The Impingement and Instability PRI Course is one of my favorite courses to relate PRI concepts with actual course attendee’s multiple interests and perspectives. It is also a wonderful course to establish relationships through similar mindsets and settings. The University of Arizona host site is a perfect place for this type of activity to take place. There were a number of people with different perspectives, interests and mindsets to make this course so beneficial for everyone in attendance, as well as, to appreciate reference integration reasoning from different pre- designed perspectives and pre-established relationships.
Brittany Cline PT, DPT,ATC , Bruce Johnston ATC and the other University of Arizona host site attendees were and are so hospitable.
I enjoyed having Brittany’s 3 month old son, Jackson, in the course. He attended both days and is sensing his right lateral chest and demonstrating to the class how to sense and use this reference center in one of the attached pictures. I am quite sure Jackson is the youngest course attendee I have ever had, and for the most part was all smiles both days.
Victoria Humphrey PT, Samantha Yeoman ATC, and Nathanael Smith ATC, CSCS, thank you for being such willing class models. The weather was warm outside but everyone was so cool inside. I really enjoyed walking around this beautiful campus and hope that someday this host site will become a Postural Restoration Certified Center. I can understand how James Anderson MPT,PRC loves these people, loves the facility and loves the food; even though Café Poca Cosa was closed for the summer. Jen, you can send me here anytime you want in the future. I also look forward to another great conversation on PRI Integration of I and I concepts with those who want to rest and relax with models of activity that include sleep, breathing, life enhancement programs and spirituality, with Maria DelliVeneri ATC. Maria, it was so great to get to know you better. Thank all of you for your pursuit of PRI integration in your ‘musculoskeletal’ worlds.
I am reaching out to the PRI community to inform all Dallas residents that I am starting a PRI peer mentor group. The intent is that we have monthly or bi-monthly in-person meetings to provide a quality opportunity for learning. If anyone is interested in joining the group, feel free to shoot me an email at john.hfap@gmail.com.
The Sunshine State, and its urban gem, Miami, was the destination for the latest Postural Respiration course. Where else does one listen to Cuban salsa performed live outside the local grocery store? Thank you Cyndi Becker, MS, LAT,ATC, Lauren Reynolds, ATC, and Rodrigo Martinez, DAT, LAT, ATC for hosting at Florida International University, and giving this speaker a respite from the heat and humidity of DC (yes – Miami is more pleasant than DC in mid-July!).
For the majority of the class, this course was their first exposure to the paradigm-shifting tenets of PRI, supported by knowledge of human anatomy and by scientific literature that spans many decades and disciplines. We evaluated models from both the power point and in the flesh for evidence of sub-optimal breathing patterns and postural influences: thoracic flat backs, loss of apical expansion, belly and neck breathing, paradoxical breathing, and hyperventilation. We correlated these findings to our objective tests and patient-client complaints.
Participants learned the value of establishing and maintaining a left diaphragm ZOA, without which movement quality suffers and the ability to recover sufficiently is unlikely. Our discussion on non-manual techniques included their value in positively changing movement behavior through manipulating the nervous system and shifting the locus of control onto the individual. This group developed solid competency in performing and interpreting PRI objective tests, manual rib techniques, and effective cueing of non-manual techniques. You are ready to go forth and practice in a way that will be forever different than you used to!
Everyone facilitated the learning through their questions and comments. A special thank you to our models and readers: Amy Brown, DPT; Erik Kilstrup, CSCS; Rene LeBlanc, MPT, OCS; Rodrigo Martinez DAT, LAT, ATC; Julian Rivera, DPT, ATC, CSCS; Edwin Santiago, CPT, CES, PES, CS; Joseph Vuksanovic, LMT; and David Young, CSCS. A heartfelt “thank you” goes out to Megan Bollinger, DPT, PRC, for her thoughtful comments and great energy in lab. All of you Floridians have a superb mentor in your midst who would love to help you on your PRI journey.
