The Movement Underground

The Movement Underground Discover whats holding you back…and build a body that wont. BE UNBREAKABLE.

Whether you are an athlete, or active adult tired of nagging pain and injuries, TMU offers the same care pro athletes get - For Every Body. WHAT WE DO

Eliminate Pain, Restore Movement & Optimize Performance
Professional Athletes and Performance Artists have a whole team of Performance, Recovery, and Rehab specialists in their corner to keep them healthy, and functioning at their optimal level… Who do you have in your corner? We have helped thousands of local athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and weekend warriors overcome pain, poor mobility, and get the most out of their body and life…

We can’t wait to stand behind you too.

01/26/2026

This $20 salon tray has lived in my clinic longer than some “medical-grade” equipment. 😂

Here’s a funny thing about sports medicine and healthcare:
The moment you slap the words rehab, clinical, or medical on something…
the price magically quadruples.

Same function.
Same wheels.
Same tray.

Different invoice.

Early on, I learned to shop adjacent industries.
Salon. Tattoo. Industrial. Warehouse. Garage Tool Storage...

If it needs to...

roll
hold tools
not fall apart
…it doesn’t need a caduceus on the box.

A friend of mine, the legendary , once said something to me that is SO TRUE:

“Sometimes success in business isn’t in the money you make…
It’s in the money you DON'T SPEND!”

That one line has literally saved me thousands.

Margins don’t get crushed by one big mistake.
They bleed out slowly by a hundred “that’s just the cost of doing business” purchases.

Being resourceful isn’t being cheap.
It’s being intentional.

I've bootstrapped TMU since day 1.
I didn't start with a 5000 sq/ft dream facility.
I built it slowly, and surely over a decade.

Much of the "design" aspect you all love...
Came from a practicality mindset.

Instead of "Medical Cabinets"
I got toolboxes from Harbor Freight.
10x the capacity...at 25% of the cost...

Instead of the $150 "PT cart"
It's a $20 Salon Tray (complete with hair dryer holder 😅)

Spend where it matters.
Save where it counts.
but never confuse price with value.

Good businesses aren’t built on brand name stuff.
They’re built on smart decisions.

And sometimes that decision comes from the discount rack at the beauty supply store. 😉

01/24/2026

There’s a tension in rehab that doesn’t get talked about enough.

On one side:
Hands-on care works.
Manual therapy can reduce pain, improve short-term motion, and open a window for change.

On the other side:
The way we talk about it covertly makes people dependent.

When the emphasis becomes the technique of the provider, the relationship shifts.
Now the patient “needs” the clinician to feel okay.
To move.
To train.

That’s not care.
That’s a bottleneck.

Here’s how I reconcile the two in real life, every day.

Manual therapy and autonomy can coexist...in one condition only.

If we’re honest with our words.

Because words frame expectations.
Expectations shape behavior.
And behavior change determines outcomes.

I use hands-on work.
Intentionally.
But I’m clear about what it does and doesn’t do.

It doesn’t fix you.
It doesn’t realign you.
It doesn’t make you fragile without me.

What it does do is help you feel better right now.
Reduce threat.
Create a window where movement feels safer and easier.
A window I fully intend on exploiting to its max...

That window only matters if we teach you how to keep it open.

That means:

Educating you on what’s actually within your control
Pairing treatment with quality training
Progressively loading tissues so capacity grows
Making you less reliant on me over time, not more.

That’s real evidence-based practice in action.

Not just citing papers, but aligning language, intent, and programming with long-term outcomes.

Manual therapy in rehab settings isn’t the problem.

Misleading, outdated, and predatory narratives are.

Choose your words carefully.
They shape the entire rehab journey.

01/24/2026

Every PT clinic says they “rehab ACLs.”

So here’s a better question:

Is the clinic ACTUALLY built for a high level ACL rehab?

You don’t need to know research papers to figure this out.
You just need to look around.

If you walk into a “sports PT” clinic and don’t see these things, that’s a clue.

1️⃣ Turf

ACL injuries don’t happen on tables.
They happen during acceleration, deceleration, cutting, and change of direction.

If there’s no turf, where is that being trained?

Straight-line work has a place.
But sporta aren't in a straight-line.

