Physical Therapy With Jack Ryals

What separates good physical therapist from great? 

Listen in on my interview with Jack Ryals as we discuss:

1) His story into physical therapy 
2) What separates the good from the great? 
3) How to avoid injury 

Transcript

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Two one, welcome to the fetish hype podcast. Today. I'm here with a special guest. Jack riles is in the studio. That's actually his office. We're doing it right here in his office. So if you hear any cool background music, that's his people doing work. And, um, yeah, we're gonna get ready to just have some fun and talk about physical therapy. What's up Jack? How you doing Blake? Doing good, man. So tell us a little bit about how long you've been doing physical therapy, where you started and where you kind of got that passion to, to go into this. Yeah. So I've been here at the waza clinic for 23 years. Uh, my background is sports. So while I was in college, I got the opportunity to be, uh, what's called a student athletic trainer. So for three years, um, prior to PT school, I worked with the, uh, football team, the men's track team and the women's volleyball team, um, prior to PT school. So that going into, uh, into the therapy school gave me. Set an orthopedic background to, um, launch my career in that direction. That's really cool. So you started that in college. Did you play sports in high school? Main sport was probably soccer, but I also played football and, uh, ran cross country. And you're a Florida guy, right. You're from so that's why, so where I'm from soccer and football are the. Season. So when I hear people say that I'm always reminded soccer as a spring sport here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, um, very fun. Well, today kind of what we're gonna go through is we're gonna learn a little bit about what you do in your practice. That makes it a little bit more, unique and we'll go from there. And I got some more questions for you, but. Kind of build, how did you start out? Was it just you, cause you have a huge team now, like there's, I'm looking out at your room and you have about, was it 12 people here working for you? Uh, our total people working for us is about 45, 45. I don't see 45 people here, just so you know, I know how to count better than that, but we have three facilities, three facilities. Okay. So talk about a little bit about how that evolved and, and built out. Yeah. It, I really built our practice around like an athletic training room concept. Mm-hmm I enjoyed that, um, at the university of Florida and early in my career realized that, uh, the role of an exercise specialist or a personal trainer or a physical therapy assistant helps, um, me augment what I can do by taking more of a team approach to handling our patients. That's cool. So you you've taken your sports background and really kind of applied it to general pop and just everyone. And you've found that you've had a lot of success with that. Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, even just general pop somebody's returning back to their prior level of function. Mm. So sure. We've got some soccer players today and some baseball players and some football players. Um, but we also have, um, a general population patient. It just wants to do better at sitting on the toilet. Yeah. So whether that's a, a knee limitation, that's orthopedic, but it's still their prior level of function to be able to pull off a squat. Yeah. That's very cool. Speaking of that, what are some really, I'm gonna jump right into it. What are some really common things you see that general pop comes in for? Is it shoulder, knees, back everything. And what are those things that you would say, Hey, do these things to help you avoid coming in? outside of here. Yeah. So the first part of that question, uh, a lot of spinal stuff comes across our desks, uh, low back pain. Mm-hmm specifically seems to be plaguing, uh, north America. Um, but other than that, the shoulders and knees are most common, true orthopedic conditions. So that's the part of your first question? The, the second half of that question would be. Avoid avoid the long pauses in being active. Hmm. So whether that is that you used to be a runner and then you took a five year break and then you got back into running, or if it was that you went to the gym three times a week and then took a two year break and then went back to the gym. Um, the people that tend to avoid our office. So the people that are the steady eddies yeah. The consistent something. And then whether that's a, you're a marathon runner or you. Walk the lake. Yeah, whatever that activity is, it seems like as we age, I'm 46, the things that we start to stop doing mm-hmm are a lot harder to get back into the game. Once you're out. That's really good. That's really wise. It could be even, uh, yard work. Yeah, but just keeping it consistent and staying