"Wow" was the word of the weekend at Cantrell Center for Physical Therapy, Sports Medicine and Wellness. This was one of the most enthusiastic groups this faculty member has observed with half of the attendees being new to PRI. In addition, The Cantrell Center had half of the total number of students in attendance which made this a real team effort for their facility and created a stronger culture of PRI for their facility. What I loved about this group was the balance of great questions and re-states from every one of the new students as well as the "veterans". There were two PRC’s, including lab assistant Ken Smith, who stated what we all experience attending a PRI course-no matter how many courses we have had is that there is always more to absorb and learn!
Cantrell Center Exercise Physiologist "Gentle" Giant Jalen Lawrence asked some great questions on how to apply PRI to power lifting and being able to learn how to better "axial load" when lifting. This was one of the most important questions for his athletes. In addition, we discussed that PRI loves extension for performance. We just don’t want to live there all the time and that flexing and internally rotating ribs is needed to down-regulate a system and help restore autonomic balance. HRV or heart rate variability was discussed in the context of Postural Respiration concepts. Autonomic function with parasympathetic inhibition upon inhalation vs. parasympathetic facilitation upon exhalation was discussed as a needed balance for HRV. Since breathing is such a common dysfunction, considering most of our patients present in a hyper-inflated, neurologically extended state, understanding diaphragm function and airflow management is a critical issue. This is not only an issue with people that come into our clinics with pain and dysfunction. It is a performance/recovery issue as well. Shout out to Mehmet, Marion and Michael from Florida who asked great questions and brought great energy. Thank you to all in attendance for making my weekend flow so well with all of you especially the "Cantrell Gang" who can collaborate and apply PRI in a supportive setting. Ken Smith, PTA, PRC was golden as our lab assistant and his energy helped move all of us along. Finally, thank you Tassie Cantrell for such a beautiful facility, great food and wonderful staff that attended and helped all weekend with set-up and clean-up duties.