The "Biggest Little City", Reno, NV at the University of Nevada, sponsored its first ever PRI course July 14-15 in the Nevada Physical Therapy Sports Medicine Complex. Attendees were not only local in number but traveled from Utah, Indiana, Washington State and Southern California to attend Postural Respiration. This weekend had a powerful combination of didactic class work balanced with lab every step of the way during the weekend. PRI concepts were discussed and demonstrated to bring experience to what assessment and treatment of tri-planer respiratory function looks and feels like when a person is "lateralized", "sagittalized" and then achieving neutrality with non-manual and manual techniques. One of the students who volunteered to be assessed and treated demonstrated to the class that some cases in clinic are more challenging than others. For example, non-manual techniques were not working to allow his femurs to adduct. He was a strongly patterned Superior T-4 with an athletic background. Then, manual techniques did not work including a two person infra-clavicular pump. A brief discussion on footwear, occlusion and vision followed with no progress on his femurs adducting or any other tests becoming neutral. After a break, a 90/90 hip lift with right arm reach and a balloon (without the stress of being a lab subject in front of the class and any performance pressure) provided immediate neutrality of his pelvis and improvement of BC testing. The big take away is to always stick with it and think outside the box of possibilities including a basic PRI non-manual technique that provided much needed inhibition to his neurologic/respiratory system. My mentor and friend James Anderson, P.T. said in my first PRI class, Postural Respiration, that your patients just want to relax! Sticking with your patients and not giving up plus practitioner and patient relaxing is a strong step towards effective clinical outcomes! Shout out to Jay Henke for doing all of the behind the scenes work to make this first ever PRI event at UNR! And shout out to all of the students for being such a solid class, helping each other out and adding this power tool to their clinical tool belt! The response from the locals at UNR is that they want more PRI courses to follow!
Summer is nearly half over, which means Fall is quickly approaching, and PRC applications will be due soon! Reminder that the Postural Restoration Certified (PRC) credentialing program deadline is September 15th. The PRC credentialing program is limited to the first 30 applicants each year. Two copies of each application (including full text of the articles used in the article review portion) must be mailed to PRI, and received no later than September 15th to be considered for testing this December. Please be sure that all items on the PRC application checklist are submitted. Please note that the PRC application is updated each year, so please print the most up to date application. To print an application, CLICK HERE!
PRC testing is scheduled for December 10-11th (following the four day Advanced Integration course) in Lincoln, NE.
*International clinicians who are interested in applying should contact me ASAP, as additional educational information must be submitted by August 1st (extended from July 15th) for review and approval by the PRI Board of Directors to determine eligibility for the PRC credentialing program.
Are you planning to apply this year? If so, please let me know! Also, if you are preparing your application, and have any questions, please call or email me!
We are excited to announce that Certified Special Population Specialist (CSPS) fitness professionals are now eligible to apply for our Postural Restoration Trained (PRT) credentialing program. In addition to holding this certification through the NSCA, one must also have completed a Bachelor’s degree or higher degree in order to apply for PRT credentialing.
According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Certified Special Population Specialist’s are defined as "fitness professionals who, using an individualized approach, assess, motivate, educate, and train special population clients, including those with chronic and temporary health conditions. Become a certified personal trainer, then pursue this advanced personal trainer certification. CSPS® individuals train clients with medical conditions such as metabolic disease, autoimmune disorders, cancer and cardiac arrest, and address the needs of prenatal and postpartum personal training clients."
