THE EXCELSIOR EXPERIENCE

WHAT WE DO
WHO WE ARE
WHERE TO START
HOW TO BOOK
WHAT TO WEAR
WHAT TO EXPECT
SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE

WHAT WE DO

MANUAL THERAPY, REHABILITATION, COACHING, STRENGTH TRAINING, EDUCATION

We run a MANUAL THERAPY clinic inside a small gym space. Our work takes place on a therapy table and bench, applying SOFT-TISSUE SCIENCE to chronic pain, injury, structural imbalances, and movement compensations.

In the gym, we COACH AND TEACH how to preserve the changes we made in the clinic, and how to STRENGTH TRAIN with attention to more than just muscle tissue. What sets our coaching apart from traditional models, is that we train “END-RANGE” strength, which involves the entire joint, surrounding tissues, and controlling neurology, instead of just the mid-range that is typical in most fitness programming.

Clinic and training sessions are scaled to the individual, from BEGINNER AND REHABILITATIVE LEVELS TO HIGH-LEVEL ATHLETES. No matter the level, our core principles remain the same, informed by the the study of anatomy, physiology, exercise science, the research of of Functional Range Systems and Internal Strength Model, and other adjacent bodywork modalities.

The backbone of our entire practice is EDUCATION. The more our clients can come to understand their own body and how it functions, the more tools they have to help themselves going forward. That is why the keystone of our sessions is KINSTRETCH, which places the fundamentals of our entire body of work into an accessible hour-long mat-based conditioning class where we train and learn and strengthen and rehab together every week.

WHO WE ARE

The Excelsior community is made up of clients, colleagues, professionals, old friends, and new acquaintances. We are health-seekers, parents, athletes, retirees, caregivers, rehabilitators, coaches, and students. The practitioners of Excelsior include CJ Potter and Ellie Recker (read about us here).

WHERE TO START

START IN THE CLINIC: If you’re not sure where to start, book a consult to discuss, asses, and explore our work and your goals. You share and we listen. We run through some assessments, give you an explanation and sample of the type of work we do, and give as much feedback and data as possible about what we see and feel in the assessments. If we come to agreement that the work can help, we discuss the options of a session or class that could support your goals. If you have injury, restriction, weakness, pain, and have already had a consult with us, a clinic session is a good place to begin.

START WITH COACHING: If you’re looking to either preserve results we’ve already made in the clinic, or, to meet your goals of strengthening, overcoming training ruts or injuries, or approaching physical fitness in a less generic, more specific, longevity-focused way, one-on-one coaching is a great place to start. Sessions take place in the gym with full access to the tools we need to assess, train, and reassess. Our main focus in training is strength and range in all joints you use in your daily patterns, in sport or in life. We help you train for what you do and wish to do, whether that’s pro MMA, marathon running, working a desk job, or playing on the floor with your kids.

START WITH KINSTRETCH: If you’re looking to improve as an everyday mover, health seeker, pro athlete, yoga instructor, grandparent, power lifter, Jiu Jitsu player, student, or human with a skeleton, learning the elements of KINSTRETCH is a good place to start and never stop! This class teaches fundamentals of human movement with the intent that students own the information for life, like a user manual to their own body at every stage. Ages 12 to 70+ attend. And one of our favorite parts about KINSTRETCH is how it organically accommodates all generations and skill levels due to the type of training it is: accessible, mat-based, joint-specific, tissue-specific, neurologically-specific training that teaches us how to work safely and sustainably to increase range of motion, strength, and articular control. These are the prerequisites for all movement— the things everyone, even our most accomplished athletes, need much more of.

THERE’S NO ONE-SIZE-FITS ALL PATH. We support you in your individual goals, needs, and evolution in treatment and training. We will always offer a plan based upon what we see in assessments, based on your ongoing progress, and based on the intentions you have. Ultimately, any plan we work out together must make sense to you. We have athletes who come for coaching weekly, and pro athletes who have daily programming and frequent check ins. We have clients that visit the clinic once or twice a week for several weeks until a desired outcome is reached. Others visit bi-monthly or monthly. And others come as-needed. Many clients take advantage of weekly KINSTRETCH, as it is the classroom where together we learn to apply all the principles we use in clinic to our own skeletons— knowledge we then own and fine-tune for life.

IF YOU NEED GUIDANCE ON WHERE TO START: book a consult or reach out. We’re happy to talk.

WHAT TO WEAR

FOR CONSULTS AND CLINIC SESSIONS: You are always clothed. Muscle and connective tissue is treated through manual pressure often applied to parts of the skin or clothing covering the skin. Many clients wear shorts, leggings, and tank top/tshirt to make this possible. Above all, be comfortable.