2️⃣ Free weights

Athletes need to load again.

Barbells.
Dumbbells.
Kettlebells
Machines...

Not yellow bands, pink hand weights and a prayer.

Force through the ground matters if you want to run, cut, and land with confidence.

3️⃣ A knee extension machine

This one is non-negotiable.

Restoring true quad strength and size after ACL surgery requires open-chain knee extension.
Bands won’t cut it.
Guessing won’t cut it.

If a clinic avoids knee extensions out of fear of old dogma instead of dosed progression, that’s a red flag.

4️⃣ A manual treadmill or sled

Manual treadmills and sleds allow:

Aggressive intent
Self-regulated speed
Sprint and deceleration exposure with graded joint stress.

If speed is never trained, it’s never prepared.

The unfortunate truth is this...

PT clinics are a business...and they want customers, whether they are built for it or not...

If a clinic doesn’t have the equipment to expose you to real sport demands, they can’t prepare you for them... no matter how good their intentions are.

Honorable mention (even if you don’t see it right away):
Objective testing.

Force plates.
Dynamometers.
Actual numbers.

At The Movement Underground, we use tools from VALD Performance so we’re not guessing when it’s time to progress or return.

TLDR
ACL rehab isn’t just getting ROM back.

It’s about restoring strength, speed, and chaos tolerance in an environment that reflects sport.

And the room you rehab in should tell that story the second you walk in.

01/23/2026

Movement isn’t just something you do for fun.

It’s something you literally become.

Every great sports story is really a story about habits, reps, a body learning how to solve problems its own way, and picking the right sport...

Take Michael Phelps.

Built like a human cheat code for swimming.
Long torso.
Shorter legs.
Huge wingspan.
Big feet.

Now imagine if that same kid grew up obsessed with basketball instead of the pool?

Same work ethic.
Same discipline.
Same competitiveness.

We might’ve never heard his name.

Because his unique set up, circumstance, and context made him an exemplary swimmer... and any alteration to that story means we might not ever hear it.

Your body adapts to what you ask it to do.
Over time, it gets really good at that.

That’s why perfect form is a myth, template driven rehab sucks, and not every problem with pain, movement or fitness is solved with an IG soundbite.

Movement is a habit.
As unique to you as your signature, or your fingerprint.

Here’s the part that matters for the rest of us.

Injury doesn’t erase that habit.
Pain doesn’t either.

It just disrupts it.

Rehab, at its best, isn’t just finding what's wrong with movement and then making it perfect...

It’s about restoring your ability to express skill again, within the structure you have.

We don’t all need the same technique or program.
We need the ability to practice, adapt, and refine the one that fits us best.
Or that helps us learn new solutions to movement problems.

That’s why the best athletes don’t all move the same.
And the best comeback stories aren’t about symmetry or textbook form.

They’re about rediscovering rhythm.
Confidence.
Trust.

TLDR:
Movement is learned.
Structure sets the stage...
but reps write the story.

And when you respect both the body you’re built with and the habits you’ve practiced, you don’t just move better…

You tell one hell of a tale.

01/22/2026

“You store your trauma in your fascia.”

I get why that line sticks.
It sounds true.
It feels intuitive and emotionally intelligent.
And it gives language to something people experience and relate to.

But taken literally?
It’s a misinterpretation.

In my opinion, that phrase is a bit of poetic license taken out of context,
not physiology.

Here’s what’s actually going on.

Fascia doesn’t store trauma the way a hard drive stores files.
There’s no memory bank in your tissue holding on to emotional events.

What fascia does have...
is a massive sensory role.

It’s rich in nociceptors, mechanoreceptors and free nerve endings.
It feeds your nervous system constant information about tension, load, and movement.

So when someone experiences psychological or emotional trauma, the thing that changes isn’t the fascia itself...
it’s the nervous system’s threat detection and interpretation.

And because fascia is one of the primary sensory inputs into that system, it becomes part of how that heightened threat state is felt in the body.

That’s the distinction most people miss.

Trauma isn’t stored in tissue.
However...Trauma does shape perception.

It alters how the brain interprets sensory input.
It raises baseline threat aka "vigilence"
It lowers tolerance.

So normal forces can feel painful.
Normal tension can feel alarming.
Normal movement can feel unsafe.

