Category: Fun & Sundry

Steve Serio is a Paralympic Gold Medalist, ESPY winner for Best Male Athlete with a disability and currently plays for the New York Rolling Knicks. After being paralyzed at 11 months old following a tumor removal, Steve would later make sure that did not get in his way. He found wheelchair basketball, worked hard and grew from it, letting it blossom into a career. On the show, he details how to embrace the journey, grow through all challenges and continue to work hard to live your life to the fullest! Regardless of the hand your dealt!

Giving Back to The Community, One Bat, Glove, and Helmet at a Time!

As SPEAR enters its 20^th year in service, a milestone we are very proud of, we stop to reflect on what is most important in life. We’ve not only grown as a company, but also continue to positively impact our local community. It is important that we give back to causes that truly align with our values. Our CEO and Co-founder Dan Rootenberg has always been passionate about baseball, as he grew up playing the sport. He also participates on the board of two little leagues and even donates his time coaching and guiding inner-city children; thus far, he’s coached more than 200 kids in the past decade alone!

With Dan’s natural enthusiasm for the sport, SPEAR’s collaboration with Pitch In For Baseball (PIFB) fit like a glove. PIFB is a wonderful not-for-profit organization focused on enabling youth baseball and softball players to play ball by helping eliminate limitations. PIFB collects much needed athletic gear and equipment and distributes them to youth ball players who may not otherwise have the means to access them. Thus far, the organization has helped more than 700,000 boys and girls nationally and globally to play baseball and softball!

CEO and Co-founder Dan Rootenberg presenting the donation to Pitch In For Baseball (PIFB)

Last year at our annual Picnic in the Park event, SPEAR pledged to donate $10,000 to the organization’s cause. Dan and the SPEAR team presented the donation at PIFB’s event on March 18^th, where thirty youth baseball coaches and several boys’ baseball and girls’ softball teams received new gear for their teams! Each baseball team acquired five leather baseball gloves and a bat, and each girls’ softball team received a pair of catchers’ gear as well.  Dan spoke to the crowd and discussed reducing injury risk through proper throwing mechanics and proper rest between outings. He also spoke candidly about his passion for the sport, his journey thus far and how honored he felt to be able to support those who love the sport as much as he does.

PIFB’s goal to continue uplifting children truly connects with SPEAR’s mission and values. The excitement and smiles on the children’s faces when they step out in the field this season is the ultimate reason behind it all. SPEAR is honored to work with such a noble cause, working to cultivate a positive and inviting environment for adolescents in the community. No child should have to hold back from immersing themselves in their passion. We look forward to the future and can’t wait to see these young athletes develop!

Our awesome team of guiding physical therapists and volunteers are all smiles at our dance injury screening!

March 23rd marked SPEAR’s collaboration with Columbia Dance Medicine on a complimentary dance injury prevention screening for the NYC community! The second of its kind, our team of physical therapists volunteered to help the dancers evaluate their strength, flexibility, endurance, and balance. Many of the advising physical therapists on site were dancers themselves, pulling from their own personal range of dance backgrounds in ballet, Horton, musical theatre, salsa, and Irish step to guide participants through a series of assessment exercises. The team also recommended effective warm-up and conditioning practices, while asking questions to better understand not only dancers’ individual habits, physicalities, and experiences, but also the unique demands of their styles and training regimens.

Ninia Agustin, PT, DPT & Clinical Director of our Plaza Hotel clinic

“Dancers are an extreme outside of the normal patient population,” says Clinical Director Ninia Augustin. Oftentimes they come in with entirely different needs and skill sets from the average patient, such as hypermobility and pointework. Their goals when pushing their bodies to new extremes, or their desires not to miss out on training opportunities, can often be unnecessarily pitted against their doctors’ and therapists’ interests in helping them take the time to recover from injuries. “Sometimes I’ll put my hat on, and I’ll say, as a dancer yes, as a PT maybe not, but maybe [we can] figure out a way to mesh the two worlds together; I think that’s what’s lacking in the healthcare industry.”  

When beginning to train at such a young age, dancers may also develop a higher pain tolerance and have trouble distinguishing soreness that comes with building strength, from potentially concerning signs like sharp pain that may indicate something is wrong. “They’re so hyper-aware of every minutiae in their body, and they…don’t necessarily have the verbiage to explain how they’re feeling,”says Dr. Julia Iafrate of Columbia Sports Medicine. This can make it all the more difficult to address potential issues before they become major injuries requiring extensive rehabilitation, or to even know what questions are most useful to consider.

