220- How to Work with Elite NFL Athletes

Welcome to the Evidence Based Chiropractor where each week we deliver the latest chiropractic research and marketing strategies all in the time it takes to get to your office. Now here's your host, Dr. Jeff Langmaid.

Hello and welcome to the Evidence Based Chiropractor. I am your host, Dr. Jeff Langmaid. If you have the goal or the ambition to treat the elite of the elite in sports, including NFL athletes, UFC fighters and more, then you're gonna wanna pay attention very closely to the interview that I have today with Dr. Chad Teague over at Code Chiro. He is a relatively recent grad who's been able to build a cash practice that has been very, very successful as well as get inroads into some of the most elite athletes on planet Earth. I'm gonna break down with you. You're gonna learn how he recommends relationship building, the step get there and what it's really like on the inside taking care of those elite athletes. This was an episode that I was looking forward an interview that I was really, really looking forward to. I'm glad Chad took the time to come on and I know you're going to get a lot out of what he can offer. Before we get started, I'll say a few words about Rock Tape. Rocktape is proud to be a sponsor of the Evidence Based Chiropractor and Rockblades Mohawk. Yes, it is still around. Yes, I am still talking about it. 175 bucks. Head over to rocktape.com mohawk to pick it up. It comes with a carrying case. It is the best soft tissue on the market. If you're somebody who wants to save your wrist, save your thumbs, have a great carrying case and have a great tool in the process, then you're going to want to pick up Mohawk, head over to rocktape.com mohawk Additionally in the show notes you're going to be able to check out all of code Cairo and Dr. Teague's Instagram handle. Follow him on Instagram Dr. Chadteague. He has a bunch of cool behind the scenes stuff as well as his wife, Dr. Mary Teague, Dr. Mary T and Odekiro. Without further ado, here is a conversation between myself and Dr. Chad Teague.

I've been scouting out and seeing what you've been doing on social media for a while now and the one thing that sticks out to me is you definitely work with some very high end athletes and specifically in the NFL. So let's start right there. How did you begin working with high level athletes and specifically the NFL? Guys that you work with.

It's. It's been. It's been a process. It's really kind of based off of how we've started our practice, and that's through just word of mouth. I started with working with some high level crossfit athletes. That was kind of like my. My bread and butter. And it still is, really. I work with a ton of those. And then from there I got connected. To who? From one of our. One of our employees here connected us into a UFC fighter locally. So I started working with her pretty closely for a while, and then she just recently moved out to Vegas. So I still work satellite with her, but a little more difficult now that she's out there, which was perfect timing because as soon as she moved, I actually had a patient refer. I think it was a patient referred a Browns player to me. He reached out for dry needling, and then when he showed up, he's asked for treatment. And then as soon as we started, you know, getting to it, they immediately started telling other players. And then it just kind of went from there. It's really as simplistic as that. My end goal was always to work with NFL athletes, so I try to kind of place myself in the right situations and as much as possible. But that. That just. That's kind of the chain of events that occurred. I went from like CrossFit to UFC, now with NFL.

So sweet. So what's the. I think you're making it sound a lot more simple because it sounds like there's an element there that's probably you doing really great work for these people that you left out. But, but with. With that notwithstanding, what's your approach to building those types of relationships? Is it. Are you, like, super focused on explaining treatment? Are you all about just building trust and rapport with a little bit more personal mixed in? Sort of. What's your approach to how you look at that from a business. From a business and practice owner perspective?

Yeah, I mean, I kind of approach it the same way as I do with my regular patients, and that's just kind of really building a good relationship with them up front. We have, with our treatment style at our office, we have 30 minute blocks. So like 30 minutes or an hour depending. Typically those guys are more of like an hour session. So we have a lot of time to kind of build a relationship and kind of, you know, learn a lot about them and then learn a lot, a lot about us. And that's kind of, you know, been the route on how we do our treatment plan. So it did start, obviously with the rapport. And then what was the second question you asked regarding?

Do you dive super into, like, the clinical aspects? Do you find that they're super interested in that, or is it more about, hey, man, I just know trust and, like, you do your thing?

It really. I get a good gauge on how the patient is. Sometimes they might not want to learn as much. So I just kind of talk about lifestyle and what they're doing. But I think naturally I do a lot of talking and explaining, and people really enjoy that. I try to put everything in layman's terms and make them understand, like, why I'm doing what I'm doing. You know, really breaking down the biomechanics. Because in my opinion, I think most injuries and a lot of the things I treat here are they obviously besides contact injuries. But most of the time these overuse injuries are occurring because of biomechanics. So I really try to take the. Take a step back, let's see how you're moving. Let's improve upon that. Obviously, I'm going to treat the issue and the pain now, but I want to improve how you move so these issues don't come back up again. And then really understanding and seeing that, I think that that really hooks their. Their trust with me.