Fascia is the messenger, not the vault.

This is why hands-on work can feel powerful for some people...
not because you’re “releasing trauma,” but because you’re temporarily changing sensory input and calming a nervous system that’s been on threat watch.

And it’s also why manual therapy alone is never the answer.

If you don’t pair that window with:

movement
load exposure
education
autonomy
empathy

…the nervous system just returns to its old story.

TLDR:
The phrase isn’t useless... or wrong per se...
it’s just grossly misunderstood.

Trauma lives in experience.
Pain lives in perception.
Fascia lives at the intersection of sensation and movement.

Words matter.
Because the story you tell someone about their body shapes how they live in it.

01/22/2026

Every time I talk about fascia, the internet loses its mind.

One side says it’s fake and not worth mentioning.
The other side acts like it’s some mystical tissue you can mold with your hands or unlock with a secret method.

Both are dumb, and the truth is less sexy, but more useful.

Fascia is connective tissue.
Like tendons. Like muscles.
It adapts and organizes itself along lines of repeated mechanical stress.

You don’t need special exercises to train it.
You don’t need to blast it.
And you definitely don’t need to worship it.

When muscles co-contract to create movement, the tissue around them...aka fascia... is under tension too.

So it adapts along repeated movement patterns...
It gets thicker, stiffer in that orientation...
So it can help the muscles transmit force effectively.

From a rehab or bodywork perspective, people often feel areas of thickened tissue and immediately call it pathology.

Most of the time, it’s not pathology at all.
It’s just that person’s history written into their tissue through their habits.

Where fascia actually gets interesting is sensory input.
Its not just dead, sticky tissue.

It plays a role in how your brain senses where you are in space.
So old surgeries, scars, or injuries that limit glide and movement can change what the brain feels…
which, in turn, changes how the body MOVES.

That doesn’t make fascia magical.
And it doesn’t make it meaningless.

It just means it behaves like every other connective tissue in the body.
It responds to how you move, how you load, and how you live.

The extremes get the clicks.
The middle gets results.

01/21/2026

Plantar “fasciitis” isn’t really an inflammatory condition.
You've been gaslit into freezing a water bottle for your foot.
Sorry...

That’s why ice, NSAIDs, and rolling on said frozen bottle feel good…
but don’t do f**k all for changing the real underlying problem.
Which is why it lingers.

Historically, people thought heel pain was inflammation (hence “-itis”).

But multiple histologic and clinical studies show little evidence of classic inflammation in chronic plantar heel pain...

instead, what we see at the tissue level is degeneration, microtears, and disorganized collagen.

That’s why many experts now prefer the term plantar fasciosis or plantar fasciopathy...

a degenerative overuse condition, not an inflammatory one.

If there’s no true inflammation driving the pain, then treating it like an inflammatory problem doesn’t actually fix the thing that limits your load tolerance and capacity.

What NSAIDs and ice do:

Lower pain in the short term
Quiet your nervous system

What they don’t do:
Improve tissue capacity
Address degenerative microdamage
Change how the fascia tolerates load over time

The frozen water bottle trick feels comforting but doesn’t help you get stronger.

So what actually works for plantar heel pain in the modern age?

📌 What the evidence supports

1) Load moderation + progression
Graded exposure to load changes how that tissue tolerates stress.
Exercises that progressively load the fascia and associated muscles (calf, intrinsic foot musculature) improve functional capacity and reduce pain long term.

2) Eccentric and isometric calf work
Targeted strengthening improves muscle support around the arch and helps reduce stress at the fascia origin.

3) Foot intrinsic strengthening
Your foot isn’t a passive rope. It’s part of a dynamic structure that must produce and resist force.

4) Adjuncts that support the process, not replace it
Red light therapy, manual therapies, shockwave, NMES can HELP, but they aren’t good as a standalone...

just a way to reduce pain that unlock the ability to load...

Plantar heel pain isn’t a fire in your fascia.
It’s a load-tolerance problem.

Stop treating it like a burn.
Start building capacity.

01/20/2026

“We don’t do that kind of massage here.” 😂
And no… that’s not an insult...
I know far too many amazing LMTs who legit have to deal with this question...
Here's what they wish the creepers could figure out...

