Tundra Performance & Physical Therapy

Tundra Performance & Physical Therapy Tundra Performance and Physical Therapy, specializes in the treatment of outdoor athletes and weightlifting injuries.

Individualized 1-on-1 sessions, integrating rehabilitation and strength training, helping you resolve your pain.

“I am now stronger than before I initially started with my training last year and am back to running.”From dealing with ...
05/01/2026

“I am now stronger than before I initially started with my training last year and am back to running.”

From dealing with a difficult injury with a stress fracture back to the trails for her races this Summer.

Hard work, intention, and understanding the needs of what our outdoor athletes are getting back to.

04/28/2026

In a lot of acute low back pain cases, it can be quite painful to bend over or simply rollover in bed in the early phases of healing. One of the biggest predictors of a quicker recovery is re-establishing proper range of motion tolerance in the spine. Depending on how painful and irritable the tissues are, exercises like pallof presses and side planks become a great starting point for lateral trunk work.

These exercises bring blood flow to the injured area. We achieve some subtle movement and work in the injured spine. And we start reteaching the back that it’s ok to move again.

But what comes next.

While these exercises are a great entry point back to training and moving painfree again, they lack one thing, they don’t actually train the spine through a full range of motion.

This is where a lot of back rehabs and chronic pain situations get hung up.

Pallof presses and side planks are safe. They’re protective. And people with chronic back pain like safe and protective. We stay in our lane, we know what “works,” and we stop training harder in the spine.

Here’s 4 exercises that we like to use as progressions for lateral trunk strengthening in treating low back pain:

1️⃣ Elevated Dips
2️⃣ Side Bends on the Back Ext
3️⃣ Cable Side Bends
4️⃣ Barbell Side Bends

Have back pain with weight training? Book a call with us today to get back to the training floor.

04/21/2026

The hardest part of rehabbing any high-performing athlete isn’t the pain.

It’s the loss of control.

You’ve spent years training, building — how to push, when to go. That feedback loop is your competitive edge.

Then you get hurt. And suddenly you can’t trust it anymore.

Every rep feels like a question mark. Is this okay? Am I making it worse? Should I feel that?

That uncertainty can break an athlete down — not always the injury itself.

Our job isn’t just to fix the tissue. It’s to rebuild the trust between you and your body so you can get back to doing what you do best, training hard — without second-guessing every lift.

04/15/2026

Most achilles rehabs stall in the same place. They never move past isometrics……..

Isometric contractions are SOOO HELPFUL in the early stages of achilles tendinopathy. The research is clear: sustained isometric holds produce an analgesic effect through cortical pain inhibition, can reduce tendon pain acutely within a single session, and give us a way to load the tissue without provoking the reactive response you’d get from heavier dynamic work too early.

But here’s the problem: isometrics don’t build tendon stiffness the way heavy progressive loading does. They don’t train the tendon through its full range. And they definitely don’t prepare the tissue for the ballistic, energy-storing demands of running, and jumping.

The jump from isometrics to return to run is where most achilles rehabs quietly stall. We use two primary tools to fill this gap: heavy slow resistance and supramaximal eccentrics.

Heavy slow resistance — think bilateral or unilateral calf raises with meaningful, heavier load. This is where tendon remodeling really starts to happen. The tendon responds to load magnitude and rate and we give it something worth adapting to.

Supramaximal eccentrics — if you aren’t familiar with eccentrics, we load the lowering phase beyond what the patient can concentrically lift. This exposes the tendon to forces it can’t get any other way. This format rebuilds the stiffness, the energy storage capacity, and ultimately the resilience the tendon lost.

Isometrics are a beautiful tool and start the conversation. Heavy slow resistance and supramaximal eccentrics move us into reintegrating back to sport.

If your achilles tendonitis is stuck in isometric purgatory, the tissue isn’t the problem.

Load it. Progress it. Get back to the mountains.

03/31/2026

The Work. The Why.

Rehab is hard. We know that. But so does every summit, every trail, every moment that reminds you of why you fought so hard to get back there.

We’ll meet you in the work. Let’s get you back to your why.

Your rehab shouldn’t feel complicated or complex.It’s about understanding the problem, understanding the needs of where ...
03/26/2026

Your rehab shouldn’t feel complicated or complex.

It’s about understanding the problem, understanding the needs of where you want to go, and putting a plan in place that matches your goals.

Don’t get lost in the weeds on what specific tissue is pi**ed off. We help you identify not only how to resolve your pain but better prepare for what’s ahead so that you get back on the mountain and training floor.

03/18/2026

10 years of back pain from a chronic disc herniation to lifting consistently and optimism about the future again.

came to us with unpredictable and disruptive symptoms with shooting pain down his leg related to his back. We focused on these 3 things to get him to where he is today:

1) Built out an initial program that stabilized his symptoms to create a better foundation to foster strength, stability, and progress off of.

