FAQ

 What is a Certified Muscle System Specialist™?

An CMSS™ is a practitioner who uses a unique thought process and science-based technical skill set to address your issues with poor movement, muscle tightness, and muscle and joint pain.  CMSS™ practitioners take the time to carefully identify aspects of your muscle system where its quality has been decreased, identify opportunities for improvement in areas with low quality motor control, and provide you with the education your body requires to complete and maintain these improvements to your system.  The following are the CMSS™’s objectives for positively impacting our clients: 

Identify the areas of low-quality movement, muscle tightness, and joint discomfort

Address and restore low quality movements and positions with precision exercises to allow for higher-quality muscle function

Decrease sensations of discomfort in muscles and joints by improving muscle contraction and control

Teach you self-directed exercises and techniques that you can do on your own to give you control over your health, keep your independence, and assure your success

Is working with an CMSS™ similar to Physical Therapy?

While the work of a Certified Muscle System Specialist™ and the work of a physical therapist may look similar, the philosophy and thought process differ greatly. 

Physical therapy generally focuses on a patient’s complaint of pain or tightness, and as a result the therapy is almost always performed on or around the area of the patient’s pain. The physical therapy approach often subscribes to the philosophy of “local problem, local solution” (see this article to gain insight into the potential problems of this perspective).

A Certified Muscle System Specialist™ sees the body as one interconnected, integrated, and interacting system. This philosophy provides the underpinnings for our approach. 

Instead of focusing directly on the part where you feel pain, our work focus is on your control.  Any area of the body with low-quality muscular control can contribute to a problem with movement, pain, tightness, or discomfort you are experiencing in any other area of their body (see this article for more information about our “Systems Approach”).  As we help you improve control throughout your system, we can elicit a significant, positive effect on how your entire body feels and moves. Our clients are often surprised that improving muscle control in an area can improve pain they were experiencing at a different location of their body!

We take a full-body approach to solving control issues throughout your system!

Why is the company name “Physicians Fitness”?

Our mission Statement demanded it. We are adamant about coordinating your health and fitness programming with your medical providers. We believe that physicians are in the best position in the health care system to recommend, and monitor the effects of fitness activities, for individuals.

Research continues to show that when a physician makes a recommendation to a patient about health care strategies the patient typically listens. At Physicians Fitness, we love to work with individuals who are already involved in fitness activities, but our passion is helping someone with an existing medical condition who is intimidated by, or has previously failed in an attempt to start, a personal activity program for their health and well being.

We want, and need, to work with physicians to ensure safety and appropriateness of physical activity planning and implementation.

What makes Physicians Fitness unique?

Several features of Physicians Fitness contribute to our unique ability to serve clients from diverse backgrounds.

Number one is our passion – we love what we do and can not even fathom doing anything else! That passion bleeds into the entire fabric of the organization – from our commitment to continuing education (we sponsor study groups weekly that are open to any professional wanting to learn more about taking care of the human body) to our Mobility Profiling Method.

Our staff is the embodiment of our passion – dedicated and educated professionals with experiences ranging from sports conditioning to pain management to outpatient clinical care environments. The critical upfront homework we do for each and every new client to learn about them and ensure their safety is unmatched in Central Ohio. We take the time to find out those things that are keeping you from performing at the levels you desire.