Jason's Story - A Shoulder Injury Journey
Founder's Introduction
Jason came to Align after surgery and physical therapy for a shoulder impingement. When Jason came to Align he was looking to regain his range of motion from his shoulder surgery, improve his posture, and strengthen his upper body and core. He knew that his shoulder still wasn’t fully functional and knew that his body had imbalances. That’s where we come in.
“It is unclear how I originally hurt my shoulder. I was experiencing pain when I would reach across to the passenger seat of my car and pick up the bag I take to and from work each day. I also started to rapidly lose range of motion in my shoulder. When my arm was behind my back, I could not raise it above my beltline. Before this happened, I could reach all the way up my back with both arms. It was eventually determined that I had an impingement and needed shoulder surgery. Following my shoulder surgery, I did 6 months of physical therapy, but my shoulder was still very stiff.”
HIS COACHES PERSPECTIVE
Jason came to Align post shoulder surgery with poor range of motion, overactive traps and weakness through the muscles that control the shoulder blade. We set goals to regain his range of motion, and to improve his strength, overall flexibility, and balance. Jason is a huge cyclist, so we focused on stretching the muscles he uses to pedal and strengthen all the other muscles that don’t get worked on the bike. He had plenty of muscular imbalances to work on.”
WHAT BROUGHT JASON TO ALIGN
“Initially, I came to Align based on my wife’s recommendation. She felt strongly that some good posture work would be beneficial to me, especially given all the time I spend cycling in a static position. She thought it would help both my shoulder and posture. In addition, I had a very unbalanced body. I was in good cardiovascular shape from cycling and had strong legs, but I had poor posture and very little upper body strength. I was interested in developing a more balance body, including upper body muscle and a strong core.”
Jason, like so many of our clients, came to Align because someone suggested it. We love that about our community, our clients are excited about their progress and they are excited about the progress they see our clients making so they spread the word. We’re so happy that his wife made this suggestion, we love having him as part of our Align family!
THE ALIGN EXPERIENCE
“I really enjoy the small groups. It is great just showing up and not having to wonder what to do; instead, I have a trainer that has designed a challenging workout. I also appreciate the comradery of the classes. Most importantly, I can see the tangible results from my time at Align. My shoulder range of motion is awesome, my posture is better, my core strength has greatly improved, and my body is more balanced. I have increased my upper body strength and put on upper body muscle. When I started at Align, it was a struggle to do 2 pullups. Now I can do a set of 10. My wife has also noticed that I now have a more developed upper body. She thinks I look better and am more balanced.
I appreciate that a lot of these results have come from doing exercises with my own body weight. When I first started as Align, I looked at some of the exercises and thought they would be easy. When I actually did them, I discovered they were very challenging. The benefits of these types of workouts, from my perspective, is that things seem a lot safer versus lifting heavy weights. The last thing I want is to get hurt.”
Jason wrapped up the Align experience perfectly. Small groups with a trainer designing the workouts for you which takes out the guesswork of what to do when you come in. What is equally important is the atmosphere, the comradery, and our sense of “community”. Our clients enjoy not only the comradery amongst their workout group but also the support they receive as they make progress towards achieving their goals. Jason also touched on what many clients or potential clients mention when they first come to Align. You won’t find a gym completely packed with weights and cardio equipment, we utilize the body for most of what we do. There’s a reason for this, we want people to be able to live their lives they way they want to live them. If the body isn’t strong enough to function properly and support itself, that task becomes nearly impossible.
WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
“My shoulder is much stronger than it was when I started at Align. My range of motion has improved dramatically. I can now do a complete wall angel and my lateral shoulder rotation has also markedly improved.”
Great job Jason! We know how excited Allison is about the progress you have made and the direction you are going. Align is so thrilled to have you onboard as a member of our community and we look forward to watching you continue to make amazing progress!