steady. I always say, um, people come in want like really quick fixes and fitness. I'm like, you know, the people who do really well at this are really boring. Right? Exactly. You know, like they're, they're the real boring people that just like to do the regimented. I wake up the same time I eat similar things. I go to bed similar time. You know, if you wanna live a pretty exciting life, it's hard to get fit. Mm-hmm And, and what I'm hearing you say is it's also hard to avoid injury when you do that. Yeah. Why do you think that is? Well, it's funny if, if you'll notice a construction worker, a, um, outside worker that does that kind of work for 40 hours a week, mm-hmm they don't usually have, uh, trouble in orthopedic problems. It's. Guy that has not done anything overhead for three years and then just paints a ceiling. Oh, wow. Yeah. So I was washing some construction workers near our house, um, last month and from seven 30 in the morning, till five 30 at night, it was laying down trusses. It was lifting trusses, overhead, stabilizing them. They, they do it day in, day out. Mm-hmm no back pain or, you know, minimal back pain as far as seeking medical help. Yeah. Whereas I dug a trench for two hours and my hands hurt for three days. yeah. So it's not that I'm inactive, but I don't dig trenches. Right. You're not. But I think if I dug trenches every day that I would not have hand trouble, the body will adapt to whatever you consistently put it under, but the body will not adapt to, um, inconsistent things. Totally. It's similar too. Like in. uh, I got invited to play it at like a church basketball league this past week. And I just, my wife was like, don't do it right. Don't do it right. Cause I don't, I haven't played in probably two, three years. I work out four times a week and I walk consistently, you know, I'm, I'm active, I'm in shape, but I don't run laterally. I don't sprint stop. I don't do any of that kind of stuff. So I know that I'm gonna be extra sore and maybe even get injured doing something like that. So it's kind of funny. you kind of made me think of my wife's wisdom in that this past week, cuz I was actually gonna go Yeah, well I did, I did the Memorial day Murf for the first time in a few years. And even though I work out every day and I run 10 miles at a time every Saturday mm-hmm the 300 squats destroyed me. Yeah. And it was no weight. Mm-hmm and the, the workout itself took a little over 40 minutes. Yeah. And it's, I, I couldn't walk for a week. Yeah, you, yeah. You're just not used to that volume 300 is a lot of squats. Well, that's cool. Well, what are, what's one of the things that makes you passionate about doing this that's kept you in it for 23 years. You said mm-hmm that, that is kind of like the thing you keep coming back to. Yeah. In, in our line of work, the beauty of it is taking. Um, someone that's broken and just coming alongside them to a wholeness. Hmm. So the majority of our patients get better. Um, I'd be a terrible cancer doctor. I'd be a terrible, um, diagnos diagnostician for, you know, bad news. Yeah. Um, if you tear your ACL playing the sport that you wife told you not to, um, you're gonna have a rough first day. And then three months later, you're gonna jog outta here. That's cool. So there's something about restoring a private level of function. That's a lot of fun. Yeah. That just gets somebody who came in and thought maybe I'm not gonna ever be the same again. And they Glock outta here with a lot of hope. Yeah, that is really cool. Um, I, I enjoy that about the fitness part too, where I, you know, it's not uncommon for someone to come into a consult and be kind of broken and crying and in tears and I. I can't either lose the weight or doctor gimme bad news if I don't lose the weight or, or like some, some minor orthopedic stuff that I probably could handle as far as, you know, I haven't, I don't have any diagnoses, but I have chronic pain in my knees and it's just terrible. And a lot of it's just stiffness and not moving and weakness. Right. Mm-hmm um, and then getting them to feel like I remember one time I had a lady who had a, she had to use a, a ramp to get up. To get in her own house. And she got strong enough through just doing box squats with her own body weight. She could walk the stairs again. And that was a huge deal to her. That's kind of cool stuff right there. Yeah. It's not always just a new bench, press max or something like that. Mm-hmm it's also, well, we, you and I have a mutual client, um, Sam. Oh yeah. Who, you know, his world was rocked. I was there the day that he Tores Achilles. Oh, you were at the field? No, he came to my house. Oh. So he was at the field, he got in his car and he drove to my house and said, what have I done? and it went from, he thought he maybe be sprained his ankle to me telling him, I'm sorry, buddy. You've ruptured your Achilles. Ooh. And you could see in his face went white. He's