In this episode, I dive into something most people — and even our healthcare system — overlook: flexibility as a true biomarker of aging and movement health. I share why flexibility isn’t just about touching your toes or feeling loose after a stretch, but a measurable indicator of how well your body is aging.

I’ll break down the science behind healthy flexibility, why it starts at the bone-and-socket joint (not just the muscles), and how your nervous system silently protects you — often long before you ever feel pain or stiffness. You’ll learn why traditional stretching often fails, the shocking research on how much stretching it actually takes to change muscle function, and how MAP Testing can reveal whether your flexibility is truly healthy.

If you’ve been wondering why you’re losing mobility, struggling to hit fitness goals after 40, or looking for a career path that helps people improve their movement for the long term, this conversation will change the way you think about flexibility forever.

-----------

↗️ Click here to join our PTA Skool and get the FREE course: https://www.skool.com/the-stretch-mobility-coach-4630/about

⬇️ Download my Free Book on how a PTA can advance your career, "The Stretch Beyond PT"

👉🏻 $47 How to Go Solo without a PT Course

✨ Work with Me

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it on your Instagram account and tag me @KimNartker

Thank you for supporting the show!

Additional Resources

📸 Find Me On Instagram @KimNartker

👍 Follow Me on FB https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.swain1/

🌏 Website: https://kimnartker.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m diving deep into a question I get asked all the time: “Why do you say that muscle health starts with healthy flexibility?” The truth is, most of us have been taught to think of muscle health only in terms of strength—how much weight we can lift, how hard we can train, or how far we can stretch. But if your flexibility isn’t healthy, your nervous system will step in to protect you, silently shutting down muscles and limiting your performance.

I’ll explain how joint health and proper bone glide inside the capsule set the foundation for movement, why ignoring flexibility leads to weakness and injury over time, and how we can restore optimal muscle activation. You’ll also hear how our proprietary MAP testing at The Stretch Mobility Coach identifies movement restrictions, resets flexibility, and helps you build healthy skeletal muscle for long-term strength, performance, and prevention.

If you’ve been feeling stiff, weak, or “off” in your movement—even without injury—this episode will help you understand what’s really going on and how you can take control of your muscle health starting today.

-----------

↗️ Click here to join our PTA Skool and get the FREE course: https://www.skool.com/the-stretch-mobility-coach-4630/about

⬇️ Download my Free Book on how a PTA can advance your career, "The Stretch Beyond PT"

👉🏻 $47 How to Go Solo without a PT Course

✨ Work with Me

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it on your Instagram account and tag me @KimNartker

Thank you for supporting the show!

Additional Resources

📸 Find Me On Instagram @KimNartker

👍 Follow Me on FB https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.swain1/

🌏 Website: https://kimnartker.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We often track our steps, our weight, our protein intake, and maybe even our workouts…but what if we’ve been tracking the wrong things? What if the biggest predictor of how you’ll move and feel as you age isn’t strength or cardio, but how well your joints actually glide?

I’m breaking down what healthy flexibility really means (spoiler: it’s not about touching your toes), why it’s the silent stealer of strength, and how joint movement health can be measured before pain, arthritis, or muscle loss ever sets in. I’ll also share the science behind my MAPP Testing system and why it’s changing the way people think about movement health.

If you’ve ever felt “a little off” in your movement, noticed stiffness that keeps coming back, or wondered why your workouts plateau despite all your hard work, this episode will connect the dots for you.

-----------

↗️ Click here to join our PTA Skool and get the FREE course: https://www.skool.com/the-stretch-mobility-coach-4630/about

⬇️ Download my Free Book on how a PTA can advance your career, "The Stretch Beyond PT"

👉🏻 $47 How to Go Solo without a PT Course

✨ Work with Me

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it on your Instagram account and tag me @KimNartker

Thank you for supporting the show!

Additional Resources

📸 Find Me On Instagram @KimNartker

👍 Follow Me on FB https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.swain1/

🌏 Website: https://kimnartker.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m getting real about something that’s been on my heart for a long time: why it feels like our healthcare system is failing the human body—and what we can actually do about it.

As rehab professionals, we’ve been trained inside a system that’s reactive, not proactive. And while the human body is brilliantly designed to heal, adapt, and thrive, the traditional model we work in doesn’t support that brilliance—it suppresses it with symptom-based care, insurance codes, and temporary fixes.

In this conversation, I’m breaking down what’s missing in our rehab education, why stretching alone isn’t a long-term solution, and how true longevity care requires a completely different lens. We’ll talk about the MAP Protocol I developed, the difference between flexibility and healthy flexibility, and why it’s time to stop chasing symptoms—and start building real resilience.

Whether you’re a PTA, OT, COTA, or OTA, if you know your skills were meant for more than burnout and billing, this one’s for you.

-----------

↗️ Click here to join our PTA Skool and get the FREE course: https://www.skool.com/the-stretch-mobility-coach-4630/about

⬇️ Download my Free Book on how a PTA can advance your career, "The Stretch Beyond PT"

👉🏻 $47 How to Go Solo without a PT Course

✨ Work with Me

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it on your Instagram account and tag me @KimNartker

Thank you for supporting the show!

