Project Walk®- Spinal Cord Injury Recovery

To provide advanced physical and functional gait training for those with SCI who are moving their legs and are able to walk with or without adaptive aids. Entry qualifications are a safe bone density for a high performance training program and the desire to improve.

Our Functional Gait Performance Program™ is about education and workout design. Our goal is to teach each client the tools necessary to improve on their own. This allows out-of-town clients to return home and continue their progress.

Our “Finishing School” (as we like to call it) was created out of demand. We have watched some SCI individuals come to our center with almost perfect gaits, while others compensate so much that walking long distance isn’t an option. We have determined that the difference is not due to the level of injury, but how these people were trained and what was expected of them. The gait is not predetermined but developed through the stimulation received. Over time, just as with any person, compensation leads to loss of function. It is not only an SCI problem, but a normal response to an inefficient gait pattern. Correcting this compensation isn’t easy, but with the right stimulation, workout program and client determination, improvement can happen. At Project Walk®, we believe that progress only stops when the client is satisfied with his or her results.

Over the last five years, we have heard a lot about what someone with a spinal cord injury can do, or in most cases, cannot do! We have talked to, and have seen, hundreds of SCI individuals who can move their legs and have been told “this is as good as it gets.” Most information is negative, lacking hope, and all information is about limitations. Placing limitations on people is wrong because no one knows what each person is capable of, until that individual tries.

Because each client is different, we can’t guarantee that every single person that comes through our door will significantly improve. We do provide the best environment and the best program for healing in an atmosphere of positive energy. We are all working for a common goal and there is tremendous support for each other. With all of this working, is it any wonder that most of our clients are proving that everything they were told about limitations is wrong.

Theory of Gait Drills and Skills

We don’t teach you to walk; we teach you the skills necessary to walk well.

What does this mean? It is our philosophy that a functional gait is determined by the coordination between your mechanical center of gravity (hips) and your balance (ankles and inner ear). You don’t learn how to coordinate these factors walking in parallel bars or a mechanical gait trainer. In fact, those tools teach you to compensate. Instead of function you have gained dysfunction, which creates an occupational gait that causes you to rely on adaptive equipment. If you want to walk with a functional, sound gait, you must first learn to master the basic skills of controlling the muscles that support and move your hips in a full range of motion. You must have control of your hip, knee and ankle joints, and you must be able to coordinate these movements with your upper body. Skills you must have are: the ability to do full knee and hip flexion combined with hip flexor function, and be able to maintain control throughout the full range of motion of the femur; you must be able to move side to side, forward and backwards; and you must be able to go to the floor and get back up in all different body positions.

Posture and functional range of motion is what sets our training program apart from the old school methods of SCI gait training. Our program has nothing to do with traditional methods or ideas of how someone with an SCI recovers; our functional gait training program is where we really have fun! We have a history of training elite athletes and that’s the approach we still use. This is why our clients recover faster, walk better, and are stronger than their peers. Three decades ago, teaching coordination within the sports world was something that just wasn’t done. Either you were born with it, or you weren’t. Things have changed since then.

Each year, performance trainers take average athletes and turn them into scholarship athletes by teaching them all the aspects of performance, including coordination. They do it by stimulating the nervous system with specific drills designed to elicit certain responses. Once that skill has been mastered, they design something a little more demanding, requiring more from the nervous system. At Project Walk®, our performance training is designed to elicit a functional gait. Once this is achieved, we design the next step. If you want to see some gait training in action, please go to our Storyline video page. You’ll see some of our clients perform drills, as well as move through all ranges of motion in different planes. Our job is to teach you how to perform drills that will give you real world, everyday practical skills that you can use in your daily life.

If you have any questions on our drills and skills theory, please use our message board and ask our clients. They are your peers and can tell you about their workouts. Like we said, our program is not for those that believe in limitations. We do not choose our clients, they choose us. We are very lucky to have some of the best and hardest training athletes in the world to work with! If you don’t believe in limitations, come visit us for a week and see for yourself.

Questions about our gait training program

Who can our gait program help?

Someone who is walking now and wants to improve
Someone who has movement in their legs but can’t walk yet
Someone who has walked, but due to compensation is no longer able to do so

What is the program?

It depends on the individual’s goals and abilities. For someone who is a more independent walker and is looking to fine tune their gait, the program is designed at Project Walk®, then taught to the individual or their trainer to be performed at their home or local gym.
For those needing more help, we recommend an in-house program. It is more effective and efficient because of the skill of the staff.
The misconception is that you have to spend years here; we are now working with clients throughout the country and the world that train at home or at their local gym. Our clients hire us as their recovery coaches. Together we sit down and design long-term training programs around the client’s individual goals.