I love that. And, you know, I think in terms of where biomechanics meets performance, I mean, I immediately think to what we opened the conversation with, which is your Instagram account specifically because you're super active on there. I know, I've learned just from watching, you know, kind of like, what's he up to over there with these guys? So I think it's awesome. And I guess talk about maybe, you know, shout out your Instagram handle for sure, but also tell a little bit of the docs out there. You know, how does it play out with these athletes? How does it. How can you make them feel comfortable where you're going to actually be able to post something? Where's that line? What's been your experience? Because you are one of the most active guys that I see, highlighting the athletes that you work with as well, which I imagine is a delicate space.

It's very delicate. I tiptoe around it. I really. I kind of initiate by. I guess it's situational. Every. Every person is different. So I. I think I have to build that friendship first, which I've. I developed with some of the guys I've worked with. I have more of a friendship and that. That trust level with them. So they want to push out their Content. So it actually helps because a lot of them have people like photographers follow them. So that's how I've got some of those pictures, and I just push it. So I've been very fortunate on that. I'm not. My number one suggestion is don't ask for a picture the first time you work with them, because that usually kind of gives them a little weirdness at first. So try to build that relationship first, get that trust, and then try to maybe create that picture and then ease your way into it. Actually, a lot of times I'll be like, hey, I want to show you how you're moving. So I'll film them moving, then show them, and then they see that, and then I show them, you know, maybe we're doing a corrective exercise, and I'll set it up and be like, see how your, you know, your. Your biomechanics are better here. Your, you know, your hips need to be back a little more and use that as an educational tool, and then be like, hey, can I post this later? Like, can't use this as information on my social media. Usually they're, you know, depending on the level of what they are, they'll either be like, yes, because they. They want to push it onto their story, so it shows that they're working hard. And then some people are very private, though, so you just have to kind of feel out every situation.

Yeah, that's. That's cool. And I guess with that, I'm gonna ask a super. In depth. That's very tactical, so I appreciate you sharing that. And the second component where my mind goes, I know so many of these athletes are dealing with contract negotiations. Are they injured or not? Do you find that any of them really want to stay? How do you find that? Do you. Have you ever had an agent call you, for instance, and say, yo, dude, like, you know, kind of cool out, or, that's awesome. You're hyping my guy up. What's. What's been your experience?

So there has been multiple situations recently, you know, also in the ufc, but also mainly because a lot of their contract negotiations are dependent on their health. So if someone has a lagging injury and they want to get, like, a title fight, for example, you know, we can't discuss those issues. One, I had an athlete that had a back injury, and she was up for a title fight, which she might not ever have gotten again if she passed up on an opportunity like that. So we kind of had to know, finagle some things there and just try to get people as big as band aid on as possible just to get them prepared for that moment. And then, yes, no, it definitely happens. You have to be careful if it's a true injury. Most of the stuff I post is more like, so for example, with the Browns guys, I do a lot of core stabilization and proprioception and a lot of core stuff. I can't do a ton of strength and conditioning with them. They have their guys for that with the Browns and, you know, I just kind of take it back because they're pounding their body so hard and just try to slow them down and get them moving better. And that's my number one goal. So I don't throw a lot of info out on like, hey, we're working on his knee specifically because he has a knee injury. You know, just kind of navigate your way without, you know, throwing out injuries. And always ask permission. Always ask permission and find out that information. And I guess like I said before, situationally to every person, it's kind of that situation as well. You know, try to get content that's not really showing injuries. And that would be my best advice. But yes, you have to be careful because sometimes these NFL players don't want anyone to know that they're injured or they might have to have surgery. They might have to do this, might have to do that. Because it's a very, very touchy subject.

Yeah. I mean, it's their livelihood. Right. It's their entire career wrapped up many times.

Contracts, sponsorships, no doubt.

And as you talk about that, let's dive in a little bit more. What you said, for a lot of those high level, the Browns guys, for instance, a lot of them might be more one hour sessions as opposed to 30 minutes. I know it's going to vary so heavily depending upon the person and the player, but what's a typical visit look like? I mean, is it, you know, are you seeing these guys? You know, where are you seeing them? And then what, you know, kind of what's your thought process as you work through a normal visit, if you could call it that, with a super high end athlete.

So a lot of these guys obviously are banged up, they have a lot of injuries. So most of them come to my office, which is awesome because I'm like 30 to 45 minutes away from their facility and like where a lot of them live. So most of them come here, which is very.

It's.

It's good for me because it's hard for me to travel a lot and go from place to place. But one to two guys I'll.

I'll.

