From our Referring Physicians & Specialists
"As a sports medicine physician, I have seen many treatment approaches and am particular in getting the best care for my patients.
Amanda has worked with some of my more challenged patients and returned them to independent, self-managed fitness lifestyles."
Katherine L Dec, MD
“I have had the pleasure of working with Ms. Amanda Harris for several years. She has proven to be a highly skilled and knowledgeable personal trainer that has helped many of my patients. Thanks to her abilities, she has been able to properly assess and promote appropriate individualized programs for my patients. Ms. Harris has become an invaluable asset in assisting me in helping my patients return to a level of health and wellness, often beyond their pre-injury condition.”
Edward R. Isaacs, MD
Keep scrolling for more testimonials OR request a free call
“I have known and worked with Amanda since 1998 while practicing at the Atlantic Coast Athletic Club in Charlottesville. Her expertise in wellness and rehabilitation always made her the individual at the top of my referral list. Ms. Harris has my whole hearted support and unqualified recommendation. Her services will bring value to your patients.”
Peter J Bower, MD
Keep scrolling for more testimonials OR request a free call
"When referring a patient, I am completely confident they will have a great experience and that she will start and progress them safely. I am thankful to have Amanda Harris as a resource, and consider her an important extension of our team."
Clarke Tanner, PT, MPT, COMT, ATC,CSCS. Owner THRIVE Physical Therapy
Keep scrolling for more testimonials OR request a free call
“Amanda has worked with individuals with more limiting medical and orthopedic issues than your typical athlete. With post-operative joint replacement, deconditioning issues that are more medical based than just being out of shape and needing to jumpstart a return to fitness, these individuals need focused concern on their multiple medical precautions. … As a sports medicine physician, I have seen many treatment approaches and am particular in getting the best care for my patients. Amanda has worked with some of my more challenged patients and returned them to independent, self-managed fitness lifestyles. I will continue to refer patients to Amanda as I get the results for my patients, and, she provides regular communication as to their status.”
Katherine L Dec, MD
Keep scrolling for more testimonials OR request a free call
From our Clients
"The day I met Amanda, I had just started slowly walking again and could not keep pace with my 84 year old grandmother.
Less than nine months later, to the amazement of my doctor and family, I spent three days repelling and mountain climbing followed by doing a 13.5 mile hike."
Interview with Client Carey Carlisle
Arthritis Success
I have been working with Amanda Harris for two years and can hardly praise her enough. Not only is she a lovely person but she is truly a dedicated and extremely knowledgeable professional.
I have had osteoarthritis for almost twenty years and have always been extremely active. Because of my ever increasing pain, loss of mobility and strength, I found myself slowly giving up the activities that I enjoyed, i.e. gardening, walking, yoga, aerobic exercise, even sleeping. Plus, I was taking more and more medication to relieve my joint pain. Luckily, I found Amanda.
Since I have been training with her twice weekly, I have improved my overall body strength, my posture and mobility; have had a hip replacement with “a remarkably fast recovery” (according to my surgeon); have reduced my medications; sleep a whole lot better; and am back to gardening. Of course my surgery provided great relief, but because of Amanda’s expertise, and her goals for strengthening my hips and legs prior to the surgery, my recovery was accelerated. Her individual knowledge-based exercise planning, her willingness to listen, her continued eagerness to educate herself, (she actually observes the various surgical procedures of her clients to understand the underlying physiology of their disease or injury), her encouraging and patient way of explaining and explaining again, have helped me tremendously. I feel better, I look healthier, and hope to train with her for as long as possible.
Keep scrolling for more testimonials OR request a free call
Coping with Curvature
I share this success story in hopes that it will bring others encouragement and hope.
After many years of pain that limited my activities and made me emotionally handicapped I found relief and regeneration.
Age related spinal degeneration, curvature and injury to the pelvis compromised my ability to walk, sit or lie down comfortably. My doctor was a miracle worker but I was unable to maintain the muscle energy treatment therefore he referred me to Amanda.
