The Movement Doc of Texas
CrossFit Physical Therapy in New Braunfels, TX
Treated by a physical therapist who works with the CrossFit community every week — and whose first question is how to keep you training, not whether to stop.
- Full hour, one-on-one
- Objective strength testing
- No visit limits
The advice most CrossFit athletes get from general physical therapy is to stop doing CrossFit. That is not treatment — it is avoidance, and it tends to produce an athlete who is pain-free right up until the moment they return to the barbell.
Our Approach
Modify the stimulus, keep the athlete training.
A shoulder that hurts overhead usually still tolerates pressing in other ranges. A back that flares on deadlifts often handles hinging at a different load or tempo. The work is finding what you can still train while the irritated tissue settles, so you are not detraining for six weeks and starting over.
That requires someone who knows what a kipping pull-up, a snatch, and a wall ball actually demand of the body — and can tell the difference between a movement that needs technical work and one that needs to come out of your programming for a while.
Dr. Alisha Ponce, our founder, built her practice around the CrossFit community, competitive athletes, and mixed martial artists. She is a Board-Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist and a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapists, with a three-year manual therapy fellowship behind that. Full credentials are on the team page.
What we treat most
- Shoulder pain overhead and in kipping
- Low back pain with deadlifts and cleans
- Knee pain in squatting and box jumps
- Elbow and wrist pain in front rack and receiving
- Hip pinching at depth
- Return to training after surgery
Why the Format Matters
A full hour changes what is possible in a session
We can watch you lift
Fifteen minutes is enough to treat a sore shoulder. It is not enough to warm you up, load the movement that hurts, and see what your body actually does under a bar.
Treatment and training together
Hands-on work to restore the range, then loading in that new range while it is available. Doing both in one session is what makes the change stick.
No insurer-imposed cap
Cash-based care means your plan ends when you are back to training, not when a visit allowance runs out. More on the cash-based model.
What We Use
The tools, and when they earn their place
Dry needling with e-stim
For muscle tone and pain that is limiting what you can load right now. Every dry needling session here includes electrical stimulation.
Joint mobilization
For the overhead position you cannot reach and the squat depth you cannot access without compensating somewhere else.
Blood flow restriction
For holding strength when the joint will not tolerate heavy loading yet — most often post-surgery or through a tendon flare.
VALD performance testing
Force plate and dynamometry data on strength, power, and left-to-right asymmetry. The difference between believing you are ready and knowing.
Cupping
For soreness and tissue stiffness through a heavy training block, with red light applied through the cups.
Programming that fits your week
Corrective work written around the classes you are already attending, not a separate program you will abandon by week two.
Return to Training
Numbers, not a hunch
Deciding when to go back to full loading is where most rehab goes wrong. Pain is a poor guide — it usually resolves well before the strength deficit does, which is how athletes end up re-injuring the same shoulder twice in a year.
VALD testing measures force production, symmetry, and power directly. If your right side is still meaningfully behind your left, that shows up in the data whether or not anything hurts, and you get a clear benchmark to train toward instead of a guess.
Getting started
New patients begin with a 90-minute evaluation, $185. You leave with a plan the same day.
We are in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield and out-of-network for other plans, with superbills provided. HSA and FSA cards accepted. No referral is needed for your first month under Texas Direct Access.
Full details on the pricing page.
FAQs
Common questions
Will you tell me to stop doing CrossFit?
Almost never. Specific movements may come out of your programming temporarily, and we will be direct about which and for roughly how long. But the goal is a modified training week, not an empty one.
Can I keep going to class while in treatment?
Usually yes. You will typically get scaling guidance for specific movements — what to substitute, what to load lighter, what to leave alone for now. Most athletes keep attending throughout.
Do I need a referral for physical therapy in Texas?
Not to get started. Texas Direct Access lets you begin physical therapy without a physician referral for the first month of care. After that month a referral is required to continue, and we coordinate with your provider to get one.
What should I bring to my first appointment?
Athletic clothing and shoes you can move in. If a specific lift is the problem, bring your lifters and any footage you have of the movement — watching you actually do it is more useful than describing it.
Do you work with competitive CrossFit athletes?
Yes. Dr. Ponce's practice focuses on the CrossFit community, competitive athletes, and mixed martial artists, and we use objective testing to guide return-to-competition decisions rather than going on feel.
Still training around it?
Start with a free 15-minute consultation, or book the evaluation and leave with a plan the same day.