Getting Strong at Strive

When it comes to our bodies, it can be argued if you don’t use it, you lose it.

owner Mark Muir and his team have a passion for transforming people, those limited by pain and injury, and engaging them in a physical therapy program.

“One of the biggest misconceptions about physical therapy is that it is going to cause more pain, but once patients start the exercises, the pain decreases.  Healthy movements are good for the body. And, the body has to be worked out to start feeling better again,” says Muir, who at 43 is fit and trim, and obviously practices what he preaches.

Muir, a father of a boy and girl, met his wife, Tracie, when they were both students at the University of Maryland. While he was studying for a degree in kinesiology, Muir volunteered in orthopedic offices. During that time, he “got a sense of a career helping people.”

"I knew I didn't want to sit behind a desk all day," says Muir. "And, I learned from some good people who helped me in my career path."

After graduation, the couple moved to Pennsylvania, where Muir enrolled in Beaver College (now Arcadia University) and received a master’s degree in physical therapy. They relocated to Moorestown after Tracie, who was from South Jersey, got a job at NFL Films working with graphic arts.

For a time, Muir worked at a national rehabilitation center, where he met co-owner Erich Herkloz, 37.

“During that time, we both saw how management  as handling the physical therapy business, and we didn’t necessarily like it,” says Muir. “We said to each other, ‘We can do this better. Let’s give it a shot.’”

The guys opened their first center over four years ago, and they brought in partner Jamie McCulloh-Martin, 48, last year. They needed more space and moved into the large cheery facility at the Pavilions at Moorestown on Marter Avenue last October.

The group manages a location at the Lourdes Medical Center in Burlington. And, last week,  Strive opened its third location at  South Crossing at Marlton on Lippincott Drive. 

From the beginning, Team Strive wanted to set themselves apart from the corporate conglomerates by giving ultimate physical therapy, while providing paramount customer service. Muir says the big chains "get the patients in" but sometimes offer little follow up care.

“Our goal is to treat every client,” says Muir, “as if we were treating our  mothers.”

He explains if a patient feels comfortable with a therapist, recovery is speedier.

"Once we get a patient back to pre-injury status, we want that person to feel comfortable coming back to us if something gets out of whack again," Muir says, adding that after treatment, some customers use the Strive centers as exercise  facilities through the Strive Plus Program.

Muir says he and his team focus on specialties within the field of physical therapy, creating custom workouts for clients. To encourage high performance from his 15 full-time therapists, Strive reimburses up to $1,500 for ongoing training.

“We have a good retention rate with our therapists, and we try to keep a high caliber of workers,” Muir explains of the therapists trained in subspecialties like vestibular rehabilitation, which alleviates dizziness, balance problems and vertigo, effective for people with muscle deteriorating diseases.

Some patients with multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease benefit from specialized programs but “sometimes  are in so much pain” that they forgo therapy.

“But, once they get here, our programs improve walking and gait for these folks, and  they feel and maintain a better lifestyle,” says Muir.

A technique used with a medical instrument called the Graston Technique is excellent for tendonitis, chronic muscle tightness or plantar fasciitis, and helps by breaking up scar tissue.

Also available is aid for ailing kids and teens who, on the athletic field, pile up  a whole range of injuries like pulled hamstrings, misplaced shoulders or broken bones.

“The athletic coaches from the area schools—Moorestown,  Rancocas, Cherokee—know about us, and we have good relationships with them," Muir says. ''We also see a lot of college athletes home in the summer who need therapy.”

Providing the rehabilitative and therapeutic services to patients came easy when Muir and his partners opened. But, finding the balance to manage the advertising, bookkeeping, and pounds of insurance paperwork  of a small medical enterprise was hard. Hiring solid support staffers has helped.

“My younger workers know more about the social media than I do," laughs Muir, who says one  of his employees is more “techie” than the rest and has set up a Strive Facebook page and a Twitter account. “I’m grateful for that. I’ll stick to helping people.”