His goal was to stabilize my spine and gain muscular strength. My goal was to return to an active life. Through Amanda I learned to understand my body and how it was created to function. This learning process was the foundation of success. Amanda has the ability to teach, encourage and retrain the body. Through her encouragement and my body’s response to the exercises my mind set changed from gloom and doom to confidence. We were not building a “body beautiful” but rebuilding an injured and malformed body.
We began with the simplest of muscular exercise that were repetitive. This awakened my dysfunctional unused muscles. Boring? Not in the least. Amanda has unique ways of making the mundane fun. So with stretchy cords and blocks and bosu and balls we progressed. The exercises and homework were never boring for she has the ingenuity, education and personality to keep me interested and tested. Amazingly little by little I became stronger and saw my doctor less often.
Another example of her dedication is her willingness to seek new and better methods for my recovery. One of these changed my life forever. I have been mostly pain free and I never expected such success. I owe this to a dedicated therapist who knew about and worked diligently to bring REDCORD into my exercise regimen.
This apparatus of pulleys and slings allows support for the body in order to work those inactive small stabilizer muscles. This enables me to become stronger than I was twenty years ago. The result is a posture that is not crooked, endurance in all activities, ability to “feel” my muscles activate and stabilize the spine when lifting. As I age I can do so with assurance.
I am deeply grateful to Amanda and my doctor since they work together to change a depressed pain-ridden woman into one with hope. Through their collaboration they have given me the confidence that we are all working together for my success.
Maryclay Smith, Powhatan, VA
Keep scrolling for more testimonials OR request a free call
Strong and Stable
I was at the end of my rope about 5 years ago when I approached Amanda to help me. I was one step away from having back surgery after 30 years of suffering. After being evaluated by Amanda, I decided to follow her suggestions for a new routine of stabilizing my spine and building my core per her recommendations. I wanted to be STRONG AND OUT OF CHRONIC PAIN!
My routine with Amanda not only included building and strengthening my muscles, but posture alignment and practicing spine stability. I wasn’t used to going slow and Amanda taught me to build on things step by step. So, I learned that her expertise went far beyond her expert knowledge of the human body and how it works, but how she used her natural gifts of empathy, patience and support as I learned how to be aware of my body and how to use it correctly.
As I got stronger, we started to include some challenging exercises and soon I was on my way to being the most fit I had ever been in my life. A shoulder issue soon came into the picture followed by an intense and complicated surgery and I once again started the journey back…but this time, I had Amanda Harris in my arsenal. I was way ahead of the game before my surgery and my recovery was remarkable due to my weekly strength and stability workouts. I lost weight, strengthened my core and started standing taller than ever, both in body and spirit.
Today, 5 years later, I am confident, fit, free of chronic pain in my back and my shoulder. I feel so blessed that Amanda was the one who came into my life at that particular moment and as I continue my journey forward and yes…I do look back and know what my life would look like without Amanda!
Jodi Strange, Richmond, VA
Keep scrolling for more testimonials OR request a free call
Ed’s Success Story
I originally came to see Amanda because of a back issue—spinal stenosis—which manifested itself as sciatic pain in both legs. My right foot also would become numb after I had been walking and/or standing for a few minutes, necessitating that I sit down as soon as possible. Additionally, I had both my hips replaced in 2012. During my “prehab” for this surgery, the ACAC trainer I was working with recommended that I work with Amanda following surgery because of her specialization in medical post-rehabilitation.
Upon meeting with Amanda, I told her I wanted to reduce the symptoms of my spinal stenosis, thus allowing me to spend more time on my feet, both standing and walking. I also wanted to avoid back surgery, which had been suggested to alleviate the symptoms mentioned above. My objective was to get back to a more normal lifestyle, thus improving my quality of life overall. The way I would measure my progress would be how many laps I could walk around the ACAC track.
After we started working together, I noticed Amanda was different from other Fitness Professionals because of her creative and personal approach. Before we began our sessions, Amanda told me she wanted to work with me on a new technique called Red Cord which she had used successfully with other clients with back issues similar to mine. When I began this program, I found Amanda to be very precise in directing my performance of the exercises so as to focus on strengthening the small muscles that help stabilize the spine. She was always challenging, but, at the same time, she was careful to move me at a pace that was appropriate for my age and physical condition. Following my completion of Red Cord, Amanda instructed me on a program of exercises I could do, on my own, to further strengthen both my core and my back. She also provided me with an exercise log, including written instructions for me to use on a continuing basis.
