Sweet Sweat UK & Europe
We sat down with Dr. Eryn Paetz: Doctor of Physical Therapy, MATRxFull Body Specialist, MAT Jumpstart and Specialist Instructor, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Lagree Pilates Instructor, Dry Needling specialist, Division I soccer player, and co-owner of Rock Solid Sports Recovery. Eryn passionately works with everyone from top NHL & UFC athletes to pregnancy/postpartum to those with neurological conditions. Today, she is sharing with us details about her practice, her specialties, and how she incorporates Sweet Sweat into her personal and professional life.
What got you into Physical Therapy?
Growing up in health and fitness, I was always interested in doing something medical. My sophomore year I got my ankle bent backwards and was misdiagnosed. Then, I had a lot of physical therapy and after that experience I realized, hey, I like to talk to people and I really want to help people. So I got into the route of physical therapy.
How do you incorporate Sweet Sweat into your work with your clients?
I use both Sweet Sweat and Sports Research products here, I try to use any product I can with them! I think we have almost everything they offer within the clinic. I use the Sweet Sweat workout enhancer gel when I teach group fitness and in my own personal workouts. I’ve had multiple clients use it, especially when I take the waist trimmer off and they see the results.
During our fitness side of things in rehab I love the Mini Loop Bands, the Core Sliders, the Medicine Exercise Balls- you name it, we have it. All of the Sweet Sweat products last, I know of a couple other sports performance clinics that actually use all of their Stability Balls because they don’t break and they don’t wear down.
Are there any treatments in particular where Sweet Sweat is especially useful?
I love to use Sweet Sweat in my manual therapy and rehab. Not only do I use it with soft tissue massage but I also use it for what we call Graston or Astym therapy – a soft tissue massage with a metal tool used to break up scar tissue to promote regeneration of healthy tissue. I have a lot of clients, especially athletes, that are more injury prone or have strained muscles. I have them put Sweet Sweat on to promote blood flow and help with their warm up. Giving that muscle a little extra blood flow is essential so they can continue to repair, even if they’re working out and prevent that injury from getting worse.
What is MAT and how did you learn about it?
My junior year, I kept spraining my ankles every 3 months- no matter what rehab I did. I was introduced to this modality called Muscle Activation Techniques and I decided to check it out. The first thing the woman said to me that treated me was, “Oh, your hips aren’t firing”. My response was, “Um, I can squat 200 pounds, I’m a soccer player. I have power, they fire”. So she got me into a muscle test and said, “Ready, hold”. My leg just went limp and I couldn’t even hold it up.
I went to MAT Physical Therapy every 3 weeks and once I completed my therapy, I didn’t sprain my ankles for another 7 years. After finishing college, I got certified in MAT and went to PT school to learn more about the body. My first two years out of school I worked in a new hospital and we covered everything from nursing, outpatient, post-operation rehab, low back pain, inpatient, ICU, stroke and geriatric psych unit.
How did you start Rock Solid Sports Recovery?
My husband and I met in college and at the time he had horrible Sciatica and I was already certified in MAT so I treated him. After only a year or two, I took his pain from a level 8 to a level 2 in a 30 minute session. We got engaged after Physical Therapy school and our friend Greg who developed MAT called us. He was expanding his MAT practice and wanted a physical therapy component from someone who is specialized in both PT and MAT . So we left everything and moved to Colorado. We worked with him for 4 years teaching, researching, and growing. We are still really good friends with him to this day.
My husband and I wanted to expand and we wanted our clients to have elements of fitness, recovery, and healthcare in addition to physical therapy and that’s what we’re doing now!
What is the goal behind Rock Solid Sports Recovery?
Our goal is to change the mentality of not only rehab and physical therapy, but also fitness, health, and how you train. Most of us train because we want to look good but our goal is to also feel good and get stronger. I have found that with clients I’ve worked with that are almost 80 years old are playing pickleball or golfing now more than they ever have. Because of the modalities and the proper training that we are using, they can repair and continue to build. On the flip side, I have my professional hockey clients that are 35, on sort of their last leg (professionally). They’re better and more injury-free now, than they were in their 20’s compared to some of the newbies that are a wreck. So, that’s what we do. Whether it’s on a professional sports level or a recreational level, it’s about quality of life. It’s about taking care of yourself and just feeling good.
