colleagues and I here at Tidewater Performance.”

Heinle, a 2006 graduate of Knoch High School in Saxonburg, Pa., earned his undergraduate degree in sports fitness and wellness, and his Master’s Degree in Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention from California University of Pennsylvania (CalU).

“Tidewater is committed to hiring world class trainers,” said Natalie Conway, a physical therapist and Tidewater Physical Therapy’s Gloucester Regional Director. “Justin is no exception and we’re excited to have him on board. He clearly has a passion for making every body stronger in life and in sport.”

The Tidewater Performance Center is part of the Tidewater Physical Therapy family of clinics and training facilities, which are located throughout Central and Southeastern Virginia. The Tidewater Performance Center in Gloucester opened in 2012, the second for the company, which opened its first Performance Center in Newport News in 2011.

Heinle is certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine as a Performance Enhancement and Speed Explosion Specialist and has coached nationally ranked athletes in swimming, running and tennis.

“Having Justin Heinle on board here at Tidewater Performance as one of our Performance Coaches is truly a home run,” said Josh Miller, Head Performance Coach in Gloucester. “His knowledge, experience, and commitment to providing the highest quality service is what sets him apart.”

Heinle is passionate about sports, having served as a starting player for his high school soccer team and spending two years playing for the Pittsburgh Harlequins, a Division 1 Premier Men’s League.

While in college, Heinle played for CalU’s rugby team and served as team captain for two seasons.

Before joining Tidewater Performance, Heinle worked as the Athletic Strength and Conditioning Graduate Assistant at CalU and training athletes that now play professional football and baseball.

When he’s not in the Performance Center, Heinle is outside snowboarding, hiking, rock climbing and participating in triathlons.

“It’s an honor to come to Gloucester and join the Tidewater Performance team,” Heinle said. “Whether you are an athlete playing on a team or an adult who wants to be strong for a run or to be with your kids, I have a passion for helping you get better.”