PHILOSOPHY

To become a great athlete and to maximize your sports performance you must progressively build on a foundation of varied and technically correct movement patterns and athletic skills. Our team of experts will find your weaknesses and correct them so that you can maximize your speed, power, agility, strength, balance and quickness. This will allow you to reach your goals sooner with less risk for injury. We provide a friendly and fun learning environment giving you the tools to become the complete athlete.

In addition to educating athletes with our cumulative wisdom, experience, and expertise; FAST puts a strong emphasis on leadership, teamwork and respect. We believe that all these characteristics build an athlete with a strong sense of self discipline and gives the athlete the confidence to not only persevere as an athlete but as an individual who is better equipped to overcome obstacles/barriers and succeed in the game of life!

WHY CHOOSE FAST?

Because our wisdom, experience and knowledge will lead to your success! Our FAST team is made up of dedicated physical therapists, athletic trainers and coaches who have spent many years and thousands of hours training and rehabilitating athletes. Our education combined with our experience allows us to problem solve and to design the best possible program for you.

You can’t learn about training out of a manual or from a two week course. It comes from a solid educational background, experience, and a passion to deliver the best possible results. We have also taken many continuing education and training courses with some of the best physical therapists and sport performance coaches in the country, including: Gary Gray, PT; Gray Cook, PT; Lee Taft, Mike Boyle, Brian Grasso, etc.

After years of training injured and non-injured athletes and taking hundreds of hours of conferences and seminars and interviewing the best physical therapists, coaches, and trainers across the country, we have come up with what we think are the best ways to improve athletic performance and to decrease risk for injuries. This is FAST Athlete! FAST takes the athlete through a series of functional movement screens (FMS) such as squats, lunges and core stability that allow us to identify power leaks. These power leaks are areas of weakness and asymmetries that keep you from improving at a faster rate and could predispose you to injury. We have found that the best coaches and trainers across the country use some form of these screens in their own programs. Gray Cook, PT who developed the FMS states that even professional athletes have deficits in these basic movement patterns, but when they improve, their performance improves and their risk for injury decreases.

If you try to build on a poor foundation of movement patterns and skills, your ability to improve will be slowed and your risk for injury will increase. It’s like building a beautiful house on a poor foundation. In time, the house will need more repairs and will sag and look old before its time. If you want your body to last with less risk for injury and if you want to be able to continue to improve your performance, then build your athletic foundation with FAST Athlete!

WHY CHOOSE FAST? ...continued

An asymmetry is an area of your body that is weak on one side versus the other side. For example you may have great balance on one leg but poor balance on the other and this has been shown by Gray Cook and others to predispose the athlete to greater risk for injury. At FAST we search out these asymmetries so that you can maximize your athletic potential. We have seen many athletes favor one leg over the other during a squat. The athlete will shift their weight over the dominant leg and do most of the squat with that leg rather than distributing the weight evenly through both legs. In essence, the athlete is only training one leg. We have seen this all the way up to the professional level. Imagine how much better these athletes could be if they didn’t have these deficits. The longer you wait to correct faulty movement patterns the more difficult it becomes to correct them. Your body learns to do the pattern incorrectly over time and compensates using other muscles to help out the weaker ones that aren’t being used effectively. This causes inefficient movement patterns that put greater stresses on your body, don’t allow you to perform optimally, and predispose you to injury.

What we have learned at FAST is that many athletes are trying to do too many high level activities rather than focusing on the fundamentals. Athletes and trainers are trying to get their athletes to do stunts like balance on large balls while doing over head presses or dumbbell curls and other stunts before the athlete is really ready for this. This looks fancy, but it isn’t necessarily what the athlete needs. FAST knows how to progress you from the basics to the advanced stages of training and we have had outstanding results doing it this way. See our success stories.

We have found that if an athlete gets very proficient at the basic movement patterns and skills, they advance much more quickly with their training and perform much better at their sport with less risk for injury. Once you have a great foundation you can then advance with plyometric, acceleration and deceleration drills with less risk for injury and with better outcomes related to your sport. Many of our athletes tell us that their coaches or peers have noticed a big difference in their performance on the field or in the game.

Another benefit of training with FAST is that your self esteem will improve and you will see that hard work and dedication pay off not only in your sport but in life as well. We treat every client with respect and we expect the same from you. Our goal is to help all of our clients improve their life through positive experiences at FAST.

One of the criticisms about sports training facilities is that they test too much and that many athletes feel like they are underachievers because their vertical height or their forty is much slower than the average. That is not our intention at FAST. We only test these types of things if that is what the athlete wants. We know that many of these tests do not indicate if an athlete will perform well in their sport. This is why we focus more on fundamental movements, skills, balance, acceleration/deceleration, change of direction and reaction skills. These can be improved dramatically in every athlete and have a profound effect on how the athlete plays the game. Many other variables such as an athlete’s passion, will and intelligence come into play as well. This is why athletes that don’t have the highest vertical or the fastest 40 yard dash can still affect the outcome of the game and can still be the MVP!

Rex Holden, PT, MS, CEO, Founder FAST Athlete

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TRAVERSE CITY  |   ELK RAPIDS  |   CENTRE ICE
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Rex Holden, MSPT, Owner

Rex Holden, MSPT, is the owner and founder of FAST Physical Therapy & FAST Fitness. Rex graduated from Grand Valley State University in 1993 with a Master of Science in Physical Therapy. He has a Bachelor degree from...

