What do you get...

when you have a brash New York doctor working in the great state of Texas? Well, in this particular instance, you get an orthopedic surgeon who is doing some pretty impressive things when it comes to ACL recovery.  

ACL Reconstructed Rehabilitation

Specializing in Orthopedic Sports Medicine, Dr. Mark Sanders began advancing the development of the accelerated ACL Reconstructed Rehabilitation protocol as early as 1987. This unique protocol returns patients to their activities as quickly and safely as possible. He has assembled a trained staff of certified trainers to take postoperative exercise devices and traditional rehabilitation to a whole new level.

An avid cyclist, motocross rider, skier, and tennis player, Dr. Sanders has seen both sides of an injury and understands firsthand how his patients feel. His unique approach has allowed Dr. Sanders to promise elite athletes "the fastest way back" to recovery and active competition.  

For instance, in order to avoid such conditions as hemarthrosis (blood in the knee), which causes immediate pain, swelling, and disability and prevents patients from bending or straightening the knee, or putting weight on the foot, Dr. Sanders and his staff immediately begin patients on a non-surgical reconditioning program. The program includes ROM exercises, a gait reeducation program to quickly eliminate the need for crutches, a cold/compression device, and a strengthening and flexibility program.

This program lasts between four and six weeks and will generally be done by the patient independently. Following the program, most non-athletic patients, or patients willing to give up most sports during the program, can recover from their injury without the need for surgery.

For athletic patients unwilling to modify their activities sufficiently for a non-surgical recovery, this time is used for teaching and psychological preparation. Patients are readied for immediate post surgery mobility, by learning before the surgery takes place the function of any necessary rehabilitation device they will use, and the purpose of the progressively challenging exercises. Patients are educated about the role surrounding muscle groups can play in strengthening the injured limb during recovery. A personal plan is then developed, goals are set, and a timeline for activity resumption established.  

The results are impressive (and we have to admit we're a tad biased). We like his approach because he uses our Shuttle MiniClinic as a vital part of his innovative rehabilitation program. You can see the MiniClinic at work in the following dramatic video - a patient beginning his recovery just one day out of ACL surgery.

Here at Shuttle, we take a certain amount of pride in our equipment that helps athletes get back in the game after an injury. We also get excited when our machines are used to take an athlete's performance to the next level. But, we don't seem to say too much about what our equipment can do for the older set - our senior population.

Well, we'd like to talk about helping the geriatric population - whether that's through fall prevention, stroke recovery, total knee rehab, hip strengthening, or simply developing six pack abs (yes, you can do that on a Shuttle, but we don't necessarily consider it our sweet spot).

In the coming weeks, we invite you to come along and see how you can use your Shuttle to help your senior population. And we'd love it if you'd join in the conversation, as well. Just follow us on Facebook and on Twitter (look for the #StrongSeniors hashtag) or comment below!

Go Seniors!!

In the months leading up to the 2011 NATA show, we were looking forward to having our "Toss Your Cookies" contest on the Shuttle Balance - and eating some of the best food in New Orleans....

We weren't disappointed!

Thanks to all the athletic trainers who stopped by and tossed their cookies - some more skillfully than others. But, nobody walked away empty-handed. There were plenty of beads, Shuttle Frisbees, and Recovery stickers to go around. Those who excelled at tossing their cookies walked away sporting a Shuttle MVP shirt.

We were also excited to have some of our new Shuttle Balance owners stop by and show us how they are rehabbing and challenging their athletes to greater "Feats of Proprioceptive Strength."

If you haven't already signed up for our bi-monthly Shuttle Insider newsletter - please do so! Each email comes with rehab/exercise videos on the various Shuttle machines, how-to videos, events and promotions. We know you're busy, that's why we only send out the Insider once every other month. 

Well, NATA in New Orleans wouldn't have been complete without some of the most fantastic food in the world. There's a reason they call it the Big Easy - New Orleans is the Easy Way to Get Big!

Just in case you ever stumble into New Orleans again, here's some of our foodie suggestions:

Cochon:
 

Try the Alligator appetizers. They're delicious (and everybody wants to be able to say they ate an alligator). If you can't make up your mind on an entree - please, at least one person in your dinner party needs to order the Pork Ribs. They come with a pickle barbeque sauce that is truly unique and amazing.

Central Grocery:

Original creator of the Muffaletta: an Italian sandwich complete with cold cuts, cheese, and Sicilian olive salad. But, be warned: this place is seriously lacking in atmosphere. The "help" staff seem to have the whole Italian move-along-kid-you-bother-me attitude down pretty good. Can I get you some abuse with that Muff? Worth the experience at least once....

Brennans:

Original creator of that lovely dish known as Bananas Foster. Not only was it delicious, but it also came with an awesome light show (flames about three feet high). 

