WVU Community Health Forum Straight and Steady Program

None

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Good morning, good evening, goodafternoon. We are back with the WVU
Community Health Forum, presented by CamdenClark Hospital. Brittany is back. She
hasn't been in here in a hotminute, but she is definitely back today.
How are you doing today, Brittany, I'm doing good. How are
you? Oh, Like we talkedabout earlier, my brain has taken a

(00:21):
left turn on the highway and wentoff the rails. So I'm trying to
slowly get to Friday and hopefully Ican relax this weekend so that I don't
have to be as tired as Iam at the moment. But we're gonna
go ahead, and I'm gonna haveyou reintroduce yourself because you haven't been on
here in a hot minute, sokind of give like, tell you to
tell us who you are, whatyou do, what your job is,

(00:43):
all that kind of thing. Okay, Well, I'm Brittany Barta. I'm
an exercise specialist at the Health andWellness Center and then I'm also the group
fitness coordinator there as well. Awesome, awesome, And is what is the
program that you were one of youwere discussing today, because I see that
it's on here. It's a Straightand Steady program kind of give a brief
synopsis of kind of what that is. So Straight and Steady is a program

(01:08):
that I created a few years agowhen I first started working at the Health
and Wellness Center, and it's solelylike more of a therapeutic program to help
correct like posture and balance. Okay, gotcha. Yeah, I have very
bad posture and very bad balance.Today. I've actually fallen into three different
doors in the last twelve hours,so I think something's off, but I

(01:32):
would say so, yeah, yeah, I don't know. I've been going
to the chiropractor lately because my neckhas been doing this weird thing and I
don't know what it is. AndI mean it's helped, but at the
same time, I just feel reallyoff, if that makes sense. And
you said that it's for like postureand it's for like balance and everything.

(01:52):
Who would benefit from a program exactlylike that, per se To be honest,
anybody that is having a lot ofproblems with posture or with balance.
Most people think that they have tohave a balance issue to come and do
this, but most of the time, you know, we're kind of able

(02:13):
to pinpoint some other issues that helpcorrect that balance without actually working on your
balance okay, okay? And whatkind of like what kind of balance issues
does it necessarily? Like I'm tryingto I'm trying to work this in a
way that makes sense and what mybrain is trying to tell like get out
what what are some of the balancingissues that would benefit like if you have

(02:35):
a balance issue? Like I'm tryingto my words are very very bad today,
and I apologize, so I'm tryingmy heart is to not sound like
an idiot. I know there's alot of different things that cause balancing issues.
What are some of those issues thatyou that could like they could go
to benefit from this? Like whatissues could they do? I see in
my words are so bad today,I'm trying to think what issues I mean,

(03:01):
like, what are some things thatcontribute to balance? Yes? Yes,
yes? Yes? What what thingscontribute to balancing issues? And what
can you do to help those issuesnecessarily? Okay? Well, first main
thing is your posture. So wheneveryou're you know, leaning forward all the
time, because where we sit inchairs, we're looking at our phones or

(03:23):
you know, our heads always down. Our spine is no longer in that
straight alignment, so our weight isautomatically thrown off because we're just more forward
than upright. So that's one ofthe big things. And then another thing
that most people don't really think aboutis your core strength. And again,

(03:46):
where we do sit a lot orwhere we drive a lot, you know,
we're not using our core muscles asmuch as before, so when those
get weak, then that can kindof throw your balance off as well.
So in the program that I do, the first two things that we focus
on our posture and then core strength, and usually by correcting those two things,

(04:08):
your balance improves way before we evenstart doing balance exercises. Gotcha,
Now, what's kind of like afirst day type thing if you're like first
joining the program, first getting intoit. What's kind of like the initial
like I would call it like dayzero type thing. What's kind of the
what they go through the first daywhen they go to the program. So