completely. Yeah. My life is now in turmoil. And then now he's doing jump rope and box jumps with you. Yeah. He told me no longer box jumps, but he I think he's capable of doing them. It's just not something he wants to do anymore. I totally get it. No. Um, yeah. Sam's, Sam's awesome. That's really cool. And those things are just huge for, for kind of the, not just, it's not just a career to make money, but it's also the enjoyment of what you do to help someone. Would you say one of the big things that really motivates you in doing this kind of job is that experience of someone coming into your facility hopeless and then leaving with some hope. Uh, how do you guys try to instill that kind of culture at your, at your work? Yeah, it's repetition. I mean, it's gotta, it's gonna come from leadership first, but it's, it's just practice. Um, it's not different than what you and I study with the gospel. Hmm. It's just, uh, the first realization that you can't do it all on your own. Uh, you're asking for someone to come alongside you. Uh, so we, we kind of ever massaging out our faith. Mm-hmm as, uh, as instruments. you know, that God's gonna heal the body in many different ways. Um, we just feel like we're, we're blessed to be a, uh, an instrument in that. Totally. It is fun. How, like the existential part of our thinking and beliefs play out in the physical too. Yeah. Like, you know how we care for people, how we think about people. We don't just try to give 'em movements, do this, do that. And Bamsey later. Yeah. And both you and I agree that, um, there's, there's a lot to mental health that, um, benefits from. Exercise. So absolutely. Yeah. It's no different than, uh, someone that's going to a gym that, you know, wants to lose 20 pounds or mm-hmm, just be a little more healthy. Uh, same with what we do in physical therapy is that, um, we're just participating in someone's, um, restoration of some prior level of function. That really aids in mental health. Yeah. That's so cool. What would you say are some of the key cultural things that you guys try to keep here outside of? Um, you know, uh, the, the faith aspect and trying to make sure you're kind of like the, the Chick-fil-A of physical therapy, um, what would you guys say are some really key things that you want your team to have that you try to instill as the leader? Yeah. Well, the thing I get made fun of most around here is two things. One. Stole this concept from Dave Ramsey that, um, all complaining that's passed upward is, is welcomed. Cuz that's where change can happen is you pass complaints and constructive criticism. Mm-hmm upstream. Uh, if you pass it downstream, it's badgering. And if you pass it to a peer, then it's gossip. So we have a funny, no gossip policy that most of the time works when it doesn't. We have to do a little tune up. Um, but we copied that from Dave Rams. um, that's huge. What, where did you get that date? Is that a podcast or that book? Yeah, he, he, he frequently referenced it. I used to listen to his podcasts or his radio station on the way home. Um, but the, the kind of no grumbling or just the grumbling has to happen upstream so that, um, something can be done about it. Mm-hmm and then we, I, we, I get made fun of as the, uh, very few males that, uh, wanders hobby lobby looking for some more sayings. Say, please. And thank you. And smile and love is kind love is patient Uh, we have some Bible verses that are on the walls that you kind of remind us of that we're just blessed to be here. That's very cool. Um, now you've had you have three spots around town that you've started. Yes, sir. And you had mentioned to me previously that it took you about five years to get all, all three of those up and. Yeah, it took us five years to get the product that we wanted to get across. Um, it started with the little gas station place on the corner mm-hmm um, but we had to get people to buy in. So initially it was just a few of us, um, starting what we call physical therapy and sports medicine. It's a, it's a, um, subsidy or it's a, we we're owned by the Watson clinic. Um, but as we were starting that new product, it took us about five years to get where we're at. We've got three facilities. We see, uh, just south of 300 patients a day. Wow. That's crazy. That's awesome. Now, are you independent from Watson Clinton clinic or are you under Watson clinic? No. Yeah. We're all employees of the okay. Mm-hmm yeah. Yeah. So, you know, LA. Part of the reason we're doing this is that I want people that are listening, whether they're out of state, instate, local, um, to think about when they're looking for a physical therapist, what are some really key things that you would say are, make it a great experience? And this would be something that you should try to keep in mind and look for. Um, is it that they show off and know a lot of head knowledge? Is it that there's a culture of really getting to. Uh, welcomed