The Journey to Ironman

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I recently completed my first full Ironman at Mont-Tremblant this past August. It was a 3 year journey, starting with a self-discovery trip to northern Italy where I first read Finding Ultra by Rich Roll while drinking red wine and crushing prosciutto and cheese. At the time, I was feeling a bit lost, overweight, and mentally & emotionally exhausted. Inspired by Rich Roll, upon returning to the states, I went mostly plant-based and started training a month later for my 1st triathlon. I couldn’t swim, disliked running, and had a road bike that was over 10 years old. No matter, I set the lofty goal of one day completing in an Ironman and now I’ve met that goal! 

I’ve enjoyed the journey, the growth emotionally, mentally, and physically. I’ve really enjoyed the relationships and sharing the experience with friends, family, coworkers, clients, and training partners. I hope most of all that I’ve inspired others along the way and shown that it’s never too late to set goals and continue to grow no matter how old we are or how low/lost we feel. Along the way you’ll find your best self. 

So far in 2019, I have also competed in the San Francisco Marathon, Patriot 70.3 triathlon,  Portland 10 miler, Newport 10 Miler, Newport Olympic Triathlon, and ran the NYC Marathon for charity this November. 3 years ago I couldn’t imagine doing any of these events. I think we all should set lofty goals in life and enjoy the process of working toward them. Along the way your life will change for the better whether or not you achieve your ultimate goal. You’ll be inspired while inspiring others around you.

Though we’re all on our personal health and wellness journey, it’s important to surround yourself with people who support you. At NPT HealthWorks, it’s what we’re passionate about. No matter how big or small, please use us as a reference for any questions, thoughts, comments you may have. 

– Dr. Dan

Hotel Room Workout

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Run through these simple exercises 10 repetitions each, as many times through as you can comfortably up to 10x.

1. Squat with overhead lift – 10X
2. Push-up – 10X
3. Jumping jacks – 30-60 sec
4. Lateral lunge – 10X
5. Plank – 60 seconds 
6. High knees – 60 sec
7. Bridges – 10X
8. Chair dips – 10X
9. Mountain climbers  – 60 sec
10. Bicycles – 10X

Watch the video below for full demonstration and modifications.

-Dr. Kim

Staying Healthy While Traveling – Tips from Dr. Kim

Hi everyone,

Since this is my first blog post, I’ll introduce myself – I’ve been a physical therapist for about 5-6 years now and have spent a good amount of time doing travel physical therapy. In between contract work, I’d always take time off to travel the country and the world. Traveling is one of the things I’m passionate about (food and dogs are also on the list of things I love), so it’s  only appropriate that my first blog should be about travel. Here are a couple of helpful tips to keep yourself healthy while you’re on the go:

Pace yourself! Walk as much as you can comfortably! It’s the best way to see things and will keep you moving.

Hydration is key: 

Avoid caffeine and alcohol as much as you can. Obviously at some point you might need a coffee, and those little bottles of wine on the plane are very tempting, but you’ll feel better if you don’t. The process of flying itself is dehydrating. Bring your own water on the plane! You can use a refillable bottle, or buy one after security. The small amount of water that you’ll be served on the plane usually is not enough.

 

Nutrition: 

Avoid plane food by bringing your own healthy snacks and meals. Favorite healthy airport options in a pinch to bring on the plane- fruit cup, bars, sandwiches, and salads. Starbucks has a variety of options you can grab quickly (although decidedly not the most delicious). Best option is to pack what you know you like if possible! I always like to bring my favorite bar, an apple or banana and some nuts/trail mix. While on the go, stick to clean food as much as you can. Of course you have to try the local food and obviously not everything is going to be healthy, but shoot for a balance.

 

Sleep: 

Sleep is one of the most difficult aspects to control while traveling. On those overnight flights, try to get as comfortable as you can, bring a pillow of choice, a large scarf or sweater (because those plane blankets, ew!) and again, stay hydrated. It’s annoying when you’re trying to rest and you get those leg cramps and twitches. I like to take a magnesium supplement like Natural Calm to help me relax and reduce muscle cramping. This is something I like to do personally, if you’re interested in trying it you should check with your regular physician first. Then once at your destination, budget your time to include a good night’s sleep! If you need to bring ear plugs and an eye mask, do it!

Try to keep moving: 

3 exercises for your circulation while sitting on the plane: ankle pumps, marches, butt squeezes. Do each of these 10-20x every 30 minutes or so to keep that blood flowing. Stay tuned for more exercises & my full Hotel Room Workout! 

Happy & healthy travels,

– Dr. Kim 

To learn more on Dr. Kim, be sure to visit Meet Our Team!

Meet Dr. Nate

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Well here it is, welcome to my first blog. Throughout all my schooling, I never once imagined that I would be sharing my ideas, personal goals, and hobbies through a blog. I mean, come on, I must know a few things after seven years of schooling! All the late nights fueled by coffee and snacks have lead me to my dream profession as a physical therapist with the urge to share ideas with all of you. But first, you should know a little bit about me.

physical therapy active living

I was born in Massachusetts, but Portsmouth, Rhode Island has been home to me as far as I can remember. I’m pretty sure as soon as I could walk, my father laced skates on my feet to head out on the ice where the cones were taller than I was (not kidding). On that day I fell in love with hockey and I continue to glide around the ice today, still after losing my front teeth (kidding). In fact, I managed to avoid injuries throughout most of my athletic career. My friends and family were not as fortunate, and it sparked my interest in pursuing a career that can assist people to get back to their favorite activities or emotional driving factors as soon as possible.