I have been to other programs and they don’t know how to work with me. Are your trainers experienced?

Our staff is comprised of SCI Specialists that have hundreds and hundreds of hours of experience and have gone through our intensive certification program. Only the very best became certified in The Dardzinski Method™, practiced only at Project Walk®. For more information on our certification process, please go to the SCI Specialist Training Program.

Is the gait training program a long-term program and commitment?

Yes and no. Our program is about education and exercise design. Clients can continue their progress here or go home with the knowledge to workout on their own, with or without a personal trainer. A successful training program only works with long-term, consistent training. The biggest mistake people make at the gym, is doing the same thing over and over. Most do not know how to train and waste time doing things that don’t work. This is why we develop long-term plans that promote variation and consistency.

What makes this program so different?

Like everything else at Project Walk®, this program isn’t based on traditional rehab or insurance guidelines; it is based on scientific sports performance training. We treat every client at Project Walk® as an athlete. And like other top athletes, our clients have set performance goals with very high expectations for themselves, and us. More importantly, our experience is second to none. We have been working with SCI clients for over six years now.

How long are the workouts?

Don’t believe the common misperception that you have to train over three hours a day to get results. In all our years of training SCI clients, very few have made it more than two hours a day in our gait program. Clients rarely come five days a week because over-training can cause injury and reduce the chance of successfully reaching goals. Any coach or athlete will tell you that the most important part of training is the recovery phase. Our clients train, at most, every other day until they build up endurance. Nothing happens in a week; it takes months of doing the right exercises and stimulus to improve.

How fast can I expect results?

We don’t know. The severity of your gait problem and the length of time you’ve been compensating play a role in how long it will take to see results. The attitude of “I want a quick fix!” doesn’t work. In the athletic training world, the most important factors are the determination and energy put into a program.

How can I take the program home? Don’t I need all that fancy, expensive equipment?

Our program is very simple. We don’t use fancy equipment for this stage of the program. Our expensive, passive gait trainers are only used with clients that can’t move their legs. The equipment we use is people-friendly and can be found at any health club or purchased over the internet. We keep it simple so you can be consistent, no matter where you live.

Is there any help with the program once I leave? Can I return for updates?

Yes to both. Ideally, you should visit occasionally for re-evaluation and to make certain you are still going in the right direction. This should continue until you are completely satisfied with your walking gait.

What if I can’t return?

If you want to continue the program you will have access to a Specialist to help with questions and workout modifications. If you can’t come back, we recommend hiring a local trainer that you trust and believe in, and most importantly, is in it for the duration. You don’t want to keep hiring and training new trainers. Follow ups can be done with your Specialist via phone and internet conferencing.

Why do I need to modify my workout program?

You will adapt to the stimulus provided by the workout and once this happens, you will just be going through the motions. People that do the same workouts over and over see very little gains. Any successful workout program has to evolve as you change.

Is this a lifetime program?

Yes, this is a lifetime fitness program. Once you are happy with your results it is up to you to be consistent. Exercise and proper nutrition is the only proven fountain of youth.

Don't tell me I Can't!

Nobody gives us any hope that we can improve our gait!

At Project Walk®, as soon as the client comes through the door, they are given hope! It is said that with hope comes miracles---The Miracle is in The Method®. This center is all about hope for the future. We know we can’t change the past, but the future is yet to be determined!

I can move my legs but I was told that I will never improve to where I can walk.

With our method, if you can move your legs, we believe that with the right stimulation, mind set, determination, and hard work, you can develop a functional gait. Because our program is based on the individual, each client ultimately determines how much function they get back. We can’t promise anything except the best method, the best program, the right stimulation and highly skilled, caring Specialists.

Do braces help with a functional gait?

Braces do not help with a functional gait; they are for occupational purposes only. Braces eliminate gravity and load bearing forces. Without these fundamentals, muscles and nerves will atrophy. For example: someone breaks an arm and receives a cast for six to eight weeks---when the cast comes off, what’s happened to the muscles? They have atrophied.

I’ve heard that most SCI will end up back in the wheelchair.

We have been studying and working with posture and functional gaits in able- bodied individuals for 13 years. Almost every person that we have trained has had a muscle dysfunction where one side of the body was stronger/weaker than the other. This ultimately led to an imbalance.An example to illustrate this is a car being out of alignment--over time, the tires wear unevenly and rather than constantly replacing the tires, you fix the alignment. Unfortunately, when it comes to our bodies, we are not that smart. We almost always look at the symptom and treat it. At Project Walk®, we don’t focus on the fact that an individual has an SCI, we focus on that individual’s goals; evaluate their posture and gait; then formulate a plan to attack the weaknesses and bring about a more functional bilateral gait. Those with a functional gait will have a very long life out of a wheelchair.