2) Emphasized targeted areas to address long term deficits inhibiting symptom improvement

3) Dialed in and stayed the course to create proper muscular hypertrophy and strength adaptations needed for long term sustainability and success

From a constant state of management to wherever he wants to go. There were rumors and mumblings of Hyrox in November…? 😂

03/12/2026

Plyometrics and jumping in the rehab of a bone stress injury in runners comes down to timing and dosage. Most people know and understand the benefits of these tools in regards to bone health and the recovery of a bone stress injury, but the why behind the decision making model is everything.

Once the acute pain and bony edema have sufficiently resolved and before starting any return to run and plyometric program, we begin by assessing tolerance to a single leg jump test and if everything goes well, it’s off to the races.

Timing: We leverage plyometrics and jumping to set the table for a solid return to run program by reconditioning the tissues in preparation for running. By leading with initial plyos early, we can replicate the specific demands of running and manage the gross volume that the bone endures in a controlled and replicable environment.

From there, based upon where they stand in their recovery and run capacity, we can leverage microdosing between running days to continue the necessary stimulus we’re looking for in regards to mechanical and neural adaptations.

Dosage: For extensive plyos, I particularly lean towards microdosing. Not only do plyometrics have the capacity to replicate mechanical forces for running but they can desensitize bone for brief time periods. By using small bouts of extensive plyos throughout the day in the early phases and between running bouts later on, we can use them to manage symptoms effectively.

For intensive plyos, it’s all about get in, get out. We want big, explosive, and lots of force. These are where we can really leverage forces that regenerate bone in the rehab of a bone stress injury. By making them max efforts and dosing them accordingly, we can create the appropriate remodeling stimulus necessary while providing enough time for other necessary strength training to get them back on the trails.

Plyometrics and jumping, when used well, they’re one of the most powerful tools for ensuring the bone is genuinely ready to run again and not just symptom-free from rest.

We’re partnering with for a Cycling Strength & Performance Workshop hosted at — and we’re excited!📍 Full Frame Beer & ...
03/03/2026

We’re partnering with for a Cycling Strength & Performance Workshop hosted at — and we’re excited!

📍 Full Frame Beer & Coffee
📅 Saturday, March 14
🕐 1:00 – 3:00 PM

Whether you’re a seasoned rider or just getting started, come learn how to train smarter and ride stronger. All are welcome and can’t wait to see you there!

Here’s why I prefer RPE over RIR or percentages for my patients in my programming and rehab:1️⃣ AutoregulationSleep, str...
02/04/2026

Here’s why I prefer RPE over RIR or percentages for my patients in my programming and rehab:

1️⃣ Autoregulation
Sleep, stress, work.... it all affects how we perform when lifting. By creating a decision mkaing model based off of RPE, we can account for all of it, making the best choice for OURSELVES that day.

2️⃣ Adaptable
Can be used in the context of pain, intensity, apprehension, you name it. We can use it just as much in our heavy compound lifts as we could in sled pushes without ever knowing someones max.

3️⃣ Accountability
RPE allows us to be intetnional and accountable to a given objective. Did we achieve the desired training effect? Strength development, hypertrophy, or maybe speed or confidence.

While RPE isn’t the end all be all when it comes to programming. I certainly use RIR and Percentages when called for. But the bread and butter remains RPE and its application throughout our decision making at Tundra.

What’s the Plan? and Why it Matters?Because every assessment should lead back to what YOU care about most.What are your ...
01/22/2026

What’s the Plan? and Why it Matters?

Because every assessment should lead back to what YOU care about most.

What are your goals? What are your expectations? and What do we need to put together for you to get there?

If we can clearly answer these questions, we can create a clear pathway that is repeatable, sustainable, successful. Back to being you.

01/14/2026

We started working with .matte in the lead up to the 24/25 ski season following a tear of his ACL. This came after 5 other prior knee surgeries including 2 ACL reconstructions mixed in.

After dialing in both the needed intensity of his programming, along with focused and directed decision making on exercise selection to get him back skiing at a high level, here we are today, skiing hard and fast.

One of the most common questions I get asked all the time, “do I have to do PT the rest of my life?” The direct answer is no. Rather I do reframe that we all have items that would benefit ourselves both as individuals and our injury history.

With the right programming, we can not only strength train at a high level but also account for everything that needs to be considered. The line between what is physical therapy and what is training becomes an integrated entity.

Instead of worrying about his ACL the conversation has now become how to continue to get stronger and get as many days on the mountain as he can!

Address

2175 S Jasmine Street #103
Denver, CO
80222

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Tundra Performance & Physical Therapy posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category