(04:30):
the first thing I do with everybodyis assess them. We go through kind
of just like a questionnaire, likeI want to figure out exactly what your
goals are, what you're having troublewith, if there have been like surgeries
or something in the past that youknow might create some complications for you.
Now that could be affecting your balance, or if there's just something I need
to be aware of, you know, to make sure we're not doing an

(04:51):
exercise that's going to affect that andmake it worse. So we go through
a big questionnaire, and then Ido a posture assessment, and then I
go through a couple of different balanceassessments as well after that. So it's
a good forty five minutes to anhour that we're just doing tests and I'm

(05:13):
looking at a bunch of different thingsbefore we even start a program. But
it's very thorough though by the soundsof it, Yeah, okay, good,
good, good good. Now howlong is it? Like, does
a program only last like a week, couple of days or how long does
this programs like go on for?So this actually goes for usually about six
weeks. While I spend twelve sessionsthat are an hour each that we just

(05:41):
work and do the exercises. Idon't usually include that first assessment, So
I guess technically it's a total ofthirteen to fourteen sessions, but twelve of
them are straight exercise for an houreach time. That's that's pretty extensive though,
I mean, I mean thinking aboutit kind of in a chiropractic therapeutic
way type thing. I mean,I know that if you go into like

(06:04):
a normal chiropractors like a doctor's office, sometimes they usually set you like on
a treatment plan for the first fewdays or first couple of weeks or something
like that, and then they justkind of make that consistency or whatever.
And that's what I did when Iwent to the chiropractor. But it sounds
kind of similar, but I thinkit's honestly, I think it would be
more beneficial in a way, tobe honest, because you're having that one

(06:27):
on one and you don't feel likeyou're kind of like just in and out
type of thing. Yeah. Nowwith well, obviously we've talked to Scott
about being a member and joining andbecoming part of the Health and Wellness Center
and everything. Do you have tobe like a member to join this program
or is there like certain stipulations tobeing part of the program. Nope,
you do not have to be amember at all, because we can kind

(06:50):
of just work this as like apersonal training type of program. And you
know, we do have some peoplethat come in for personal training and that
aren't members either. Okay, Soyeah, Now from what it from what
you've said, it doesn't sound likeany sort of like a group fitness type
thing. It almost seems like avery it's a very one on one if
that if that's when I'm gaining fromthat. Yeah, so very personalized.

(07:14):
Very Yeah, like I said,one on one type thing. Now,
what insurance is covered under this program? Like what can you, like,
do you do they need to callinto like see if their insurance covers it,
or do you like kind of haveoff the top of your head,
what insurance would cover this kind ofa program. So for right now,
we don't have it set up forinsurance to cover the program. I mean,

(07:38):
however, some of our insurances willcover like the membership at the health
and Wellness center, but for likeour specialized medical programs that we have going
and personal training, you know,we don't have it set up in that
way for insurance to cover it.Maybe one day in the future, but
not right now. It's a working, working progress, a working progress constantly.
Yes, Now, you said,how how long has this How long

(08:01):
have you been doing this? Exactly? It's been almost three years. Three
years. So here's here's another reallygood question. How did this become a
thing, like what came into yourhead one day and said, Oh,
I want to start doing this kindof a program. Like what what was
the the factors that led up toyou wanting to do a program like this?

(08:22):
Well, it's kind of funny.It was actually during my interview there
with Louis and it was actually Andrea, you know, they were talking about
like some other things that we coulddo and stuff, and they were just
saying like, yeah, there's alot of people, a lot of members
that are always looking for something tofix their balance and posture and all this

(08:43):
stuff. And I was like,Oh, I could do that, you
know, because I have a physicaltherapy background and pretty much every single patient
I've ever worked with we focus onposture in or balance. So I'm like,
well, that's kind of in mywheelhouse. I do that every day
as it is, So let's justcreate a program. And that was how
it started. So wow, soundskind of sounds like your your program and