A common question that arose during the screening, for example, is the minimum age at which young dancers should begin dancing en pointe (or on their toes). But as Dr. Iafrate points out, the answer often depends on many factors, including arch strength and ankle stability, that are more difficult to assess and do not consistently correlate with age categories. And while for many years, most forms of dance have incorporated static stretching into students’ warm-ups to improve flexibility, it is now common knowledge among most PTs and sports medicine doctors that static stretching, if not preceded by proper warm-up, can actually lead to more injuries.

Gwen Giffard, PT, DPT, leads a dancer through an airplane test

Upon reflecting on what she learned from the screening, SPEAR physical therapist Gwen Giffard laughed and remarked, “I learned it’s really hard to do an airplane test.”  As our PTs rose to try the exercises they had just guided the dancers through moments before, one element became clear: finding opportunities to improve communication between dancers and PTs will undoubtedly improve a dancer’s overall health, and thus the longevity of their abilities to continue on with their passion.

Our injury prevention screenings aim not only to help participants become more familiar with their own bodies, but to educate dancers, parents, and teachers. With the knowledge they acquire, they may better articulate and analyze their biomechanical inefficiencies, and thus make the most of their physical therapy sessions. SPEAR’s budding dance medicine team hopes to encourage dancers to invest in more long-term relationships with their physical therapists so that we can work together not just for recovery, but for improved prevention of major injuries as well.

Gratitude for 20 Years of SPEAR

by: Dan Rootenberg, CEO

To the Entire SPEAR Team:

March 22, 2019, marks twenty years since SPEAR first opened its doors.  Wow, just wow.

Please allow me to take a brief walk down memory lane so I can reflect on where we are today and share SPEAR’s humble beginnings with you.  March 22, 1999 – 20 years ago today:  Dave and I (with a lot more hair – see pic below) attended a talk about ski conditioning at my local Equinox gym where we met Dr. Glashow, a surgeon from Lenox Hill Hospital who was the guest speaker.  SPEAR then was not SPEAR now.  Dave and I each handed the doctor a business card that I had printed up at home that afternoon.  Mine had my home address. Dave’s had his home address.  The doctor thought we had two locations, was very impressed, and sent over SPEAR’s very first patient Vito Tricarico, a friendly, retired NYC architect, who walked into our rental gym space to be treated post-shoulder surgery.

1999: Our first pic as co-founders!

Dave and I first met at a wedding.  We were not invited guests. Dave was a waiter and I was a valet parker.  It was the first week of PT school and we recognized each other in the catering kitchen.  We became friends very quickly and realized that we shared an ethos, a grinder’s mentality, a “do whatever it takes” attitude.  We found that we had a lot in common besides being wedding crashers.  We both lost our fathers at a young age and recognized that nothing in life is handed to you, owed to you or should be expected.  You make your own luck and create your own breaks.   Eight years later, when Ryan Kitzen joined the company, he shared a similar story and attitude.  I realize now that the thread of overcoming circumstances, of bringing a smile without entitlement, has been so woven into our company from the very start.  As I look around at our team today, I clearly see a connection to SPEAR’s origin story.  Call it the “law of attraction” or call it our culture, we are fortunate to have 325 humble, talented, hard-working, caring team members.  For that, I am extremely grateful.

I want to take this opportunity to recognize the efforts (in no particular order because it takes all of us working together!) of our team.  The care coordinators who pay attention to setting the welcoming vibe for every patient that walks through our door.  The award-winning therapists, who give of themselves so selflessly, passionate about making their patients lives better.   Our techs, who are out there on the floor every day making sure our patients have a positive healing experience.   And the HQ team who (has to put up with me every day) manages the behind the scenes magic to make the company run like a company.  I owe deep thanks as well to our talented and skilled Directors and Regional Directors who lead with heart and lead by example every day.