Rex Holden, MSPT, is the owner and founder of FAST Physical Therapy & FAST Fitness. Rex graduated from Grand Valley State University in 1993 with a Master of Science in Physical Therapy. He has a Bachelor degree from Central Michigan University in Health Promotion in a Corporate and Hospital Setting and taught in the anatomy labs at CMU for three years.

He has worked with physical therapy patients from 2 to 104 years old. He has also worked with college level and professional athletes in baseball, skiing, basketball, football and many other sports. Rex has taken numerous continuing education courses in unloading or unweighting (one of the main features of FAST Physical Therapy), functional biomechanics, sports rehabilitation, spine rehabilitation, speed and jump training, balance, geriatric rehabilitation, muscle energy techniques, Norwegian manual therapy techniques, and medical exercise training.

Rex enjoys spending time hiking, mountain biking and skiing with his two daughters, Brianna and Calista, and his wife Jill. He also enjoys ski racing at Crystal Mountain and has raced in several of the local Ice Man Cometh mountain bike races. His passion continues to be to help as many people as possible improve the quality of their lives through an active lifestyle and healthy eating.

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Jill Holden, MSPT, Owner

Jill Holden received her Master of Science degree in Physical Therapy from Grand Valley State University in 1993 and also graduated from Michigan Technological University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. ...

Jill Holden received her Master of Science degree in Physical Therapy from Grand Valley State University in 1993 and also graduated from Michigan Technological University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology.

Her areas of specialization include spinal stabilization training, manual spinal rehab, functional training and geriatric rehabilitation. Jill enjoys developing individualized programs for each person she sees in the clinic.

Jill worked for Munson for 11 years doing home care physical therapy. Now she enjoys providing home visits for FAST Physical Therapy patients who are unable to come to the clinic. She is able to improve people's quality of life where they are having the most difficulty--in their homes.

Jill enjoys Irish dancing, hiking, biking, and downhill skiing with her husband and two daughters. She is also dedicated to the continued development of The Greenspire School, Traverse City's independent Montessori Middle School.

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Kevin Westrick, ATC
Director of Rehab

Kevin Westrick received his B.S. in Kinesiology from the University of Michigan and became certified as an Athletic Trainer in 1994. Kevin has an extensive background in athletic and orthopedic injuries. Upon...

Kevin Westrick received his B.S. in Kinesiology from the University of Michigan and became certified as an Athletic Trainer in 1994. Kevin has an extensive background in athletic and orthopedic injuries. Upon completing his certification, Kevin worked for 2 years as a graduate assistant Athletic Trainer at the University of Houston working primarily with the women’s basketball, football and baseball teams. After his time in Houston, Kevin worked for 10 years for the University of Michigan Health System’s MedSport program, Saline High School, USA Hockey National Team as well as with other athletic teams. He joined FAST Physical Therapy in 2006.

Currently, Kevin is the Athletic Trainer for the Bay Reps High School Hockey Team and the Traverse City Wolves. Outside of work, Kevin enjoys spending time with his wife, Niki, and stepdaughters, Claire and Ellen, as well as coaching football at Elk Rapids High School.

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Ann K. Parker, PT

Ann graduated from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy in 1987. Since graduation, she has enjoyed practicing Physical Therapy in a wide variety of settings including...

Ann graduated from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy in 1987. Since graduation, she has enjoyed practicing Physical Therapy in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, outpatient clinics, and homecare all over the United States.

Her areas of special interest include manual therapies: myofascial release, joint mobilization, strain-counterstrain, and craniosacral. She also specializes in spinal stabilization training, balance training, and postural/relaxation education.

Ann teaches Tai Chi classes at the Yoga Center for Health in Building 50 and enjoys the outdoors. (hiking/biking/canoeing/skiing/snowshoeing) with her husband and 2 sons.

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Katherine Hinze, DPT

Katherine graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Oakland University. After graduation, Katherine spent 2 years...

Katherine graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Oakland University. After graduation, Katherine spent 2 years working in outpatient for St. John North Shores Hospital in Harrison Township, Michigan.

Katherine specializes in treatment and rehabilitation of athletic injuries, low back/neck injuries, and musculoskeletal issues with children ages six and up.

Katherine joined FAST Physical Therapy in September 2008 and works in our Traverse City location. Outside of work, Katherine enjoys running marathons, wine tasting and spending time outside exploring Northern Michigan.

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Rena Hicks, PTA

Rena received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Religion with an emphasis in Women's Studies in 1991 from Central Michigan University. She returned to school to receive a degree as a Physical Therapist...

Rena received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Religion with an emphasis in Women's Studies in 1991 from Central Michigan University. She returned to school to receive a degree as a Physical Therapist Assistant in 1995.

Rena has been with Fast Fitness Physical Therapy since its early stages. She specializes in stress reduction and relaxation, spinal stabilization and therapeutic excersize, balance re-education, and outpatient orthopedics. She also has advanced education in PRRT (Pain Reflex Release Technique). PRRT is remarkable in eliminating pain, stress, muscle tension, and changing dysfunctional compensatory patterns.

When Rena is not at work with patients, she is raising two children, ages 7 and 2, with her husband and enjoying Northern Michigan. She loves music, getting away with friends, rock hunting and enjoying the lakes, sun or snow.

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