(09:07):
me here kind of like intertwine orkind of like similar in a way with
the whole me taking over kind ofdoing the podcasting and doing all that.
It kind of seems very very similarin kind of a certain sense, but
completely two different areas, Yeah,which is kind of that's kind of wild.
Now, the ultimate question is,and I know a lot of people
will probably ask this question if it'snot covered by insurance, and it hasn't

(09:30):
been put under like insurance coverage justyet, what is the typical cost to
be a part of that program?So for the entire program, to pay
for it upfront is two hundred dollars. But that includes, you know,
the twelve one hour sessions, allof the assessments that we're going to do,

(09:50):
and I also repeat some of thosebalanced testings throughout the program so that
you can constantly check in on yourbalance in your progress, and then we
can kind of make some tweaks andchanges from that. And then I also
I'm always giving you it's like alist of exercises. So usually by the

(10:11):
end of the program, you havean entire list or packet of every single
exercise that we've ever done. Soit's kind of like a manual like Posture
and Bounce manual of exercises by thetime you're done, So you know,
there is quite a bit that goesinto it. And honestly, two hundred
bucks for six to seven weeks oftraining. You know, that's a little

(10:35):
bit less than our personal training ratesright now, so right right, and
with everything being so expensive and everythingbeing like extremely like I mean again just
expensive in general. Like it's justeverything's very wild right at the moment.
And I think having some sort ofrelief in some area I think would make
things a little bit more manageable anda little bit less stressful. And I
think two hundred dollars for that longof a program and to beget I think

(10:58):
it has short term positives and thenlong term positives in a way, just
because in the short term, Imean, it's not going to break your
wallet if you're needing. I like, if you're it's not going to break
your wallet. But then the longterm it's also going to manage your health
and make you more healthier. Iguess I'm if my words are correct here,
but now kind of rewinded a littlebit. Have you seen some really

(11:22):
good success from this program? Like, are there any like, like really
good success stories from this thing?Have you seen any like kind of going
to explain some of the success storiesthat you've had from this program. So
honestly, majority of everyone that hasgone through it has given me a really
great success story. Let's see,there have been some participants from a few

(11:46):
years ago that I see every oncein a while now and they still tell
me. They're like, yeah,you know, we're still you know,
doing our posture exercises and it's stillhelping, Like I'm still not having pain
in this area. And this wasyou know, two years ago when I
started that they're still doing it.And one of my most recent participants,

(12:07):
he's a very tall guy. He'slike six five six seven, like very
very tall, good lord, andhe was having a lot of issues with
like falling a lot and just kindof losing his balance and stuff. And
he comes in probably two or threetimes a week because I gave him like
a pool workout, so like balanceexercises and stuff to do in the pool,

(12:30):
and he does them twice three timesa week, and he has had
not fallen since he's done the program. From what I understand, he hasn't
fallen yet, So wow, whichis really great. That is really cool.
But at the same time, fallingfrom almost a seventh like your head
being almost seven feet off the groundand falling that one scares me and terrifies
me. But at the same timethat dude is huge, Like we're tall

(12:54):
as it is, and just eventrying to picture six seven is intimidating and
scary. But good. Wow.But the but now, what exactly was
he doing in the pool? Thatwas like kind of like explained like what
he was doing in the pool thathelped him with the balancing type thing,
because I'm I'm curious as to whathe was doing that helped him not falling

(13:16):
over. So when you're in thepool, you've got like water resistance pushing
you in a bunch of different directions. So if you've ever just tried to
stand still in a pool when thereare other people around you, like circulating
the water, it's really hard.It knocked you off bounce, so you
have to constantly keep readjusting like yourfeet, you know, so you're not
falling over. Okay. So forhim, I gave him a lot of

(13:41):
like leg strengthening stuff to do andjust some exercises to create his own water
resistance to work against the water byhimself, and that seemed to work pretty
well for him. Wow, somethingjust something as simple as just standing in
the pool, though it is kindof that's that's crazy to think that that
is what I mean in a sensekind of helped them mount in a way.