Go to them pretty often, really like two guys. And that's, you know, just, just because again, there's levels to things and everything goes to them. So it's just, it's easier for me to go to them. So with that being said, you know, back to how I approach every. Everyone, obviously similar to every patient in a perfect world. I would love to have an hour with everyone, but just sometimes like we just do the 30 minute breaks and then, you know, schedule out accordingly. But I kind of do like a triage, find out what their main injuries are and then we attack from there because these guys have injuries from five seasons ago, from one season ago from college. So, you know, let's, let's focus on the one thing that's really bothering you. Treat that if it's pain, if it's dysfunction, and then take a step back again after we're done with that treatment and then focus on biomechanics. Because if I fix one issue of pain and then work on their biomechanics, a lot of their other issues might resolve in, you know, just, just from that. So, and again in that hour, I have a lot of time, so I'll do a lot of soft tissue things. So dry needling or active release technique. We have a Class 4 deep tissue laser. We use a lot flexion distraction. I love a lot of those guys really like that decompressive effect on their back because they're huge humans. Yep, that's, that's been kind of my magic recipe on, you know, finding some balance of all of those in one and triaging and really focusing like we have this much time. This is problem number one. We're going to hammer this, figure this out and then, you know, my goal with a lot of them are not my goal really. They like body work. So I'll try to get them on a consistent basis. Consistent basis. So if it's an overuse injury, we just kind of mitigate and lower that inflammation as much as possible because there, there's really nothing if you get an injury in season, there's not a whole lot you can do to. You can't rest so, you know, unless it's a big injury. But you know, tendinitis at different tendinopathies in the Achilles and the elbows and the shoulders impingements, sprain strains just across the board. Just try to, you know, again, mitigate as much pain as possible and just get them out of that process, opposed to pulling them away from doing what they're doing.

That makes Sense. That makes sense. And I guess in line with that, how much communication do you have with like the team docs, the trainers, the strengths and conditioning guys? I mean, obviously there's sort of, you know, probably in some ways a hard line, in some ways a gray area between what happens within the facility, what they're choosing to do outside of those four walls. I imagine sometimes they want everybody to be on the same page and sometimes probably they're seeing you because they like what you do as opposed to maybe what they're getting, you know, day in and day out in the facility. How have you navigated that and is there constant communication or is it player dependent?

It's player dependent. I'd like to have more communication and I'm starting to kind of get there. It's very closed doors. Ish. In most facilities and they want everyone in there. And I mean, I don't blame them. You know, they're. I would want the same if I was in the facility. I wouldn't want guys going to random places, getting dry, needling here, doing this. There's. But I try to tell them to. This is a huge thing because there's a lot of egos involved in this realm, in this world. So always make it known that you are there to assist and you're not trying to take anything away from what they're doing at the facility. I'm there to assist what they are doing at the facility because if it gets out that you're talking like, hey, I'm doing this and I'm pulling, or I'm. I'm clearing them for this or I'm doing that and it gets back to the facility, they're immediately you're going to be, you're never going to work your way in. So trying to be as open as possible with them. If you're in, if you're in communication with them, they're like, hey, I am just here to assist what you guys are doing. If you have any questions, let me know. It is, it's definitely player dependent though, because, well, for example, OTAs, like there's. They have a ton of players come in and they have the same. Not a ton of staff to kind of look at everyone. They do. They have enough people to look at. Look at people. But like I said, a lot of those guys like extra body work. So whether it's massage or chiropractic care or, you know, whatever it may be, you know, they want a little bit extra. And so they find people, you know, this is, it's not just Here it's across the nation. Wherever, at different sports teams, different, different sports in general. It just happens. So they find a lot of higher level people like to find their guy. So fortunately I've been kind of put into that, you know, mix a little bit and you know, but I still want to have a really, really good relationship with the people in the facility.

I can, I can understand that.

What's the trainer like the hierarchy in, in a NFL locker room or most sports teams that's like the top of the line. They. Because they're with the patients or the players every day. So surgeons pts. Cairos, they report to the athletic trainer and that's. I don't know if people knew that, but that's pretty much how it works with the systems that, that.

Yeah, that's very good to know. What's, I guess what is the best and worst aspects of working with, with pro athletes?

Best? Definitely. You know, I'm meeting a lot of cool people and building really cool relationships and it's what I've always wanted to do like since, since before I even went into chiropractic school. It's been my number one goal is to get to that. And that's what makes me, you know, I'm fortunate with our office. We have super active people. I want to work at the professional level, but I still really love working with people in my office as well because I'd say 95% of my patient population is all active people. So everyone wants to get better. So that's amazing in itself. So I really enjoy going to work and really enjoy that aspect of things. But the professional side is definitely where I kind of want to have that extra space within my office, if that makes sense.

Yeah.

And then the worst part, time like their, their schedules are crazy. So it's made my schedule crazy. So I mean I, it's expected I'll work seven days a week, which I'm fine with. Kind of like an on call type thing which I would like to get a little more consistency with. You know, being always available is great.

To them, but it, yeah, yeah, it is great for them. Yeah.

So. But you know, that's what it takes if you want to, if you want to, you know, get to that point and be able to work with that level. Sometimes you just have to sacrifice your time and you know, travel, you know, work super late hours, super late hours, random times. So living close to my office is very beneficial because I can just swing over in the middle of the night. But yeah, I would say that's the best and worst parts about it.

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