FOR COACHING + CLASS: Wear athletic-style clothing you’re comfortable in and can move freely in.

WHAT TO EXPECT

IN A CONSULT , expect to be heard. First and foremost, this is a time set aside where you get to talk about your experiences, symptoms, or goals, while we listen. Based off our discussion, we’ll have some ideas about what assessments we can do to gain more data. We use objective assessments to measure your articular capacity. Where can you move? Where can’t you move? How do you compensate? Do your joints have enough workspace, especially the ones reporting pain or symptoms? Is your active range adequate to your passive range? Does your connective tissue restrict articulation or force absorption? What afferent or efferent signals are present? These assessments pair with your report of symptoms and goals, and help us determine whether our work can help and what that might look like. We’ll then make sure you have an introductory explanation and sample of the type of work we do. You leave with more data to help you make an informed decision.

IN THE CLINIC, the work can be intense; few changes happen without challenge. We won't give you more than you can take. You should take as much as you can. We'll all meet in the middle. We'll call for movements and remind you to breathe, these simple intentions will guide you through. And, the work isn't ALL challenge. Much of it is calming and restorative. Like a good play, sessions ramp up, reach a peak, and resolve with some denouement.

We begin by checking in on what you’re feeling, and any concerns, updates, or goals we’re working toward. We work as a team and keep the conversation going as we progress through each session. Your therapist will lead the flow of the session, but you, the client, are the one in control. We palpate and apply manual pressure to muscle, bone and connective tissue, while giving you cues to move, contract, relax and hold isometrically.

Each session addresses work space in the joint and tension in the surrounding tissue, as well as your motor control which integrates these functions. You are an active participant; table work is not passive therapy. Most clients call it a “workout” that is scaled to their level and which addresses specific restrictions, pains, and weaknesses. Our goal is for clients to leave with an abundance of new information about their body. The principles we use on the therapy table are the basis of all the work that we do, from intervention to training.

IN COACHING SESSIONS, we often begin with assessments which become our warm up. We touch base on how you’re feeling, how recovered you are from other workouts, and remind ourselves of our specific training goals for you and your body. We break down what movement patterns you use, in daily life or in your sport, and then train their smaller movement parts which take place in the joints, tissues, and controlling neurology. We train for articular function, motor control, and a buffer against injury. If you are an athlete— no matter your caliber of performance— we train with longevity in mind.

Our specialty is in joint-based, tissue-specific, neurologically-stimulating training. In addition, with some clients we use a program called Morpheus to help manage and improve cardiovascular health, heart rate variability, and recovery. Our goals in coaching are to help you preserve any changes we made if you visited the clinic, to improve your performance and longevity if you are an athlete, and to support any other goals you might have in your fitness.

Some clients choose coaching if they wish to attend KINSTRETCH but feel they need an introduction to the concepts prior to attending.

IN KINSTRETCH CLASS, we begin by setting up a mat, block, and band. We dive right into a CARs warm up, then start working a particular joint or joint system, like hips or shoulders. We assess our own capacity in said joint, and then train for more of that capacity through an intentionally progressing series of inputs, beginning with capsular workspace, then connective tissue architecture, then load-bearing capacity and so on.

KINSTRETCH is known for being challenging in its own way— not because we’re slinging barbells and bounding box jumps— but because we set those patterns aside to train their prerequisites, such as isolating the femur in the hip socket, for example, and applying functional science to create room to do more of the things a hip joint can do: flexion, rotation, abduction, extension.

KINSTRETCH scales elegantly to any skeleton. No matter age or ability level, this type of training exposes deficiencies and presents a straightforward solution. Every human can use more articular freedom and control; less restriction, compensation, and pain. Its there for the taking. KINSTRETCH is the classroom, the lab, the workshop where we get that work done. We rotate, flex, contract, relax, cramp, laugh, commiserate, and learn together. Visit the KINSTRETCH page HERE.

WHO WE WORK WITH

Excelsior has worked with youth, athletes, rehabilitators, office workers, caregivers, parents, retirees, and more— ages 9 to 85. People who are looking to get healthy, to address chronic pain, to stay mobile as they age, to be able to get down and back up off the floor with their kids or grand kids, to elevate their performance in pro sports, to prepare for a better surgery outcome, to go a different route than surgery, to keep making progress after being discharged from physical therapy, to address symptoms from illness, to be part of a community wanting to get healthy, and much more.

CONDITIONS + CONDITIONING NEEDS WE SEE AT EXCELSIOR

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