There you have our happy gastro-intestinal memories from NATA 2011. Thanks for being a part of them and thanks for thinking Shuttle.

If you've got some good NATA memories or foodie suggestions, please share them with us on Facebook and Twitter!

Two remain standing....

It's "The Dynamo" and "The ATC" in the "Battle for the Balance" Championship Final.... 

Jeff "The Dynamo" Renier

The Dynamo has been involved in plenty of high pressure situations throughout this tournament - his thrilling one point victory over "The Rhody" in the first round and putting an end to the fiery reign of the wicked "Red Dragon" to make it to the Final. In each, he was able to "git r done." But with everything riding on one game - and a Shuttle Balance hanging in the balance - will the Dynamo be able to close the deal?

Ryan "The ATC" Palmer

If the Dynamo is slick as a salesman, The ATC is cool as a cucumber. No matter the situation, the ATC has been calm, cool, collected throughout the tournament. Nothing flashy - just goes about his work - doing what needs to be done to take care of his opponent. He may work in relative obscurity, but the ATC wants to make a name for himself in today's Final.

Our Prediction:

Dynamo Sends ATC's Fanny Packing

Our Championship Final will start at 1 pm DPT - halftime score at 2 - Final results at 3.

Who do you think's gonna win - post your pick on our Facebook page!

Here are the Exciting Eight players, the match-ups, and our predictions:

The Dynamo vs. The Mariner

Jeff "The Dynamo" Renier is coming off an emotional first round victory. Ahead most of the game, he struggled in the second half against Chris "The Rhody" Poirier. Down by two, time running out, and Poirer in possession - things were looking pretty bleak. But Jeff's surprise steal and half court shot as time expired clinched the one point victory. A legend was born. The question, now, is will there be a let down in round two - or does Jeff have the mental toughness to continue his highlight reel heroics. Well, they don't call him Dynamo for nothing.

Sarah "The Mariner" Wait had some heroics of her own in round one. In a defensive struggle, Sarah found herself behind to Jessie Lu "The Brand" Galbraith for most of the first half. But in the second half, everytime Jessie Lu put up two, Sarah responded with a three. She was shooting cannons from thirty feet out with deadly accuracy. She won by ten going away. But which Sarah will show up for round two - that's the question. With the first round jitters behind her, The Mariner could cruise. 

Prediction: Mariner dims Dynamo

The Masseuse vs. The Red Dragon

Melissa "Masseuse" McCaffrey likes to rough you up. She starts by lulling you to sleep, then she really starts working you over. That's exactly what she did to Andre "The Body" Gremillion in round one. Behind at the half, the Masseuse came out and it was nothing but a full Body beatdown. She hit high. She hit low. She loosened up the wings with some threes and all the Body could do was lie there and take it. The Masseuse walked away with a 79-57 payday. But in the Exciting Eight round, how do you massage a Red Dragon?

The first round match-up between Victor Earl "The Arrow" Godfrey and Louise "The Red Dragon" Mahar was just plain ugly.  The Red Dragon was too big and too fast. She flew up and down the court - but she never took the three. She was relentless to the hole. If she wasn't flying around the Arrow, she simply stomped right over him. And that was the Arrow's best scoring - taking the offensive foul. Like I say, it was ugly.... and one can only wonder: can anybody stop the Red Dragon?

Prediction: Red Dragon scorches Masseuse

The Kid vs. The Dude

Dan "The Kid" Gudmunson has an attitude - and in their first round game, Rollie "Who's your Daddy" Raper got no respect. Even in timeout, The Kid would just glare at him. But that killer attitude allowed him to run Who's your Daddy ragged. By the end of the game, the look on Who's your Daddy's face was one of total exasperation and cluelessness. And you would think that with a final 57-50 score this was a close game. But it was very clear to all in da house who was in control of this relationship. Watch out for the Kid!

With Ira "Redwood" Rothholz height advantage, you would have thought Joe "The Dude" Gordon didn't have a chance. Actually, it was the other way around. The Dude was slick. Redwood was tall, but the Dude cut him down to size. With smooth speed, silky screens, deft passes, and fluid form, The Dude ran circles around the Redwood. It was like Redwood was rooted to the ground. The Dude scored early and often on his way to a comfortable 83-53 victory. Question is, who can stop the Dude?  

Prediction: Kid trips up Dude

Hood River vs. The ATC

Clint "Hood River" Harris is an unknown. Didn't know much about him coming into this tournament, and after his calm and quiet 50-42 victory over Sara "Back in Motion" Eldebeck, we still don't know much about him. He just seems to keep rolling along - nothing spashy, just a relentless flow that erodes his competitior's will to win. You can't be soft when facing Hood River. All we can say is, if an opponent wants to have any chance of beating him, they'll have to give a dam. 

