Meet Ryan Bailey, PT, DPT.

I distinctly heard him say “Central Waters.”

And when a physical therapist gets invited to Amherst, WI to share his expertise, then we’re talking about more than just tapping into the body’s internal mechanisms to relieve pain.

Oooh. Tell me more.

“No, Central Woggers,” he said. “It’s a running group in Amherst. Think the name’s a play on words, a combination of walk and jog.”

Oh, gotcha. I’m guessing this will be more about pain relief than beer.

“Well, those topics aren’t mutually exclusive,” he said.

I like this guy already.

Meet Ryan Bailey, physical therapist at Advanced PT. Recently he was invited to share some of his knowledge with the Central Woggers before they took off for a run.

“So, what topic did they want you to focus on?” I asked.

“Oh, they let me choose,” said Bailey.

Golly, that narrows it down. Bailey’s experience and specialties include working with high-level athletes and orthopedic injuries, foot and ankle dysfunction, pre and post-operative joint replacement and general rehabilitation including ACL reconstruction, sports medicine and biomechanics, just to name a few.

“I decided to give a talk on exercise and pain relief, and why we feel good when we walk and run and exercise,” Bailey said. “More or less about the natural substances within our body to relieve pain that we can tap into instead of relying on medications. Then into anterior knee pain many runners can experience and what the research tells us about strengthening the knee.”

Bailey was under some pressure from the assembled group of several dozen runners to hit the presentation out of the park, as the week prior a nurse and wellness coach named Martha Bailey did just that.

“Yeah, Martha is my wife. She’s pretty good,” said Bailey. “I understand they are inviting her back.”

While he is a frequent runner, Bailey considers running more of a cross training component for some of the many other sports on which he focuses, one of which is surf ski racing. Designed for ocean paddling, surf skis are sit-on top kayaks that are sleek, fast and very tippy. Bailey competed in the sport, a popular pastime with lifeguards, while living in Hawaii and California. Even though it’s tough to find anywhere near the surf ski racing opportunities here in Wisconsin, Bailey still manages to keep his skills sharp.

“There’s actually a very good 17 mile race here called ‘Race the Fox,’ which goes from Berlin to Omro,” he said. “It’s something I’ve done since moving back to Wisconsin.”

Bailey met his Wisconsinite wife in California, where he lived for 30 years, when she went out west for a nursing job. They got married in San Diego and returned to Wisconsin to start their family. They and their three daughters now reside in the house Martha grew up in, located in Fremont. Not surprisingly, their children are into sports and activities just as mom and dad are, and the family takes full advantage of the gamut of outdoor activities Wisconsin has to offer.

And he insists he doesn’t miss the ocean and the beaches.

“I love it here in Wisconsin,” Bailey said. Bailey coaches a number of area teams and is committed to being a resource for youth sports and being there for families after an athlete’s injury. He’s also committed to helping community members stay active and healthy, hence his visit to the Central Woggers.

It seems as if the transplanted Californian has found the perfect place to be.

Learn more here: https://www.advancedptsm.com/ryan-bailey