Weekend warriors, wounded warriors, professional and amateur athletes, as well as individuals that are preparing to switch or take up a new fitness routine, are finding the value in consulting a certified medical exercise specialist (CMES)/muscle system care provider (MSCP). Natural Awakenings interviewed Jay Weitzner, owner of Symmetry Muscle Care, in Naples, to learn how a MSCP/CMES helps individuals to improves their physical mobility.

How is this modality different than other practitioners?

A CMES/MSCP won’t be distracted by where the pain is. We say, “position and motion, not symptom location.” When clients describe the spot that hurts, we acknowledge that, but we aren’t led by it. Rather, the location of the unwanted sensation gives us a lot of information. We don't treat pain—we focus on the movements and positions that are problematic for the client to perform and maintain. We also look at the time and force component of the movement and position. In other words, just because a client gets into a position with no apparent problem doesn’t mean that they can handle that position with greater forces. Consider standing versus jogging. Both place challenges on the feet, calves and hamstrings. Just because a client can stand or even walk without discomfort doesn’t mean that they can handle jogging or running. We investigate an individual’s entire movement performance spectrum.

How do you help clients get back to an active lifestyle?

We give individuals specifics regarding what to do physically and what to avoid so they can remain as active as possible while they are returning to their accustomed activity level. Many clients come to me with very general instructions from fitness trainers, physical therapists, chiropractors or other health practitioners. These range from, “Don’t lift anything over five pounds and avoid all running, but any kind of elliptical is fine,” to “Only use body weight exercises, but don’t lift weights.”

These are inadequate instructions because they are not individualized to the client. The road back to health and movement needs to be as specific to the individual as possible. In many cases, a person can lift much more than five pounds in many positions and only needs to reduce the load in some specific positions. Eliminating running may or may not be the best move, but giving ellipticals a free and clear pass can be problematic. We figure out specifically what you can and cannot do well, leveraging what you can do and improving what you can’t do, which helps to avoid similar future situations.

Does an individual’s physical history play a role in their present situation?

We don’t blame the “straw that breaks the camel’s back”. While we consider the event or events that you believe got you into the situation where your activity has been affected, we also examine the events that previously affected your physical body. People mistakenly blame the thing that happened right before the injury. That’s how people come up with conclusions such as “Running is bad for me,” or “I shouldn’t move that way anymore.” It may not have been the last thing that happened that got you into the situation. It might be everything that preceded it and the last thing that happened to you.

Symmetry Muscle System Care is located at 1750 J&C Blvd., Ste. 10, in Naples. To schedule a consultation or for more information, call 239-940-2121 or visit MuscleSystemCare.com.