I think we saw perhaps the best game of the Super Sixteen round when Ryan "The ATC" Palmer met Carrie Lee "The Rebel" Baker. It looked like the ATC had the Rebel all wrapped up in the first half, but then the Rebel started running. She was red hot from all over the court. The ATC tried icing her with a blanket defense, but the Rebel kept a comin'. With no obvious answers as to how to treat the onslaught, the ATC tried to hang on long enough to send the Rebel's fanny packing. The game saw two overtimes. With 10 seconds remaining in the second overtime, the Rebel was called for charging. Fans on both sides erupted - there was pandemonium everywhere. And in the midst of it all - there was the Rebel yelling at the ref. Technical! More of the Rebel yelling.... More technicals!! Amidst all the yelling on the court and pandemonium in the stands, the ATC quietly stepped to the line and sank seven foul shots in a row. As the buzzer sounded, the ATC had himself a 74-67 victory. But the question is, can he sink 'em against Hood River?

Prediction: ATC stops Hood River

We've made our predictions - and we don't know any better than you do who's going to win - now it's time for you to make your predictions. Tell the world....

We gotta have some fun with this....

Having reached 300 fans on our Facebook page, we're giving away our new Shuttle Balance Sport. But we wanted to make things a little more interesting. Since we're fresh on the basketball heels of March Madness, we decided to have a little bracket battle of our own.

Introducing, The Battle of the Balance

PDF Download

We've randomly selected sixteen of our Facebook fans - and we call 'em the Super Sixteen. These lucky sixteen will square off in a round of simulated basketball games played on Friday, April 8th starting at 3 pm Pacific Daylight Time. The winners from that round - the Exciting Eight - will move on to their respective showdowns on Monday, April 11th. The winners of those games will proceed to the Fab Four games held on Tuesday the 12th. Our two finalists will then square off in The Battle of the Balance Championship - Wednesday, April 12th.

If you want to follow the action, you can check out the game highlights on our Twitter feed or see the game results on our Facebook page. Download the bracket, pick a winner and tell us who you think's gonna win.

A Balance hangs in the balance.... 

The wonderful athletic trainers at Linfield College achieved the highest score with 150 points - and they won the biggest, most delicious, most politically correct cookie we could find in Eugene, Oregon (move mouse over picture and say, "Enhance!").

For those who didn't get the opportunity of tossing your cookies on the Shuttle Balance - and would like to see all the things this piece of equipment is capable of - we've compiled the following video montage for you (sorry, it's long and there's no sound - but we didn't want to overstimulate you).

Finally, we couldn't help but share this....

When trainers and therapists work with their clients on the Shuttle Balance, they often use a ball, a balloon, or a band. We've never seen someone use a body.

Well, now we've seen everything! We call it "Toss Your Torso"!

Thanks for thinking Shuttle!

We've always liked how Michael Boyle thinks....

(ok, it doesn't hurt that Mike thinks the Shuttle MVP is a great product). 

But we, like many others in the strength coach/personal training field, feel that Michael Boyle is a man rich in wisdom, insight, and education. 

Well, there are other people who are also rich in wisdom and expertise - and Michael Boyle is recommending that you steal from them. He calls it Robin Hood Training. Everybody else knows it by the more common name of Continuing Education.

Think about it. By taking advantage of CE, you can steal from the rich (in expertise) and give to the poor (your clients who are looking for your help and guidance). And you end up playing the hero - you get to play Robin Hood!

Well, we've decided to be your "merry men" and let you know when a rich plum is in sight - someone who's worthy of your educational consideration - someone who's ripe for the intellectual picking. 

Just watch for our Shuttle Facebook and Twitter updates. You'll notice them when we use the secret password: ROBIN HOOD ALERT.

Oodalolly!

But they didn't tell us everything. So, we wanted to share with you some of the great people, places and things we discovered in New Orleans at the APTA Combined Sections meeting. Here's our quick list of what we'd highly recommend in the Big Easy:

People

Dragon Master Showcase: These guys were incredible athletes, performers, and comedians! Expect to walk away from the show a little light on cash (the only way they can live to perform another day is through donations). But they are well worth it! You can catch 'em on Decatur Street - take a seat on the steps facing St. Louis Cathedral.  

Symphony in Glass: This guy only comes out at night - creating hauntingly beautiful music complete with a light show. We caught his act on the square surrounding the St. Louis Cathedral on a Sunday night.

Places

Le Pavilion Hotel: One of the swankiest hotels you'll find in New Orleans, but they ain't pretentious. Every night at 10 o'clock, they offer a free Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich bar - complete with hot chocolate and REAL whipped cream. It all started back in 1988 when room service made a PB&J sandwich for one of their guests who was feeling homesick (can I get a collective ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!).

