Exclusive: Repair Sports Institute's Chad Beauchamp on training top athletes and how you can best stay safe, mobile and healthy
Based in Huntington Beach, California -- also known as "Surf City U.S.A." -- the Repair Sports Institute takes a holistic approach to functional medicine. Mixing physical therapy, chiropractic principles, acupuncture, and fitness training as needed to treat its clients, many top-tier athletes have been treated at Repair. This includes Tony Ferguson, Carla Esparza, "T.O." Terrell Owens, Fred Couples, Kerri Walsh-Jennings, Desean Jackson, Travis Kelce, Mark Trumbo, and Joe Kelly.
The institute's own Dr. Chad Beauchamp is both a Doctor of Physical Therapy as well as a Board Certified Sports Specialist. He travels both domestically and internationally with the U.S. Olympic Beach Volleyball team, participates in NFL combine training, NFL and MLB offseason training, PGA concierge treatment, and injury prevention. He has also treated notable UFC fighters.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Chad Beauchamp on behalf of Sportskeeda about his career and also how our readers can stay safe, mobile, and healthy during our current pandemic. More on Beauchamp and his institute can be found online at www.repairsi.com.
tête-à-tête with Dr.Chad Beauchamp
Repair Sports Institute has worked with top athletes in just about every professional sport. Who was the first MMA fighter you can recall working with?
Chad Beauchamp: Tito Ortiz.
Does working with an MMA performer differ greatly from how you would treat an athlete from baseball or football?
Chad Beauchamp: Every client slightly varies but at the same time they're all very much the same as far mind, body, and spirit. In many cases, working with an elite athlete has a little bit more focus on education of the diagnosis, plan of care, and the overall adjustments needing to be made with their training due to the injury. Specifically, to a fighter there are certain factors to consider such as traumatic injuries -- i.e. broken bones or lacerations that are not often seen in other sports.
When it comes to rehabilitation the injuries vary by sport but the elite athlete is often managed with proper advanced exercise and treatment prescription but also making sure they understand what to avoid during continued training if need be. Once again the proper education on the diagnosis, plan of care and how to alter training is crucial to the success of the athlete with their recovery. Additionally, addressing the entire person in their realm compared to the general population is extremely important.
Making sure nutrition, rest, energy side of the things just to name a few are managed properly can mean the difference of a successful efficient recovery or not.
Have you had the opportunity to work with a professional wrestler?
Chad Beauchamp: Unfortunately, I have not. However, I have studied some of their training and how much practice it takes in their routines and completely understand the physical and mental demand that comes with being a professional wrestler. Definitely, not all show!
For an everyday person, what are some of the steps they ought to be taking to maximize mobility and minimize pain?
Chad Beauchamp: That is a challenging question to answer vaguely, as we are assuming maximizing mobility equals less pain based on the way the question is stated. That is not always the case. Sometimes increased mobility equals instability and therefore more pain due to high stress in certain areas of the body. If we are talking about general flexibility as far as not being "stiff" then it is important to maintain regular activity along with proper nutrition, hydration and mental/spiritual practice.
A healthy balance of doing body-weight exercise, cardio, and lifting light weights properly along with active and passive stretching will improve general body mobility and potentially could decrease pain in the body. Of course this is dependent on what is generating the pain in the physical realm.
Another example of maximizing mobility and how it may not address physical pain would be emotional stress and how that sometimes can manifest into physical pain. Long story short, it is imperative to address the source of the pain and not just the symptoms.
I've heard stretching is best to be done before exercise, and others saying that stretching is to be done immediately after exercising. Where do you stand on that?
Chad Beauchamp: Depends on the goal of the stretching. Before exercise is excellent for function. This type of stretching should be dynamic and not held for any length of time. This will awake the body, per se, to be ready for action. Following exercise is great for cooling down the body. This should be static stretching held for longer periods such as 30 seconds or more. This is to help the muscle flush out lactic acid and let it rest more comfortably following vigorous work.
What is coming up for the Repair Sports Institute in the coming months?
Chad Beauchamp: SURVIVING this virus. We always have a lot at hand. Currently, our team is doing everything it can to get clients back in our doors during this pandemic. We are all pulling together to help assure the general public and previous/current clients know that it is safe and the best thing for them right now is to take care of themselves, MIND BODY and SPIRIT. We are here for them! Excited to get this place packed again and continue our mission to change the way wellness is managed under one roof.
I was scheduled to visit Huntington Beach this month but had to postpone that due to the current pandemic. I recently interviewed Rocky McKinnon and have interviewed Jan & Dean's Dean Torrence in the past. Besides Rocky, are there other sports and/or surfing icons related to Huntington Beach?
Chad Beauchamp: Well you do have the Huntington Beach bad boy Tito Ortiz, Kelly Slater and many many other professional athletes. I am not even sure who is from here because of so many visit here for extended periods. Also, I am from Michigan. (laughs) But a ton of professional athletes spend their off-seasons here to train and enjoy the beautiful weather.
Finally, Chad, any last words for the kids?
Chad Beauchamp: Dream and dream big. Set goals and work your ass off towards them. But please make sure and have fun along the way. Life is not just about reaching your goals. It's truly about the time that is spent between the start and the end point.
Too many people spend their entire lives focused on the end goal or what is next and they forget about what is right in front of them. Lastly, I can't say this enough, love yourself and be nice, this world is too damn hard the way it is to beat yourself up.