VETERAN AMPUTEE CHOOSES STRIVE
Freedom isn’t free. The United States has freedoms because of brave people like Justin James (J.J). As a 24-year active Veteran, J.J. served this nation at the highest level and is currently reinventing what it means to compete following a life-altering injury.
On April 29, 2021, J.J. was freefalling out of a plane for training, when his ankle shattered upon landing. This resulted in the need for surgery to repair the ankle, which ultimately failed. Following the failed surgery, J.J. ended up being told he had to have his left leg amputated from the knee down. He started rehabilitation post-surgery and during November 2021 started walking on a prosthetic. Today J.J. remains active and currently trains for competition at the Warrior Games, an athletic event for wounded veterans. This year, J.J. decided to utilize STRIVE during his training for the Games.
“We have the technology that we can be better and we can provide better rehabilitation for these individuals. We actually can help them gain more of a symmetry and reestablish that neuromuscular connection so that they can walk better, run better, play sports, and overall improve their everyday functionality.”
As an amputee, JJ is able to better understand how his muscles have been affected by the loss of his lower limb and the changes that occurred within his neuromuscular connections. For many injured people there lies a neural inhibition – meaning the strength might be there in the limb, but the brain isn’t telling all the muscle fibers to contract. This results in a misconnection from the brain to that limb. The STRIVE Performance System allows J.J. to see how his muscles are performing.
“With STRIVE we’re able to actually show an individual how the muscles around the injured area are responding after that injury,” said Michelle Perna, Client Success Specialist with STRIVE.
STRIVE equips J.J. with the information to train to the fullest for his recovery. One way to overcome the neural inhibition is through PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) patterns which reestablish the neuromuscular connection between the mind and the body. With this type of training, a limb is moved through diagonal patterns. The goal is to reconnect the limb and the brain to work together. One aspect of J.J. ‘s recovery has involved using PNF patterns to reestablish the lost connection between the brain in conjunction with the left quad and left glute.
Another way J.J. has worked toward his recovery is through modified exercises. These exercises include: stability ball hamstring curl, single leg stability ball hamstring curl, and TRX lunges. J.J. is working to get his left leg as close to symmetrical as possible through these exercises. As an amputee, J.J. is naturally overcompensating with his right leg. These exercises play a crucial role in his left leg becoming more balanced. The use of STRIVE to consistently monitor J.J. through this training has provided unbiased data on his progress. This information can visualize and show if there are actually improvements in his neuromuscular connections, his strength, his endurance, and his symmetry. This way he can make adjustments to his training as he goes along to ensure what he is doing is the most effective and efficient way to get him to his goal.
STRIVE serves as a tool to change the whole dynamic of how amputees recover and train. STRIVE’s goal for amputees is to increase the speed of their rehabilitation so that they can have a better chance and a faster way of reaching equilibrium.
“We have the technology that we can be better and we can provide better rehabilitation for these individuals,” said Perna. “We actually can help them gain more of a symmetry and reestablish that neuromuscular connection so that they can walk better, run better, play sports, and overall improve their everyday functionality.”