The Postural Restoration Trained (PRT) credentialing program was established in 2011, as a way to recognize and identify individuals with advanced training, extraordinary interest and devotion to the science of postural adaptations, asymmetrical patterns and the influence of polyarticular chains of muscles on the human body as defined by the Postural Restoration Institute. Postural Restoration Trained (PRT) is a credential available to Athletic Trainers (with Certification through the BOC), Athletic Therapists (with Certification through the CATA), Strength and Conditioning Coaches (with CSCS Certification through the NSCA or SCCC Certification through the CSCCa), Certified Special Population Specialists (with Certification through the NSCA, and completion of a Bachelor’s degree or higher degree), and Exercise Physiologists (Certified Exercise Physiologists, Certified Clinical Exercise Physiologists, and Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologists with Certification through the ACSM) who have attended PRI courses, demonstrated a thorough understanding of the science through completion of the PRT Application and successfully participated in both clinical and analytical testing.
To learn more about the PRT credentialing program, CLICK HERE!
Lori Thomsen and the staff at The Hruska Clinic have recently updated their shoe list for summer of 2018! We have tried to provide more categories to assist finding proper footwear depending on the primary issues that you may be adressing with your patient. We hope that his gives patients and practitioners better tools to assit their patients. See the Hruska Clinic website to download the shoe list and see a video from Lori explaining what went into the changes this year!
Visiting the Country of Japan, left all of us longing to speak their language and be able to communicate with them in their culture more directly. Japanese is not considered an easy language to learn as it “borrows” 3 sets of characters from other languages in the region such as the Chinese “Kanji”. For many western travelers looking to visit this island, this may perhaps be the biggest hurdle. We were very fortunate to have the help, guidance and translation from our PRI Japan faculty and staff, who graciously helped us navigate the transit system which is the largest and busiest in the world.
Summarizing these 10 days into one page, feels like trying to interpret Japanese all over again. There is no way to accurately relay our deep respect and appreciation for the people we met along the way. Although there was at sometimes an inability to communicate these feelings to one another. They were greatly felt, through the smiles, bows, shared meals, and sightseeing that we accomplished while visiting.
We started the trip with the presentation of Cervical Revolution by Ron Hruska, in Tama Center, Tokyo at Teikyo University. Mr. Takahashi, was generous to pick us up and drive us to the course each morning and made the transportation such an ease. The Teikyo University facilities and staff there are some of the most hospitable and friendly group of professionals we have been around, and they love to have FUN! These 3 days provided a deeper discussion on the Secondary PRI concepts relating to the Cervical Spine, and the course attendees were eager to learn.
Following the Cervical Revolution Course we had scheduled two question and answer sessions in Tokyo, and Kyoto. The goal of these Q&A sessions was to answer any questions related to PRI that the community in Japan may have had throughout their attendance to Postural Restoration and Myokinematic Restoration. It was a tremendous success and although Sy had prepared several slides of possible topics to discuss, we never relied on their use. The audience was active and the questions (which were translated to Ron) ranged from the foundation of the science of Postural Restoration, to specific course questions and everything in between.
The rest of our trip revolved around seeing, experiencing and doing as much as we could in the remaining few days we had. We visited countless Shrines, and Temples and after our stay in Takashi’s home of Kyoto, we headed to Kobe. Kobe captivated us for many reasons but speaking as a Nebraskan from the Great Plains, I think we were all excited to see more of the countryside and less of the underground subway stations. As soon as we arrived in Kobe we started exploring. With only one day there, we knew it was going to be full. The morning started by taking a gondola to the top of the Kobe Herbal Gardens and the view at the top was breath taking. Soon after we were met by Mr. Akira Yoshimoto (who visited Lincoln a few months back, and has become a great friend) and his colleague, who guided the second half of our day. They took us out on a ferry ride through Kobe Bay, followed by dinner and a mountain top view of the skyline. This dinner deserves a blog alone, as the Kobe Beef experience was one I will never forget.
No amount of time or words can do justice to the amount of love we received during this trip. Many people deserve recognition for making it a success. Specifically Kenny, Sayuri (Sy), and Takashi as they were our lifeline every day. They are all three living in Japan for the first time in years, as Kenny and Sy, until recently remained in the US. Not only did these three individuals create a once in a lifetime experience for us, but they work tirelessly to further the growth of PRI Japan. They have now translated all three primary courses and continue to host these primary courses throughout the year. We already miss them, and although there is now a few more hours added to their flight time, we are hopeful that we will still see them throughout the year.