Manual therapy is a broad umbrella.
Massage.
Cupping.
Needling.
IASTM.
Adjustments.
Assisted stretching.

Anytime a provider uses hands(ish) as an intervention...its considered
"Manual Therapy"

At The Movement Underground, we use manual therapy in a way that aligns with modern evidence, not outdated stories.

Here’s what manual therapy actually does.

It’s non-drug.
Non-invasive.
And very effective at improving pain and range of motion in the short term.

What it generally does not do is “fix” tissue.

You’re not being realigned.
Muscles aren’t being permanently lengthened.
Nothing is being “released” or detoxed.

Those explanations just stick around because they’re simple, not because they’re accurate.

What is happening?

We’re using touch, one of the most powerful sensory inputs humans have,
to influence the nervous system’s perception of threat.

Sometimes we also see:

Temporary changes in local blood flow
Tissue temperature shifts
Short-term improvements in tolerance to movement

Real effects.
Just not magic ones.

Here’s the rub…(no pun intended)

Manual therapy isn’t the solution.
It’s the entry point.

We use that window to help you feel better now, while we:

Learn your goals
Educate you
Build an active plan forward

You know… the CARE part of healthcare.

Pair intelligent hands-on work with good exercise selection and programming, and you’ve got a real shot at avoiding pills, injections, or surgery...
and actually moving forward.

I've used this approach to help literally thousands of people out of pain and back to sports and life.

So which type of manual therapy is “best”?

The one that helps you move again without scaring you into dependency.

Not:
“Don’t lift or you’ll lose the adjustment.”
Not:
“You’re fragile.”

TLDR
Manual therapy should open doors...not trap you inside the room.

Remember, if there is no movement/load/training...You didn't get treatment...
You got fleeced.

01/19/2026

Let’s mythbust something that’s going to make people uncomfortable:

After surgery or an acute injury, you have two paths to choose from.

Path 1: The least painful path

Ice everything.
Pop NSAIDs.
Rest a lot.

Most well-intentioned docs recommend this because they don’t want you hurting.
And I get it.

But… you’re also slowing the exact signals your body uses to start the repair process.

Pain goes down.
Swelling looks better.
You feel “under control.”

but the price you pay for that short term relief, is long term healing.

Path 2: The optimized healing path

You respect physiology.

You accept that early discomfort is often part of the deal (within reason).
And you manage symptoms without trying to shut down the process.

That’s why I’ll lean into things like:

Lymphatic drainage massage

NMES “pumping” to use muscles as a pump to push swelling out

Red light therapy (as an adjunct) to improve cellular energy production

Non-painful cardio to raise tissue temp, improve circulation, and get natural endorphins on board

Early, smart, graded movement and loading (depending on surgery)

The part people mess up...

Ice and NSAIDs can absolutely reduce pain in the short term.

But the evidence for better long-term outcomes with icing is not exactly a slam dunk, and there’s legitimate concern that aggressively blunting inflammation can interfere with aspects of tissue repair and regeneration.

And before the comments start:
I’m not saying “never.”
Time and place for everything.

If pain is preventing sleep, basic movement, or early rehab participation…
we manage it.
But we don’t default to “numb it and park it” as the strategy.

Bottom line:
If you’re a serious athlete (or just an active adult who wants the best chance at a strong comeback), choose the path that prioritizes healing capacity, not just comfort.

Short-term comfort is tempting.
Long-term function is the goal.

Choose wisely.

01/19/2026

One of the hardest athletes to program for?

Jiu Jitsu/ MMA athletes.

No real, consistent off-season.
Inconsistent competition schedules.
And a culture that rewards “just train more” until the wheels come off.
(Much respect you savages...)

I talked about this on Mark Bell’s Power Project a couple years ago, because it’s a problem I see constantly in MMA and BJJ athletes.

Athletes stacking:

Hard rolls
Open mats
Extra drilling
Plus strength training
All at high intensity, frequency and volume...
All year long.

I admire the dedication to the art, sport and craft...
But its a recipe for chronic injuries...

Martial arts training already carries a bit more exposure risk to acute injuries...
But it's the chronic, repetitive stress, nagging ones that tend to put even the most dedicated athletes on the shelf at the worst possible time...

