Announcing the Maine Athletic Health Center

Today we are proud to announce that the Maine Athletic Health Center (MAHC) is returning home to Brewer and opening our books to begin scheduling new patients. The plan is simple: build a place where movement decisions are made with shared facts, turned into clear next steps, and checked for actual progress. Not more noise. Better signals leading to better outcomes.

The problem we’re trying to solve

Too many gait and movement decisions still start with eyeballing and end with opinions. Observational assessments can help, but inter-rater agreement is often only moderate, especially in orthopedic populations where deviations are subtle (Brunnekreef et al., 2005). That variability makes it hard for patients and teams to trust what follows. If the inputs are inconsistent, the outcomes are unsure.

We can do better than “looks about right.” Instrumented measurement of basic spatiotemporal gait parameters (cadence, step/stride length, contact times, symmetry) has repeatability good enough to support decisions and re-tests (Reed et al., 2013). When the same walk yields the same numbers within known error, we can tell if a change is real or just drift.

Not every metric needs to be exotic. Walking speed, for example, is reliable, clinically meaningful, and correlated with function and health risk, which is why it’s been called a “functional vital sign” (Middleton et al., 2014). Simple, valid measures anchor decisions and communicate well across teams

What MAHC is (and is not)

MAHC is a measurement-to-action service. We measure objectively, translate results into plain language, coach the next step when it’s ours to coach, or hand a report to your current provider when you’re already in care. We’re profession-agnostic and collaborative by design.

• For athletes and committed movers: We pair testing with coached training blocks that use real-time biofeedback to target a specific change (e.g., contact time or symmetry), then we re-test to verify it. Research suggests biofeedback-guided gait retraining can reduce key loading variables and improve pain and function, especially when training is sustained (Richards et al., 2017; Shen et al., 2024).

• For patients already working with a PT, trainer, chiropractor, AT, or other provider: We provide movement analysis and a clinician-ready reports that focus on what to load, what to watch, and what to escalate. The point is to support your team with shared facts, not to replace them.

Why this focus

Good care needs three things: (1) measures with known reliability, (2) translation into actions a person can actually do, and (3) a check that the action worked. This aligns with contemporary musculoskeletal best-practice guidance: patient-centered care, selective imaging, routine monitoring, and a clear emphasis on activity/exercise as a first-line lever (Lin et al., 2020).

We’ll also keep patient-reported outcomes in the loop. PROMIS instruments are practical and show acceptable reliability, validity, and responsiveness in musculoskeletal pain populations, which makes them useful companions to the movement metrics you can see and change (Deyo et al., 2016). Numbers without the patient’s voice are incomplete while the voice without numbers is hard to compare over time; we take both into account.

Finally, our bias is toward movement as treatment. That’s not a slogan; it’s the weight of evidence. Exercise sits at the center of high-value care for many musculoskeletal conditions and broader health outcomes (Thompson et al., 2020; Lin et al., 2020). So our aim is to make the link from measurement to tailored exercise obvious, efficient, and testable.

How this will work

• Measure. Short, standardized assessments on an instrumented treadmill with high-speed video plus simple functional tests. We’ll capture cadence, step/stride length, contact time, symmetry/variability, and foot-strike/impact features.

• Translate. You get a brief explanation of what’s off, what that means for load tolerance or performance, and the smallest viable change to try first.

• Act. If you’re here for training, we coach it with real-time feedback and progressions. If you’re in active care elsewhere, we send a concise report to your clinician/coach with clear “do this next” options.

• Verify. We schedule re-tests. If the metric doesn’t move and the person doesn’t feel better or perform better, we adjust. If red flags show up, we escalate appropriately.

That’s it. No heroics, no mystery. Just a repeatable loop that respects people’s time and resources.

What to expect next

• Athletes and everyday movers: You can book Gait Analysis & Biofeedback Training or Athletic Assessment & Performance Training with us in Brewer.

• Providers: If you want neutral testing and a tight report for your patient, send a Movement Analysis Referral. We’ll measure, summarize, and hand back a plan you can integrate immediately.

We’ll publish de-identified outcomes and keep refining the protocol. Science moves; we’ll move with it.

Thanks for trusting us to help you take the next step. The mission hasn’t changed: measure what matters, translate it, coach the next right step—and show the progress.

References

Brunnekreef, J. J., van Uden, C. J. T., van Moorsel, S., & Kooloos, J. G. M. (2005). Reliability of videotaped observational gait analysis in patients with orthopedic impairments. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 6, 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-6-17.

Deyo, R. A., Ramsey, K., Buckley, D. I., Michaels, L., Kobus, A., Eckstrom, E., Forro, V., & Morris, C. (2016). Performance of a Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) short form in older adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Pain Medicine, 17(2), 314–324. https://doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnv046.

Lin, I., Wiles, L., Waller, R., Goucke, R., Nagree, Y., Gibberd, M., Straker, L., Maher, C. G., & O’Sullivan, P. P. B. (2020). What does best practice care for musculoskeletal pain look like? Eleven consistent recommendations from high-quality clinical practice guidelines: Systematic review. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 54(2), 79–86. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-099878.

Middleton, A., Fritz, S. L., & Lusardi, M. M. (2015). Walking speed: The functional vital sign. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 23(2), 314–322. https://doi.org/10.1123/japa.2013-0236.

Reed, L. F., Urry, S. R., & Wearing, S. C. (2013). Reliability of spatiotemporal and kinetic gait parameters determined by a new instrumented treadmill system. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 14, 249. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-14-249.

Richards, R., van den Noort, J. C., Dekker, J., & Harlaar, J. (2017). Gait retraining with real-time biofeedback to reduce knee adduction moment: Systematic review of effects and methods used. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 98(1), 137–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2016.07.006.

Shen, W., et al. (2024). Enhancing running injury prevention strategies with real-time biofeedback: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences. Advance online publication.

Thompson, W. R., Sallis, R., Joy, E., Jaworski, C. A., Stuhr, R. M., & Trilk, J. L. (2020). Exercise is Medicine. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 14(5), 511–523. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827620912192.