One of the only words I made sure to learn the first day we arrived was “Thank you”. Arigato Gozaimasu! I knew it would probably be the only word(s) that would matter, and 2 weeks later I wish I had said it ten times more.
Thank you to everyone involved with PRI Japan! Thank you to the course attendees who traveled and took off work and asked questions. Thank you to all of the host sites. Thank you to the PRT’s and PRC’s located throughout Japan, and thank you again to our PRI Japan faculty. We look forward to continuously growing with you all.
This past week I had the opportunity to lab assist with Pelvis Restoration and have a booth at the Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers (PHATS) Annual Convention. It was a joy talking and meeting so many Athletic Trainers and strength coaches from multiple divisions of professional and college hockey. Your passion and energy was visible in the course, I had so much fun helping out with lab and getting to learn more about hockey and all of you!
Midweek last week I enjoyed the opportunity to visit the largest Marriott hotel in the world to teach Pelvis Restoration to a group of engaged professionals at the Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers Society/Society of Professional Hockey Equipment Managers’ annual gathering in Orlando, FL. Thank you Anita Ramsay and the Orlando World Center Marriott staff for organizing the event, and to each of what was likely many people involved within the PHATS/SPHEM group for arranging the amenities and host site.
In a room filled predominantly with highly trained ATC’s and a host of other professional hockey specialties including LMT’s, NHL spotters, and strength coaches focused on intervention in the professional hockey realm, the day began with a discussion of how to integrate PRI principles of Pelvis Restoration into practice by discussing how the pubosacral ring is affected by normal asymmetry that often leads to positional dysfunction of a pelvic diaphragm and can potentially decrease athlete’s performance. Thank you Todd Daniels and others for spurring a thorough conversation about intervention pre and post competition early in the course to give us a functional application lean throughout. As we moved toward learning eight Pelvis Restoration objective tests that can be used to guide said pre and post competition intervention algorithms to add variability during and after play, course attendees participated in a discussion about Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI) and how both acetabulofemoral (AF) and femoroacetabular (FA) position and harnessed pelvis movement ability can affect the varying types of FAI. Thank you Brent Woodside for your help with demonstration of how accentuated normal patterned position can affect asymmetrical beings, decrease performance and add risk. Special thanks to Seamus McKelvey for bringing the best Irish name and beard to the course–and congrats to Luis Alvarez for winning the Josh Olinick best hair award for this course.
As we moved to treatment, I was impressed by this group’s consistent focus during the many lab sessions dealing with objective tests, inhibitory repositioning technique practice and neurofacilitation program technique practice and discussion. Thank you Thomas "quick hands" Alva for your athletic prowess with the pelvis toss and attention to detailed questions about special testing that ensured course participants were able to apply information as quickly as possible in practice. Rockstars: From start to finish, PRC’s Connor Ryan and Megan Bollinger and ATC Matt Hornung from straight outa Lincoln were on point during this course, guiding lab groups through a plethora of lab learning opportunities with steak-like Pelvis Restoration course lab material. These three were A+ and integrated seamlessly into and out of lab demonstrations. You three killed it! Many thanks also to Andrew "bowling ball" Sachkiw, Elise "feisty" Nichols, Kristen Larsen, Tyler Stratton, Ryan Lewdon, Steve Ruhmel and more for your willingness to help with lab demonstrations of particular pelvis inlet and outlet inhibition and facilitation techniques and concepts for group learning through the course. Each of you were great!
During break times and after the course, I enjoyed the conversations with Emi Takahashi about her applied pelvis hockey research @ WSU, Kyle Moore about how to integrate Pelvis Restoration into practice and multiple others throughout the course about varying, relevant and pelvis restoration specific topics. Thank you Matthew Aiello and others for your varying senses of humor throughout the course, keeping the group light and yet tremendously attentive throughout.