(14:03):
That's crazy. Now, to notgive away any sort of any other
tips and tricks of the trade thatyou have and the secret tactics that you
use to help people with balance.What is one simple, easy thing that
people can do at home, likein their own free time to help them
with balancing stuff or just kind ofhelp straighten their posture in a way,

(14:26):
Like, what is there anything thatthey can do at home to something simple?
Yeah, So one thing that Ialways tell people to do the best
place to do it is in yourcar because you can use the headrest as
like a guide of how far togo. So, you know, the
main thing with everybody's like bad postureis you know, your neck and like

(14:48):
the cervical spine, upper shoulders,you know, because we're always got our
head forward, and by fixing thathelps a lot. So what I always
tell people to do is just takeyour head and just slide it straight back
to where it would hit the backof the head wrist almost kind of like
you know, like how a chickenbobs his head back and forth. I

(15:09):
know it looks really dumb, butseriously, it It definitely does help because
it'll stretch the back of the neck, which is tight, and then it'll
strengthen the front of the neck,which is weak. So it kind of
helps do the river. So youknow, just cranker music up really high
and just start bobbing so it doesn'tlook as weird there's no music playing.

(15:30):
No, not doing the chicken noises. Did that help anywhere? Yeah?
No, don't do that. Thatjust makes you look like like a ding
dong, right. Yeah, yeah, don't do the chicken noises. Just
you can just head bob and sitthere and do that all day long.
I mean because as soon as yousaid that, I kind of went like
that and I'm like, yeah,that actually does really stretch things out.
Yeah it does. Yeah, I'vehad this like I don't even know what
it was. I just found it, like not even a few weeks ago.

(15:52):
Like there's I almost think it's eitherbecause I'm looking at a phone constantly
and have my head down facing down, or I'm constantly sitting at the desk
kind of like doing one of thesenumbers right staring at the screen. Yeah,
so I've got I don't know ifit's like like a it's like a
not or like a I don't evenknow what you would call it. It's
just weird and it hurts. Ithurts so bad, I'm sure. But

(16:18):
now where can they? Okay,so where's the health and wellness center located
at? Actually, now kind ofgo off of that, so it is
on Birch Street, but it's theold Family Fitness center that's behind Michaels.
Okay, Yeah, you kind ofgo up down it's kind of way up
that crazy hill. Yeah, likein the parking lot where Gabes and the

(16:40):
old Crafts two thousand and stuff is, and kind of go in between the
two buildings. Yeah, and betweenDollar General and the craft store to get
up there. Yep, yep.Now then they can sign up there for
the classes I'm assuming correct. Yeah. You can either go in and sign
up, or you can just callthe facility and we can get you set
up that way too. All right, you got a phone number for the
facility's three oh four four two fourtwo three four eight. Man, See,

(17:04):
that was good. You remember thatright off the top of your head.
I have to know it. Isee, I can't even I can
barely remember my own self when numberat this point. So yeah, I
can't remember nothing. But Brittany,is there anything else that you would like
to cover or anything else? Yougot anything that you want to say before
we sign off? Now you're givingme the face of these I don't think
you ain't got nothing other than thefact that this rain needs to stop and

(17:26):
needs to go away because I'm sickand tired of being inside all the time
on Thursdays. Yes, because yeah, because I've got activities outside of work
on Thursdays that I would preferably liketo do that we can't play in the
rain, so anyway, But ifyou've got nothing, Brittany, I appreciate
you coming out. I appreciate everybodythat is over at the Health of ONEAH
Center and doing whatever they do.Hopefully we'll have you back a lot sooner
than it was this time, butwe will definitely see you in the future.

(17:49):
And that was the WVU Community HealthForm presented by Kim and Clark Hospital.
And again, I appreciate everybody listeningto this, and we'll see you
in the next episode.