Meet Dr. Steve Sudell Jr. of Prehab2perform in Venice

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Steve Sudell Jr.

Dr. Steve, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have a beautiful wife, Lindsay, two great dogs, and live in sunny Venice, CA. I’ve been a CrossFit competitor for the past 4 years, and work with high intensity athletes on their mobility, prehab, and post-injury physical therapy.

I’ve been a PT for 6 years now, and opened my clinic a little over 3 years ago. It started out as a side gig, seeing people at my CrossFit gym to help improve their mobility and strength deficits which lead to nagging injuries and pain. Fast forward to now, I work full time (6 days a week) and am usually fully booked. I only see clients 1 on 1 because I truly believe in getting them pain free and healthy as fast as possible. I find the human body to be the most extraordinary machine ever built. The level of what we can accomplish with our bodies is a never ending cycle of awesome. Unfortunately we don’t take care of our bodies like we should, and that leads to injury over time. This is especially true of those who engage in high intensity workouts or sports. Most people don’t know how important it is to take steps to prepare their bodies for action.

I have seen people do incredible things when they mobilize and prepare. I created Prehab 2 Perform as a resource and tool geared towards some of the things I am most passionate about: helping people return to what they love, maximizing athlete genetic potential.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I knew very early on that I didn’t want to accept insurance directly. I feel that our medical model is extremely broken and I didn’t want to be a part of it. I don’t want someone else telling me how I should or should not treat my patients. As a cash based business, early on it was a challenge convincing people why they should see me, vs other physical therapists who accept insurance. But over time, as word of mouth spread, people began to see the value and I have much more motivated clients as a result. People who go to Physical Therapy using their insurance are typically less motivated to actually improve, whereas cash pay clients don’t want to waste their time or money so we often see much better results.

Please tell us about prehab2perform.
I specialize in treating athletic populations, most notably CrossFit. What sets me apart from many other Physical Therapy clinics is that I only see my clients 1 on 1, and my objective is to not only correct the muscle imbalances that may be contributing to pain, but I spend a significant amount of time actually working on the specific movements that the client wants to return to. For example, most people have no idea how to squat properly. So, after we address the mobility and strength deficits, we will go through a plethora of drills and exercises to make sure the client understands how to move properly so they don’t return with the same issues.

I believe in treating the body as a system, rather than addressing individual body parts. People with dysfunctional squat patterns typically will present with hip pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, back pain etc. So if we perfect the squat, the other issues become much easier and faster to treat. My goal is always to facilitate a healthy recovery as fast as possible, I don’t waste time using E-stim, Ultrasound, or other modalities that yield very little benefit.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I don’t think I would change a thing. The mistakes that I made starting out have shaped who I am today as a clinician and a small business owner. I am grateful for the obstacles.

Pricing:

• $90 per single session, $80 per session for a 3 pack, $75 per session for a 6 pack
• $55 Graston/ Soft Tissue work session

Contact Info:

• Address: 711 Hampton Drive, Venice, CA 90291 (second floor at Paradiso Crossfit)
• Website: prehab2perform.com
• Phone: 561-329-8500
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @prehab2perform
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prehab2perform/
• Twitter: @prehab2perform
• Yelp: prehab2perform