As an Aquidneck Island native, I fell in love with the area and returned after receiving a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Kinesiology at URI and Doctorate of Physical Therapy at MCPHS University. I’m a sports fanatic, outdoors admirer, and wellness enthusiast. If I’m not in the NPT HealthWorks office or at the gym, you’ll find me out on a sail boat or at the local golf course with friends and family.

Golf Physical Active

What I’m hoping you will get out of this blog is to have a better understanding of how to get the most out of what you love by identifying a healthy balance between training and recovery, promoting correct body mechanics, and utilizing your time in the gym efficiently. In addition, I’ll dive into my favorite passions including ways to become a better golfer and hockey player while avoiding common injuries. Like I always say, the best form of treatment is prevention.

Stay tuned for more info from me,
Dr. Nate Cole PT, DPT!

Beginning of the Journey of a PT

This past week we said goodbye to soon to be “Dr. Riley” who completed his 12 weeks clinical here at NPT HealthWorks. Before his departure, we asked Riley to share how he got started on his journey to becoming a Physical Therapist.

In high school, I remember having no idea what I wanted to do with my life while my mom was constantly on my back to push me in some direction before college. On a whim, I decided to take anatomy my senior year. It was the first subject that I truly found a genuine interest in and that catered to my skills as a visual learner. With this information, my mom recommended looking into Physical Therapy as she had experience with the profession in her career working with children with developmental delays. 

I was accepted at the University of Rhode Island for Kinesiology with the hopes of continuing to graduate school after. To get experience in the field I volunteered at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island in Pawtucket the summer after my freshman year. On my first day we worked with a gentleman who was recovering from a severe stroke. He was visibly frustrated with not being able to walk, fish, and speak normally like he had been doing for over 70 years. The therapist needed a second set of hands to help put the man in a harness to unweight his legs. With the help of the machine, and what strength the man still had in his legs, he stood for the first time in months! We brought a mirror in front of him to see himself standing which brought a huge smile to his face! 

Riley, showing a client how it’s done while Dr. Nate gives advice.

Seeing this man with the biggest smile was when I knew I had chosen the right career. I have always played and loved sports and thought I would try to work with professional athletes. However, my interaction with this man changed my path through school. I realized I got my greatest joy by helping regular people return to doing the things they loved: spending time with friends and family, returning to weekend softball, being able to work, to support their family, go out with friends, amongst any number of activities. I will graduate with my Doctorate of Physical Therapy this May and could not be more excited to have a career where I can have a profound impact on people’s lives not only in the short term, but educate them about strategies and techniques they can perform on their own to continue to live their life to the fullest.

While Riley will be missed here at NPT HealthWorks, we are excited to cheer him onto the next leg of his journey…and know that wherever he lands, clients will be lucky to have him as their PT!

Welcome to the NPT HealthWorks Blog!

Hi everyone,

1st of all, thanks for checking out our new blog!

My name is Dr. Dan (Insta: @drdanhatch) and I’m the founder of NPT HealthWorks. Just under 5 years ago, with the help of then sports massage intern Maddie (Insta: @madeline_bassinder), we launched then Newport Physical Therapy and have grown it into a thriving and all-encompassing value-based health and wellness business with 8 amazing team members. Our team is passionate about what we do and about our community; and we have a fun and contagious company culture.

The team and I will be discussing all things health and wellness with the sole intention of helping you make informed and better decisions for yourself and your loved ones.

We’ll share stories, opinions, thoughts, and the latest data along the way. As you know, there is SOOOOO much information out there in regards to health and wellness that it can be a bit confusing and difficult to sort out what to believe, what to potentially implement in your life, and what to flat out disregard and ignore. That’s where we come in.

The journey of health & wellness should be fun, rewarding, encouraging, and fulfilling.

I’m sure you’re asking, why should I listen to this guy and his team?!?! Yes, we have fancy titles, years of experience and worked successfully with individuals and teams of all levels. Yes, we have worked with everyone from the coach potato to the professional athletes. Yes, we have established and grown the 1stvalue-based health and wellness practice in RI (yes, all our clients choose to pay out of pocket for our services because we are simply that good), Yes, we have been a part of thousands of success stories, blah blah blah. In many people’s eyes this may help validate what we say moving forward, but truth is that there are a lot of people with fancy titles, years of experience, claiming to be the go-to source, best in the biz, etc. Many of these businesses:

  1. Truly do care, but what they are telling people is out of date, not based in the current clinical or research based evidence, and therefore simply are ineffective and/or inefficient.
  2. Are financially driven and not truly concerned about what is best for you.
  3. (And worst case) Both!!!!

My promise to you is that we’ll always deliver evidenced based, fun, exciting, easy to understand, and unbiased information that will provide a lot of value to you and your loved ones’ lives 😀. Along the way, we’ll share more about our backgrounds, education, experience, etc.

Let’s start today by acknowledging the 5 key areas of health and wellness: cardiovascular training, strength/endurance training, recovery work (“work” because it takes conscious effort), nutrition, and mental/emotional wellbeing. All 5 areas are equally important and we’ll dive into many topics within each of these categories (and more).

Health and wellness is a journey, not some specific destination though you may have goals along the way. It’s a journey that doesn’t have to be filled with complications, confusion, indecisiveness, insecurity, and self-doubt.

This blog is for you if you’re looking to live a healthier life, want to know the truth about what works and what doesn’t work, want to take less medication, avoid the doctor’s office, avoid unnecessary surgeries, and live a balanced, happy, and more mobile life. Thanks again for checking us out and remember to always LIVE LIFE WELL!!!

Dan, PT, DPT