I really enjoyed my stint in Orlando applying Pelvis Restoration with all of these fine hockey professionals from around the country!
Earlier this month, we hosted our first Non-Manual Techniques Workshop with 42 attendees from across the US, and several different countries gathered in Lincoln to learn more about the intricacies and details of the PRI Non-Manual Techniques developed by Ron Hruska. The first 5 hours or so, Ron spent time discussing key concepts related to positioning, reference centers, and the organization of the Non-Manual Techniques programs. This then allowed us to then dive into several techniques (approximately 15) in great detail, and get Ron’s input on set up, performance, cueing, modification, types of patients the technique is good for, and more. For each technique, Ron had an attendee demonstrate, while he provided tips on performance and modification. The workshop was a huge success and based on the feedback from the attendees, it is something we plan to host twice next year in Lincoln. We have had several requests others wanting to host this workshop, however due to nature of how the workshop is organized and run, the set up at the Institute is best, where I can assist Ron in pulling up techniques onto the screens as needed. Another fun thing about this workshop, is other than the first 5 hours, no two workshops will be the same! We thoroughly enjoyed the first go around, and look forward to next year!
A few testimonials from course attendees:
"I learned better ways of cuing patients (tactile/haptic) and more focus on reference centers to maximize patient ability to improve/progress more effectively and quickly."
"Awesome tools to progress or regress routine all within the same exercise!"
We are excited to offer our Manual and Non-Manual Technique Programs directly on our website as Digital Downloads. If you have already purchased the CD’s or DVD in the past, there is no difference in content between these and the digital download version, and the process to save these programs to your desktop is the same. But, with ever-changing technology of computers and laptops (many of which no longer come with a CD/DVD drive), the digital download offers a more convenient way to purchase these products. Each of our three primary courses; Myokinematic Restoration, Postural Respiration, and Pelvis Restoration have a corresponding Non-Manual Techniques program. The Manual Techniques program includes nearly two hours of video including demonstration, instruction and explanation of each manual technique provided by Ron Hruska, which compliments the Postural Respiration course.
If you are Interested in learning more about these products, they can be found on our website HERE!
Being my first trip to Virginia, I was excited to be able to share the science of PRI to many first-timers. We had a very good mix of strength and conditioning, rehab, and sports medicine professionals in the audience. Virginia Commonwealth University were great hosts for our weekend of exploring how the polyarticular chains influence our every day lives, as well as our sports performance. Many thanks to Eddie Benion and his crew, James, Jason, Ray, Christopher, and John.
We spent our first day going through the patterns of the L AIC and R AIC. We discussed how the patterned behavior facilitates some muscles, while inhibits others, on each side of the body. And we had a great discussion about while is it awesome to be Batman, being Bruce Wayne is much more valuable. We talked about "good" Boy Bands, and "bad" Boy Bands.
The best part of the weekend, in my opinion was the amount of time we had for lab. We spent nearly half of the day on Sunday in lab, where everyone got a chance to find and feel the muscles that we need to facilitate, and inhibit, if we are to get into L stance and off the R leg properly. My thanks to my lab assistant, Eileen Kokosinski, PT. You were a great help! We were able to go through an inhibition lab as well. And we were able to link the activities back to the Hruska ABDuction and ADDuction Lift tests.
My thanks to Sara Creger, DPT, for letting us use her as our lab demonstration model. As well as Drew Coulter, DPT, and James Benzel, ATC, and Jason Castleman, ATC, for allowing us to learn from them as well. As always, we had a great room of learners, and we had a ton of great questions. My thanks to Joshua Jordan, Leanne Dunaway, Scott Burch, Tom Loyd, Ethan Saliba, Edwin Santiago, and Jason Turner. It was so great to hear this mix of health care professionals ask questions, and learn from each other about how human asymmetrical patterns affect our daily lives and sports performance.