After working with Amanda, I have significantly increased both the amount of time and distance I am able to walk. When I started working with Amanda in September 2012, I could walk only 2 laps. Although progress was slow, by the end of the year I was able to walk 10 laps (1 mile). By continuing to follow the program Amanda designed for me, I am now able to walk up to 2 ½ miles. The numbness and sciatica I was experiencing have virtually disappeared. Thanks to Amanda, I have been able to get back the more normal lifestyle I wanted. On a recent vacation (July 2013), I was able to climb the Currituck Light House, a total of 214 steps. I, my family and my friends, all are amazed at how much progress I have made in less than a year.
Life after back surgery
When I came to see Amanda in January of 2013, I was on the brink of giving up any hope of getting my old life back. I had lived in chronic pain for almost four years and was recovering from two recent back surgeries. Even though I had a wonderful surgeon, I could not find relief from the excruciating pain that I was in and I was frequently bed-ridden. After six months of the best efforts by my physical therapists, I stood in front of the doctor crying. Long gone were my tears and pleas to hike, ski, run, surf, and go on camel safaris in Dubai, I cried and begged him to help me just be able to stand up straight and not have to live on heating pads and pain medicine.
When my doctor referred me to Amanda, his goal was not lofty… He told me it was to gain enough strength to be able to literally keep myself standing up straight. I had gone from former college athlete to being called “Shifty” because I was shifted so severely to one side that I could not stand upright. By the time I met Amanda, I had been in some sort of rehab on and off for 16 years, so I had no real expectations of a long-term solution. I would just be happy if I could stay aligned straight for a week or two.
I expected my first workout with Amanda to be the typical exercises that help 99% of the patients in the world, but do absolutely nothing to help me. I dreaded the thought of wasting my time rolling around on another ball and lifting my leg to the “fire hydrant” exercise. To my surprise, Amanda’s workout was nothing like anything I had ever done before. Amanda assessed that certain muscles were “shut down,” completely atrophied, or weakened by surgery. Instead of jumping right into the standard core workout of doing planks and other exercises that put even more stress on my back, she helped me with a series of exercises that safely and gradually triggered all of my muscles (not just the big ones) to start functioning properly. I quickly progressed from the exceptionally beneficial stability exercises to doing what I had always perceived to be “real” workouts with weights and machines. Even with these weight workouts, Amanda tailored them to work multiple muscle groups which continued to strengthen my back. I met with Amanda for an hour twice a week and Amanda provided me with homework exercises to do on off days. After a session with Amanda, I could always count on an encouraging email and an attachment of full detailed descriptions of my exercises.
Within a matter of a couple of months, I was doing push-ups. This was something I had not been able to do in several years because of the stress it put on my back. One morning as I hustled (not shifted) off to work, I realized that something was missing. I drove to work wondering what it was and then realized that for the first time in years, I was not in pain. In addition to helping me out of pain and strengthening my body, Amanda also taught me how NOT to do end up in pain again. Rather than just telling me not to do something and crushing my spirit, Amanda showed me ways to safely do things that I love to do. She has taught me to be smart and listen to my body rather than going out with reckless abandon trying to get back the years I’ve lost.
The day I met Amanda, I had just started slowly walking again and could not keep pace with my 84 year old grandmother. Less than nine months later, to the amazement of my doctor and family, I spent three days repelling and mountain climbing followed by doing a 13.5 mile hike. Afterwards, I never even thought of my heating pad.
I feel that spending 16 years of my life trying everything from physical therapy to injections to chiropractors to a variety of specialists gives me the bona fides to assess Amanda as a phenomenal health care professional. My view of Amanda is a testament to the extraordinary specialist that she is rather than a diminishment of the other practitioners who have treated me, as I have always received top-notch care from these highly skilled individuals. I firmly believe that if I had met Amanda earlier, I could have prevented the need for back surgeries. I highly recommend Amanda to anyone who wants to feel better, be encouraged, get stronger, and be active.
Can Medical Exercise get you back to the activities you love?
Request a free 15 minute consultation by phone to find out!