It's not a toughness problem...
Its a Load Management one.

Here’s a model that often works well when injuries and nagging pain start derailing progress.

A high–low training structure:

We deliberately choose what bucket gets priority.

Bucket A: Skill Development (BJJ)
Bucket B: Athletic Development (S&C)

You don’t push both hard at the same time.

Instead:

High BJJ volume / intensity → Lower S&C stress (maintenance, tissue capacity, movement quality) - Use this closer to competitions..

High S&C emphasis → More technical, lower-stress BJJ sessions - Use this in your "off season" to build a bigger motor, stronger connective tissues, and physical tools for the sport.

This isn’t doing less.
It’s doing more of the right thing at the right time.

Traditional field sports figured this out decades ago.
You can’t max everything, all the time, and expect longevity in the sport.

Try this if you're...

constantly banged up
missing sessions
or limping into competition…

The answer probably isn’t more grit.
It’s better structure.

Skill thrives when the body can tolerate it.
Athletic development protects your ability to keep training.

No gimmicks.
No tricks.

Just intelligent prioritization so you can stay on the mat long enough to get good.

01/18/2026

If I could go back and talk to myself the day I tore my ACL…

I wouldn’t start with rehab advice.
Or timelines.
Or stats.

I’d start with this:

You’re not broken.
Your story isn’t over.
And this injury will shape you far more than it will limit you.

I know it doesn’t feel that way right now.

Right now it feels unfair.
Frustrating.
Lonely.

You’re watching everyone else move forward while your world just stopped.

Here’s what I’d tell you, calmly, like a big brother sitting next to you.

This process is going to test your patience before it tests your strength.
Some days will feel like progress.
Some days the best part is when it's over.

Both count.

You’ll be tempted to rush.
To compare.
To ask, “Why me?”

Don’t.

Focus on what’s in front of you.
One rep.
One session.
One small win at a time.

Here’s the part no one tells you…

If you do this right, you won’t just get your knee back.
You’ll gain awareness.
Resilience.
Perspective.

Twenty-five years later, I’m still training.
Still snowboarding.
Still playing.
Still moving.

This process will show you things about yourself and life that only adversity can teach.

This injury does not and will not define you.
How you respond to it will.

And one day, sooner than you think, you’ll look back and realize this was a turning point… not an ending.

I promise.

In the meantime, if you have any questions...Drop them below. I promise you, I will 100% answer it for you, the way no one did for me.

01/17/2026

25% of athletes re-tear their ACL.

Let that sink in.

That’s not bad luck.
Or that “they just weren’t built for it.”
That’s a system failure.

And the hidden mistake behind it pi**es me off every time I see it.

Athletes are being cleared because their knee looks good on a doctor's table.
Because they "kicked into the surgeon's hand" and magically your "cleared"
Not because they’re actually ready.

Range of motion? Check.
Swelling down? Check.
Some quad strength? Check.

But no real exposure to:

High-speed deceleration
Change of direction
Chaos
Fatigue
Sport-specific decision making

They rehab in straight lines…
Then get thrown back into a game that’s anything but.

You don’t tear your ACL jogging.
You tear it reacting, cutting, landing, and loading under stress.

And far too many “sports PT” clinics don’t actually rehab athletes.
They rehab anyone with a pulse… using the same safe, watered-down template.

ACL rehab should be criteria-based, not time-based.

If an athlete hasn’t:

Restored true limb symmetry under load, and objectively tested
Built tolerance to high-speed, multi-planar movement
Proven they can handle fatigue and unpredictability

They’re not cleared.
They’re exposed.

This injury set me on this path.
I’ve lived it.
I’ve watched athletes lose seasons, scholarships, and confidence because someone played it safe instead of playing it right.

ACL Rehab has become insurance driven box checking
It’s about reducing re-injury risk in the real world.

Address

3553B Merrick Road
Seaford, NY
11783

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Tuesday 9am - 8pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 8pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 8am - 12pm

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+16315267692

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The Movement Underground is a concierge performance therapy service designed to identify and eliminate the underlying causes of injury through the systematic evaluation of posture, movement, and stress. Personalized care, private sessions, and attention to detail allow for unparalleled results in minimal downtime. This is Recovery Lab.