right out the gate. Is it relationship? What would you say are the keys? Yeah, that's real. That that's really changed in my mind over the years. Um, I was a little snobbish if I had to be, um, honest that 23 years ago, you know, I graduated from the university of Florida, which was the toughest school in the area to get into. So I thought that maybe that's what made a good physical therapist was to be a, a alumnus of a strongly accredited school. Um, and then it was, you know, what are you certified? Are you board certified in orthopedics? Do you know how to do the Mulligan technique or et cetera. And I've really come around to, to not believing that, um, we've had, uh, some great physical therapists work alongside us that are from universities that may, we may have never heard of. Hmm. Um, so yeah, to answer your question, it's relational. Um, Hmm. We, we do become kind of the hair stylist of, um, some common, um, ailments that when someone comes in. We have to come alongside them and, um, develop the relationship because it's not always just the foot pain or the back pain, but there's usually some other component that we become a part of their lives. And if you look around in, in whatever environment you're going into, just get the resting face of the coworkers. Is it a smile? Is it a frown? Is it a looking at the ground? Um, mm-hmm we, we really try to make this a fun environment to be in cuz most people that want to, that are in a medical facility. Prefer to be elsewhere, a hundred percent you start realizing, um, people want an experience too. They don't, they want to get fixed, but they wanted a good experience. I had someone say when I was doing a nutrition certification a couple years ago, They did a survey on what made a great nutrition coach. And it was very similar to what you just said. There was someone who said they lost 15 pounds in the first, like it was like six weeks or something. And they said, oh, so you've had a great experience. They said, uh, I'm really happy. I lost 15 pounds, but I would never wanna work with that coach again. and then they had someone else they interviewed who lost zero weight in six weeks. And they couldn't rave more about their coach, how much they loved him, how much they enjoyed this person. Um, and they thought, what was the difference there? One person got results. Didn't like their coach, the other person got no results, but really loved it and was in it for a long haul. And it was that relational piece of clicking and enjoying and, and the experience. So that is huge. And I'm glad you reminded me of that. Cause I think it's so easy to forget. Yeah. One of the things that I, that I. Take pride in for us is if, if you Blake tear your knee and you have a good experience here, then I wanna help you with your foot in a couple years. Yeah. And then your neck a couple years later, and then you're back a couple years later that ideally this is the place that you come to for orthopedic ailments. Mm-hmm that's great. Yeah. And then those experiences get passed on, right. People talk about good experiences. That's a great way to build a business. Um, that's awesome. Guys, I, I highly recommend that you, uh, visit Jack if you're local and you have some sort of orthopedic needs. Um, but we're gonna end the podcast today with just a fun two truths in a lie, and I'm just gonna let Jack say it. And then you I'll guess, and you guys get to guess on the other era of this podcast, but Jack tells three things about yourself. One of Em's gotta be a lie though. All right. So being five foot nine, a hundred and sixty five pounds, I have run three marathons. I can bench press 300 pounds and I own three S sec championship rings. That's a good one. Um, I'm gonna go with the three S sec championship rings. No, that's actually true. Oh, okay. Which one was. The one that's the lie. The, yeah, I've never bench 300 pounds, 300 pounds. Mean you need to come see me. I'll help you. I, I could help you do That's awesome. Wow. So you did three S sec championships at Florida. Mm-hmm talk about those real quick. Which ones were they? What years? Yeah, so 19 94, 19 95. Um, those football. Yep. Steve brewer was a coach, ER, Quarterback. And I was the guy that, uh, either made sure ankles were taped or Gatorade was made. Nice. And then the following year, uh, 1996, the women's volleyball team made the final four at Florida under Mary Wise, who will be in the hall of fame of women's volleyball coaching. Wow. That's really cool. Um, did you do volleyball, football, basketball, like all the sports or no, just two seasons with the football team. One season with men's. In one season with women's VO. Very, very cool. Well, that's what we're gonna all, we're gonna do finish up here for the day. Uh, Jack, thanks so much for your time. I appreciate you. And if you're local, definitely check out Jack riles physical therapy here in town. Thanks Blake. See ya,