Does anti-spasm medication affect a functional gait?

It is simple-think of oil and water--they don’t mix. If you want a functional gait, you can’t be taking drugs to treat the symptom that causes you to improve. Spasms and tone are not the problem; they are only a symptom of a dysfunctional nervous system. If you treat the symptom, you will never recover. Treat the cause, and your nervous system will slowly mature into a functional system.

I have a good leg and a leg that doesn’t work--any experience working with people like me?

Yes. This is one of the main reasons clients hire us to improve their gait. We have been very successful at training the weaker leg with our method, from creating movement where none existed to improving deficient coordination. Almost every client we work with has a good and bad side. Our clients improve because we focus most of our attention on the weaknesses, not the strengths. With focused and efficient training, our clients become more bilateral with their gaits.

These are only a few of the comments and concerns that we have heard. If we did not address your questions or concerns, please go to our message board and ask us. Please remember that our experience is with our method, therefore, we will not comment on any other treatments or surgeries.

Details

The two types of gait trainers at Project Walk®:

In-house gait trainers-these are the people who will be spending more than a month training at our center.
At-home gait trainers-these are the people who visit for a week or so and continue their program at home, with or without a trainer.

The first week at the center is the same for all clients. The only difference is, on the last day of the first week, the in-house clients go over their workout plan, goals, and schedule. The at-home clients review their workout program and how to succeed at home, ask their questions, and schedule the first follow-up visit.

Appointment protocol for your week visit:

Days One and Two: You will get to work right away. You will meet with the director of the center to evaluate your abilities and go over your individual goals. We will test your gait and standing posture and film you performing a series of special movement patterns designed to bring out your weaknesses. Our program is based on this simple premise: identify the physical weakness and design a program to exploit the weakness until it becomes strength.

If you bring your trainer, he/she will be with you every day going through the filming of skills and drills, the evaluation, and program design. Your trainer will be taught how to work with you and your program. When you leave, both of you will have the knowledge to safely perform your workout at home.

You and your trainer will sit down with your SCI Specialist and review your video. we will educate you on your dysfunctions and discuss how we will attack and try to change them. Education is the key to success. If you do not understand what you are doing and why, you will have trouble committing to the program. After reviewing your skills, we will begin to design a program around your structural and postural weaknesses that cause your compensations. The rest of the day is understanding, performing and perfecting your exercises.

Days Three, Four and Five: In addition to training for the five days, we have to cram a lot of education into a very short time frame. The goal of a week visit is workout design and teaching you and your trainer the proper technique for the desired drills. Educating you on why you are doing these drills is second only to the proper technique. Without complete understanding of why and how, success will be less likely. During this first week, be prepared for a crash course in theory, anatomy, kinesiology, and biomechanics of the gait. We will go over the goals of the program and start to design a long term program from the information gather throughout the week.
Day Five: In-house clients - During the last hour, we will review your first week and determine a plan for the upcoming weeks.Training days and hours will depend on your abilities and needs. You will have a Specialist who will supervise your workouts until you leave the program. To promote consistent workouts, each month you and your Specialist will meet and go over your progress and workout design.
At-home clients -- The last hour of your session you (and your trainer), will meet with your Specialist to review the week, answer any questions and finalize the long-term plan. Before you leave, we should have an understanding of how to work together so we may achieve the mutual goals. A plan for the future is the most important aspect of the week visit. Without it, success will be hard to come by. Returning dates and goals should be written down and gone over to ensure success.

Follow-up visits, at Project Walk® or via Internet:

Like any advanced training program, doing the same thing too long is ineffective training and a waste of time. Your body adapts to the stimulation and stops improving and you will hit a plateau. If you are committed, you have to be committed to a long-term program that changes as you improve. A new exercise program will be designed and implemented as your level of function changes. This can be done either with a follow-up visit to the center or via the internet. It is always up to the clients to choose the option which is best for them, but being in the center under the supervision of a Specialist is always the best option for the fastest recovery.

Maintenance Program:

In-house clients: Once you are able to do most of the workout program without any assistance, we will offer you a monthly gym membership. This membership allows you to use the center anytime during business hours. You will also spend one or two hours a month with your Specialist designing new programs for you to continue your progress.
At-home clients: When you have reached your individual goal, it is time to design a program that will maintain that level of function. This routine has to fit your lifestyle so that you will do it consistently. If you do, you will maintain your function. Remember, maintaining is much easier than developing, so be consistent!

A Final Note:

Thank you for your interest in this special program. If you have any questions regarding it, please use our message board and one of our Specialists will answer you. We prefer questions this way because the question you ask may be asked by others. Sharing information and educating the public is our overall goal.