feature story

Faster, Stronger, More Powerful

By Alexander Germanis

nyone who has spent any amount of time in Bloomington-Normal or its outlying communities cant help but notice one thing about the area: it loves sports. Whether its youth leagues, junior high, high school teams, collegiate level programs, or professional competition, the area is saturated with athletic contests. Logically, a slew of athletic programs requires a legion of athletes of all ages, which, in turn, means there are a host of athletic-based injuries all along the scale that require the proper treatment and rehabilitation. That is the purpose of Bloomingtons Orthopedic and Sports Enhancement Center (OSEC) a facility that caters to the athletic needs of an athletic town. Acceleration Program As its name indicates, the Orthopedic and Sports Enhancement Center tackles the more severe orthopedic issues plaguing athletes, such as bone fractures, tears of the anterior cruciate ligament or rotator cuff, and, perhaps down the road, total joint replacement. But treating those injuries and rehabilitating the athlete after surgery is only part of OSECs mission. Preventing injuries from occurring in the first place has become one of the centers noble pursuits, brought to fruition through the newly implemented Acceleration Program. Dr. J. Anthony Dustman and Dr. Robert K. Seidl of OSEC are the founders of the Acceleration Program a clinic designed to improve the abilities of individual athletes regardless of their sport, position, or even age. Drs. Dustman and Seidl both bring an extensive knowledge of sports-related injuries and their related solutions, being both board-certified in orthopedic surgery and sports medicine as well as receiving fellowship training in sports medicine. The program is not a cookie-cutter regimen by any means, of course. We try to tailor it to each individual athlete, depending on their sport and ability, Director of the Acceleration Program Nate Henry outlines. An alumnus of Illinois State University, Henry received both his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in exercise science. Having first served an internship at OSEC in 2003, Henry loved the work so much he continued to work there through grad school, taking the assistant director position after receiving his masters. A year after that he took over the directorship. A self-confessed sports junkie, Henry belongs not only in his current place of employment but also in a town like Bloomington-Normal. Its crazy how competitive this town is, he smiles. Its a great sports town. In a competitive town, athletes need a competitive edge, and the entire purpose of the Acceleration Program is to help athletes find that edge in themselves. Like grinding a knife blade against a sharpening stone, the program is designed to hone, refine, and sharpen that edge, to make each athlete, as Nate Henry puts it, faster, stronger, more agile, and more powerful, and to improve upon what is already there. An athlete enrolled in the Acceleration Program meets with trainers at OSEC three times a week for sessions lasting roughly 90 minutes. Their workout is different every time they come through the door, Henry says.

Nate Henry, Director of Sports Performance, performs an assessment for an athlete on his first day of training.
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Will Brucker, Performance Coach, leads a group of athletes enrolled in the Acceleration Program.
They dont know what theyre going to be doing every time. There is a routine, he adds, but theres a progression. Were not trying to keep the body guessing; were trying to progress the body. It is holistic, he continues. We dont just negate one whole part of the program. Agility and acceleration, weight training, speed mechanics, deceleration, and plyometrics, or jump training, are all put into effect. How each is portioned out and in what way depends on the needs of the individual athlete. Thats where the tailoring comes in, Henry says. Prehab Not Rehab Part of the Acceleration Programs purpose and one of OSECs goals is to reduce the need for orthopedic care in the first place. A lot of injury prevention goes on here, Nate Henry says. Instead of therapy, we try to look at it from the other side, sort of prehab instead of rehab. Preventative measures are as core to their training as teaching athletes how to run faster or more efficiently. A good example is illustrated by deceleration and landing mechanics. For instance, it is common for an athlete, when landing, to be quad dominant, meaning he or she places the bulk of their decelerating weight on their quadriceps. This not only puts extra pressure on the knee joints, sometimes causing them to turn inward, but it robs the athlete of agility and mobility. They are unable to change direction and move off again as quickly. To combat this, Henry and his team of trainers teach the

Nate Henry and Dr. Seidl, co-founder of Orthopedic and Sports Enhancement Center
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body how to recruit the appropriate muscles, in this case, how to be more glute dominant in their landing, shifting their weight back, which sets them up for faster, more agile movement. Sometimes injuries occur regardless of appropriate preventative training, however. Whether because of the normal wear and tear of bones and tendons or from sports field accidents, athletes will often need to undergo orthopedic surgery followed by physical therapy. When the time in physical therapy runs out, though, many athletes still fall short of their pre-injury stats. For that purpose, OSEC instituted the Bridge Program. Youll have a patient that has a catastrophic injury like an ACL tear and they go through three or four months of therapy, Henry says. Theyre ready to be done with therapy but theyre not necessarily ready to return to their field of play. So we are that bridge. Its a kind of extended therapy much more intense and longer to prepare them for the rigors of their sport. Doing It for the Kids In such a competitive town, it is necessary to realize that the average athletic life span is increasing ending later and starting sooner so the programs put in place need to accommodate ever older and younger athletes. Nate Henry and his team train athletes as young as 7 years old. Thats why the sports programs were instituted in the first place. According to Henry, Drs. Dustman and Seidl wanted to provide a state-of-the-art facility to give the youth of Bloomington-Normal a place for sports training and physical activity. To not only get them healthier but get them stronger, faster, and to make them better athletes. Henry emphasizes that the doctors are not instituting sports enhancement training for the monetary gain aspect of it. Were not charging $30 an hour to a 10-year-old when hes in a group of six kids, Henry states. The doctors are in it for the love of the community and the love of sports. After theyve seen 40 patients and have been in surgery all day, you can see the relief and smiles on their faces as they look at the kids training. They just love it. Theyre not the only ones who love it. Nate Henry says watching kids succeed, is the best part of his job. The little stuff like being able to go to a youth football game on Saturday afternoon, and they thank you for coming to their game. Youre not there for any other reason than to see some of the athletes youve worked with. Just Part of the Team I call my staff performance coaches, Henry says. Were not coaching a team, were coaching the individual athlete. And theres no social comparison here, trying to be better than the person next to you. Youre here to try to better yourself and become a more valuable member of a larger whole. When it comes to the performance of Bloomington-Normals athletes, Nate Henry and the rest of the doctors and athletic trainers at Orthopedic and Sports Enhancement Center realize that they too are a part of a larger whole a team dedicated to making their athletes faster, stronger, and more powerful. We are working in conjunction with a lot of people, Henry freely admits. The athletes themselves, their coaches, their parents. Its cool to be a part of that team and to affect athletes lives in a positive manner. Thats by far the best part of this job.

Dan Murrin, Performance Coach, leads a group of high school athletes enrolled in the Acceleration Program.

Dr. Dustman, co-founder of Orthopedic Sports Enhancement Center

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For more information on the programs available at the Orthopedic & Sports Enhancement Center, you may call 309-663-9300 or visit them online at www.sportsenhancement.net. They are located at 2406 East Empire in Bloomington.