Photo by: Scott S.

d.b.a. Jazz Bar: Located just outside the French Quarter on 618 Frenchmen Street in historic Faubourg Marigny, d.b.a. is one of the best blues clubs in town - featuring some of the city's finest talent. We agree!

FOOD!!!!!!!!!

Cafe du Monde: One thing you gotta do in New Orleans is experience a beignet (pronounced Ben-yay!) It's a French fritter (some would call it a square doughnut with no hole). Oh, and it's usually hidden under an inch of powdered sugar (don't cough!). The Cafe is located at 800 Decatur Street near the St. Louis Cathedral.This is a must-see-and-eat! 

Cochon Restaurant: Stumbled onto this place with the help and recommendation of Yelp for Android. Located within walking distance of the tradeshow pavilion (930 Tchoupitoulas St.). We dined on fried alligator (tastes like chicken) and ribs (tastes like heaven). The ribs came in a special barbecue sauce sporting sweet pickles. Make sure your waiter brings you a continual supply of freshly made rolls with your meal.

Who Won The Shuttle Balance?

When we weren't galavanting all over New Orleans, we spent our time helping the good people of Tulane Medical Center get their cadre of Shuttle 2000-1 machines into fine running order - thanks Judith (and go Green Wave)! Our good friends, Mike Studer and Brady Whetton, at Northwest Rehabilitation Associates made their presentation at Combined Sections on Increasing the Dosage and now are famous celebrities.

Finally, we wanted to thank all the lovely people who stopped by our booth, hopped on the Shuttle Balance and promptly lost their balance. It was great fun and everybody who tried it was entered to win a brand new Shuttle Balance Professional.

Sadly, therecan only be one winner - and that puts a lot of pressure on us. So, to properly shirk that responsibility, we asked French chef, Julia Child, to select the Shuttle Balance winner.

Congatulations Hallie Lenker! Hallie just graduated from Arcadia University last week! She doesn't have a job yet - but she does have a brand new Shuttle Balance Professional. She should probably take it to her next interview. Yes, the Balance is a very versatile piece of equipment.

You Can Still Win A Balance

If you didn't win the Balance - don't despair! You can join us on Facebook where we're giving away a new Shuttle Balance Sport to a lucky winner when we reach 300 fans.

Also, join our Shuttle Insider for the latest tips, techniques, news and events surrounding your Shuttle product.

Oh, and hey! We're heading back to New Orleans in June - for another tradeshow. We've shared some of our favorites - now, you need to share yours. In the comments below, please share with us your favorite people, places, and foods in the Big Easy. 

Donatelli Sports Specific Rehabilitation Symposium

Presenters:

Dr. Robert Donatelli, PhD, PT, OCS 
Donn T. Dimond, PT, OCS 
Matt Holland, PT, CSCS, SCS 
Dr. Jacob Irwin, PT , DPT, MTC 
Chip Smith, CES 
Randa Bascharon, DO 
John Adam, ATC, LAT 

Sessions:

November 12-13, 2010
Friday and Saturday 
Las Vegas, NV
(Mandalay Bay Resort)

Summary:

Are you at the top of your clinical game in sports rehab for the athletes you serve? This niche field of medical rehab requires a unique and focused concentration on medical care, precautions and endurance to bring the injured patient back to peak performance. The Donatelli Sports Specific Rehabilitation Symposium brings together some of the nation’s finest sports rehab and conditioning personnel for a close look at practice tracks that have a proven result for returning athletes to their sports field in an effective and efficient manner. This symposium will cover the sports of football, baseball, tennis, golf and MMA, yet the concepts conveyed will be applicable to most any sports injury. Members of the symposium faculty are currently preparing 14 Olympic teams for the 2012 London Olympics through rehabilitation of their injuries, development of prevention programs, and improvement of sports performance. Dr. Bob Donatelli, along with his international team of experts, will share protocols by sports specialties and in a two-day format that will be interactive, inventive and highly informative.

Audience: 

Physical Therapists, Physical Therapist Assistants, Athletic Trainers, Exercise Specialists

CEU Approvals:

This is a 16-hour symposium, equivalent to 1.6 CEUs for Physical Therapists, Physical Therapist Assistants and Athletic Trainers (1.5 CEUs for NV PTs/PTAs). The symposium format will include lectures, demonstrations, lab experiences and state-of-the-art equipment reviews to bring the knowledge to the forefront of sports practice clinics across the USA. You may e-mail " target="_blank"> for the Physical Therapy CEU approvals from CA, NV, AZ and WA, or with questions about other states. Motivations, Inc. is an approved CEU provider by BOC for ATCs.

Shuttle Systems will be there and we hope to see you, too!