We recently connected with Mike Loebelenz and have shared our conversation below.

Mike, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the best advice you ever gave to a client? How did they benefit / what was the result? (Please note this response is for education/entertainment purposes only and shouldn’t be construed as advice for the reader)

The best advice I could ever give a patient or client starts with a story.

My client’s primary care told her that her pain was all in her head.

She’s now back to running, hiking, and parkour completely pain-free.

Here’s what happened…

She had been dealing with foot pain for almost a year.

It came out of nowhere. She figured it would go away on its own.

Eventually she decided she needed help and her doctor recommended Physical Therapy.

Stretching and strengthening her foot/ankle only seemed to make things worse.

She got x-rays. “Everything looks fine.”

She got an MRI. “Everything looks fine.”

She saw a podiatrist. “Everything looks fine.”

But things were not fine. She was in serious pain and couldn’t do the things she loved, regardless of what anyone told her.

Eventually, her primary care doctor told her that her pain was “probably all in her head”.

She felt hopeless.

After listening to her story I knew something was missing.

My assessment led us to take a different approach than her previous treatments (it was obvious her foot & ankle weren’t the root of the issue here).

She emailed me later that night…

She had relief from her pain for the first time since it started.

A few weeks later she was back to all the activities that she had been missing out on.

There are 3 lessons that should be taken from her story.

1. We need to treat the whole person (not just the painful body part).

2. Imaging doesn’t always tell the full story.

3. Get a second opinion.

Doctors are people too and they make mistakes. But it’s your health and you need to take control if you think something doesn’t add up.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In 2021 I graduated with my Doctorate of Physical Therapy after 7 long years.

I was hungry to get out into the world and help people.

After working through years of my own shoulder, back, and knee issues, I knew first hand how well pain can strip the joy from your life.

1 month after graduating I opened up my very own clinic.

Rise Above Physical Therapy. My sister helped me design the logo.

I had been planning this since my second clinical rotation.

The reason: something was missing.

There was a huge drop off for anyone who wanted to get back to anything active or athletic. Once you hit a certain point you would “graduate” and had to figure the rest out on your own.

There was nothing to bridge the gap.

So I made it my mission to help people find the right path and get them their lives back.

I did a damn good job too. Racking up over 80+ 5 Reviews on Google.

But I came to a realization…

I wasn’t actually performing physical therapy.

I was coaching.

I was coaching people through finding the root cause of their pain and helping them create a game plan to take care of it without me.

My whole philosophy revolves around putting people in control of their pain and creating a long term solution. By giving them all the tools to unlock their strength, mobility, & motor control they were able to reach their full potential and get back the workouts/active lifestyle they love.

I slowly started the transition to coaching online. Clients loved it.

Less time spent traveling to and from my office, more flexibility & feedback throughout the week, AND more control over their pain.

I was also getting more and more questions about diet, strength training, muscle building, and other lifestyle changes.

I knew there was more that I could be doing for them. Not only helping them get out of pain but build a healthier, happier lifestyle, for life.

Motion For Life.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Going through the same struggles as my clients and patients, first hand.

It’s tough to empathize with someone when you’ve never walked in their shoes.

I spent years letting pain limit my potential and ability to push myself. I know how difficult that can be and the struggle you go through to find the missing pieces.

It builds a much deeper connection when you know exactly what they’re going through on their journey and the struggles they’re facing.

As much as I hated having to go through those struggles, it made me appreciate what I found even more and work even harder to help others get their lives back.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Results.

Results speak for themselves.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @drmikeloebelenz