Ashley

Ashley is National Academy of Sports Medicine Performance Enhancement Specialist and a third year Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) student at Duke University. Ashley has already completed a 5 month orthopedic rotation under an orthopedic certified specialist as part of her doctoral program. During this rotation, she gained extensive experience in treating orthopedic injuries as well as teaching and training people of various athletic abilities. While at Duke, Ashley has also worked to design exercise programs to enhance movement patterns with middle school and high school athletes. Ashley expects to graduate from Duke in May 2011 and hopes to pursue a rehabilitation career in orthopedics.

Prior to attending graduate school, Ashley received her B.S.Ed in Kinesiology with a concentration in Sports Medicine as well as her B.A. in Spanish from the University of Virginia in 2008.  

Athletic Background

Ashley has been dedicated to fitness for many years. Ashley competed in volleyball and crew at the varsity level in high school. She was the captain of her crew team and received various MVP awards throughout her career. After high school, Ashley continued to stay athletically fit through running, indoor cycling, pilates, yoga, lifting, and competing in intramural volleyball. She has completed a handful of running events from 5 Ks to half marathons.

 

Training Philosophy

Research has found that functional exercise helps to facilitate healthy aging, to improve performance in athletes of all ages, to prevent injuries, to reduce chronic pain, to prevent osteoporosis, to reduce the risk for many life threatening illnesses, and to improve quality of life. Most of this information is not new to many people these days; however, Ashley believes a large barrier to achieving the aforementioned benefits is just a lack of education about how to participate in exercise safely and functionally. Ashley believes that functional exercise involves progression from a strong core (which includes hip musculature, back extensors, abdominals, and the shoulder girdle musculature— it’s not just about your abs!). Ashley is passionate about encouraging and educating others on how to take control of their bodies. In order to achieve this control, Ashley believes it is important to set weekly, monthly, and yearly goals. She finds that helping her patients and clients set a combination of process and outcome goals leads to successful, long term fitness improvements.

Contact Lisa today to schedule a training session with Ashley!