Brookfield-based Momentum Movement Clinic wants to help clients return to their natural, primal movements.
“What we were able to do as a child, we should be able to do as adults,” said Lisa McNeil, executive administrator and clinician at Momentum. “The goal of the clinic is to get us back in those movement patterns.”
According to Momentum, it is the first movement-centered practice of its kind in the state. Its clients have access to physical therapy, chiropractic, massage, acupuncture, wellness and strategy coaching, functional fitness training programs, and a variety of educational programs.
Momentum was formerly known as the Wisconsin Wellness Clinic, but last fall it was rebranded to Momentum Movement Clinic. In May, it moved from a 1,100-square-foot space on Regency Court in Brookfield to a 4,982-square-foot facility a few miles away at 3235 Intertech Drive, Suite 100. Its staff also increased from two to six.
“Our overall mission is truly to get people moving, feeling and performing better in all aspects of their movement,” McNeil said.
Thus, McNeil said if someone just wants to come in and deadlift, Momentum is not for them.
While the clinic uses suspension trainers and offers Pilates and tai chi, for instance, she said it does not have treadmills or offer exercises like Zumba.
“Everything is very purposeful. It’s about improving movement quality,” McNeil said. That can be achieved through running, jumping, crawling and climbing, she added. Plus, Momentum has a 13-foot-tall adult jungle gym.
She said most people move in one or two planes in traditional fitness classes, but Momentum teaches clients to move in all three planes—frontal, sagittal and transverse—because that is how our bodies were created to move.
Momentum’s clients include professional athletes, child athletes, children with autism spectrum disorders, and grandmothers who want to be able to pick up their grandchildren again. McNeil said, however, that anyone interested in moving better can benefit.
It is important to improve movement quality, according to McNeil, to prevent injuries.
“We’re so sedentary,” she said. “We’ve deconditioned our bodies on how to move. If we don’t go back to functional movement patterns, we just create an environment for injuries.”
Momentum currently has 200 clients, 75 percent of which carried over from the Wisconsin Wellness Clinic. The goal is to reach 700 patients within a year.
McNeil said she has no current plans to add more locations, as she wants to first focus on perfecting the medical model before expanding.
