What does good movement mean? And what are the principles of good movement? And sometimes people have a hard time articulating that, physiatrists, physical therapists included. Because we focus a lot on, is this person strong, do they pass these strength tests? But we dont look at that necessarily from a more central nervous system standpoint of how is this person moving, what is the coordination and neuromuscular involvement in certain tasks. Even in physiatry thats a bit of a novel concept, surprisingly. Dr. Amy West

Dr. Amy West is a Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation specialist, also known as a physiatrist. This little-known specialty treats a wide variety of medical conditions affecting the nervous and skeletal systems by focusing treatment on addressing root causes and restoring function.

Dr. West is a graduate of Harvard Medical School, and she completed her residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. During her time in medical school, she also earned her Masters of Education with an emphasis on video technology and medical education.

As a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer and active participant in the CrossFit Health movement, Dr. West sees many parallels between the medicine she practices in the clinic and the CrossFit methodology she sees practiced in affiliates.

I was excited to chat with Dr. West at the Winter Classic to learn more about how physiatry can be used to bridge the gap from acute sickness to wellness, and to hear how she explains her pro-CrossFit viewpoint to critics in medicine.

In this episode we discuss:

• Dr. Wests career prior to medicine, and the driving factors that led to her career change


• Why she chose to pursue Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R), also known as physiatry


• Dr. Wests athletic background and how she became involved with CrossFit


• What is PM&R


• How PM&R works alongside physical therapy and rehabilitation


• How physiatry focuses on root causes and functionality


• The parallels between physiatry and CrossFit


• How Dr. West overcomes the stigma against CrossFit within the medical community


• The opportunities she sees to bridge acute rehab/sickness and wellness


• What her practice is like, and how she incorporates CrossFit-type practices with her patients


• Her response to people who think they cant do CrossFit


• How Dr. West navigates the strained relationship between the NSCA and CrossFit, and how she thinks the recent ruling against the NSCA will impact the fitness community


• The challenge of corrupt research studies


• Three things Dr. West does on a regular basis that have the biggest positive impact on her health


• One thing she struggles to implement that could have a big impact on her health


• What a healthy life looks like to Dr. West

You can follow Dr. West on Instagram and Twitter.

Links:

• CrossFit Grand Rounds


• Podcast Ep. 18.47: M.D. Physician Amy West


• TRL: Total Request Live


• Top of the Pops Saturday


• 5 Years After Boston Marathon Bombings, Spaulding Rehab Team Remembers It All


• Invictus Fenway


• CrossFit as Church?! Greg Glassman at Harvard Divinity School


• Glassman at Harvard: Unquantifiable


• Major Victory for CrossFit: Judge Orders Terminating and Massive Monetary Sanctions Against the NSCA


• American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting


• Keep Fitness Legal


• Exercise is Medicine campaign


• Derelict Doctors Club

Related Episodes:

• Ep 108 Training Smarter, Not Harder: Prevention and Recovery from Injury with Pure Physio


• Ep 118 The State of CrossFit with Coach Greg Glassman


• Ep 125 Bridging the Gap Between the Hospital and the CrossFit Affiliate

If you like this episode, please subscribe to Pursuing Health on iTunes and give it a rating. Id love to hear your feedback in the comments below and on social media using the hashtag #PursuingHealth. I look forward to bringing you future episodes with inspiring individuals and ideas about health every other Tuesday.

Disclaimer: This podcast is meant to share the experiences of various individuals. It does not provide medical advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from your physician or health care professional.

The post Ep 132 – Healing Through Functional Movement with Dr. Amy West appeared first on Julie Foucher | Reebok CrossFit Games Athlete.