Twenty years is hard to believe.  The emotion of GRATITUDE comes to the forefront of my mind.  I truly appreciate all that we have accomplished together.  The awards are special, but I read somewhere never to inhale.  Receiving the pinnacle industry award – the APTA’s private practice section, Practice of the Year – was a highlight for us. One that we celebrated.  We don’t stop there, however.  I see much greater heights in the distance.   I see our company growing the SPEAR way, the right way, and the thoughtful way.   I see us graduating our 100th team member through our SPEAR future leader program.   I see creating opportunities for growth for those that want it and have the discipline to develop the skill set.   I see SPEAR transcending excellence in PT and adding state of the art wellness services that elevate our brand and increases patients’ expectation every time they walk through our doors.  I see many more people benefitting from our special brand of physical therapy and wellness, with a much broader footprint.

2019: SPEAR ensuring no middle school child in NYC avoids trying out for a baseball or softball team because they can’t afford a glove or bat

Spring started this week.  Spring has always been a special time for me.  The weather is getting nicer, the flowers are starting to bloom, but really and most importantly, it’s time for the baseball season.  I have coached over 200 kids in the past decade and sit on the board for two little leagues, one in Manhattan (PSLL) and one in Brooklyn (Bonnies Youth Club) for inner-city kids, where I also played.  I give up most of my afternoons during the spring to bring the concepts that have made SPEAR a special place, to these kids.  We talk about what it means to be a good teammate, what a winner looks like, the importance of grit, hard work, and goal setting.  Just this week I was honored to speak to all the middle school coaches of Manhattan about keeping kids safe and the importance of correct throwing biomechanics.  As some of you may recall, at our last annual Picnic in the Park, we pledged $10,000 to the middle schools of NYC.  I am proud to say that we made good on that pledge and delivered equipment to all the city boys’ baseball and girls’ softball programs.  Every team got five beautiful leather baseball gloves and a bat, and every girls’ softball team additionally got a pair of catchers’ gear.  No child this year will be too embarrassed to try out for their school team because they couldn’t afford a glove.

SPEAR’s annual picnic in the park which evolved from a small kick-ball game to a day of celebrating “SPEAR-it”, with an egg toss, tug of war, talent show laden celebration.

Thanks for taking the time to read my note. Apologies for the length, but since 20 years can pass in the blink of an eye, I truly appreciate you taking a few minutes to allow me to reflect on SPEAR’s past, present and future.  We are making a difference in peoples’ lives every day.  This year, we will positively impact the lives of thirty THOUSAND New Yorkers.  I hear the stories and get letters from grateful patients whose lives you have made better. Today, as I reflect over 20 years, how it all started by showing up to talk at Equinox and then renting a single room in a midtown gym, I am filled with pride and gratitude.  We have 18 locations and over 150 talented therapists.  Vito Tricarico, if he were alive, would no doubt have a huge smile on his face, and give us a big laugh and huge hug (and pose for a SPEAR social media pic!).  I can’t wait to see how we continue to grow together and continue to heal the world – one person at a time.

Thank you for your commitment to the team, whether you have been here 20 years or 20 days.

With Gratitude,

Dan

Before tearing her ACL on a ski trip in Lake Placid, Caitlyn was an active 28 year old in New York City. Pilates, skiing, running and kettlebell workouts were common parts of her everyday life. After her diagnosis, Caitlin reached out to us at SPEAR to begin treatment to strengthen her body; coming to SPEAR allowed Caitlin to feel better prepared for her approaching ACL surgery, scheduled for late April.

At the beginning of May, Caitlyn returned to SPEAR to continue physical therapy sessions. She recalls her most memorable moment as the day she was able to complete a full pedal stroke on the stationary bike. Just a few weeks later, she was cleared to walk without her brace!

By the summer of 2018, Caitlyn had resumed her active lifestyle and even traveled to Utah to tackle a big hiking trip. When asked to describe her experience, Caitlin stated: “My body feels fully recovered—it’s like night and day. I can do high-level Pilates, hike, and I am back to doing my normal workouts. All in all it was a slow process, but the progress was so rewarding and each day felt like an improvement.” Though an ACL injury can prove to be cumbersome, Caitlin is a prime example of what perseverance looks like. She’s turned her injury into a positive, and now has a better appreciation for apartment building elevators and ice packs! Caitlyn has just returned to the slopes again this winter and she’s excited to scale more mountains, both figuratively and literally, in her future.

Thank you, Caitlyn, for allowing the SPEAR team to be a part of your incredible journey getting Back to Life. We are so happy to see you doing what you love. We know that Life Can’t Wait—you’ve got to go out and tackle those obstacles!