Additional Resources

📸 Find Me On Instagram @KimNartker

👍 Follow Me on FB https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.swain1/

🌏 Website: https://kimnartker.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today’s episode, I’m diving into something that might challenge what you’ve always believed about health and fitness: strength training alone isn’t enough to keep your muscles healthy for the long haul. Yep, even if you’re lifting regularly, following the advice of every longevity expert, and staying active, you could still be facing early signs of muscle wasting, stiffness, and hidden joint dysfunction.

I’ll walk you through why this happens (even to bodybuilders and fitness fanatics), what’s really going on beneath the surface when muscles start to shrink, and how poor joint health silently sabotages your strength goals. You’ll learn why flexibility and nervous system regulation are key missing pieces, and how we approach this differently with our MAPP Testing system at the Stretch Mobility Coach studio.

If you're over 40, strength training consistently, but still feel stuck, tight, or fatigued—this one is especially for you. Tune in to hear how you can restore your joint health, reactivate dormant muscle systems, and finally build strength that lasts.

-----------

↗️ Click here to join our PTA Skool and get the FREE course: https://www.skool.com/the-stretch-mobility-coach-4630/about

⬇️ Download my Free Book on how a PTA can advance your career, "The Stretch Beyond PT"

👉🏻 $47 How to Go Solo without a PT Course

✨ Work with Me

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it on your Instagram account and tag me @KimNartker

Thank you for supporting the show!

Additional Resources

📸 Find Me On Instagram @KimNartker

👍 Follow Me on FB https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.swain1/

🌏 Website: https://kimnartker.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We often think of flexibility as just being able to touch our toes, but what if I told you that joint flexibility is one of the first signs your body is breaking down? It’s not just about comfort—it's about neuromuscular health, longevity, and preventing silent muscle wasting before any pain or weakness shows up.

In this episode, I’ll break down why flexibility declines with age, how it affects your nervous system, and why traditional healthcare and fitness programs are missing a huge piece of the puzzle. I’ll also introduce you to my MAP a PP™ system—our non-diagnostic movement assessment designed to detect unhealthy joints long before dysfunction becomes obvious.

Whether you're a PTA looking for a legal and profitable way to go solo, or someone who's feeling stiff and tired of chasing temporary fixes, this episode will open your eyes to what’s really going on in your body.

-----------

↗️ Click here to join our PTA Skool and get the FREE course: https://www.skool.com/the-stretch-mobility-coach-4630/about

⬇️ Download my Free Book on how a PTA can advance your career, "The Stretch Beyond PT"

👉🏻 $47 How to Go Solo without a PT Course

✨ Work with Me

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it on your Instagram account and tag me @KimNartker

Thank you for supporting the show!

Additional Resources

📸 Find Me On Instagram @KimNartker

👍 Follow Me on FB https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.swain1/

🌏 Website: https://kimnartker.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m diving deep into something that’s been weighing on my heart—and that’s the gap between what the human body is truly capable of… and what our healthcare system is actually doing to support it.

You already know the human body is brilliant. It’s built to heal, adapt, and thrive. But if that’s true, why do so many people feel broken down, limited, and dependent on reactive care? Today, I’m breaking down why the traditional healthcare system—yes, the one we PTs, PTAs, OTs, and OTAs work in—is not designed to optimize health or support true longevity.

This episode is a no-fluff, honest conversation about what’s missing in our rehab education, why symptom-based care is holding our clients back, and how we’ve been taught to “help” in ways that often don’t create long-term change. I’ll share what I’ve learned after stepping out of the medical model and into a new framework of proactive, longevity-based care. If you’ve ever felt like stretching or strengthening alone isn’t cutting it—or wondered how to truly support someone’s body for a lifetime—you need to hear this.

Let’s talk about how to stop chasing symptoms, what real muscular and joint health looks like, and why we need to shift from reactive to proactive if we want to help people thrive, not just survive.

-----------

↗️ Click here to join our PTA Skool and get the FREE course: https://www.skool.com/the-stretch-mobility-coach-4630/about

⬇️ Download my Free Book on how a PTA can advance your career, "The Stretch Beyond PT"

👉🏻 $47 How to Go Solo without a PT Course

✨ Work with Me

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it on your Instagram account and tag me @KimNartker

Thank you for supporting the show!

Additional Resources

📸 Find Me On Instagram @KimNartker

👍 Follow Me on FB https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.swain1/

🌏 Website: https://kimnartker.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I’m sharing a personal reflection that came from my morning Bible reading—“He trains my hands for war.” It reminded me that as rehab professionals, we’re in a different kind of battle—not just treating injuries, but fighting a broken system and a mindset that keeps people stuck.

If you’ve been feeling burnt out, stuck, or like you’re meant for more, this message is for you. God doesn’t call us to more without preparing us for it. I’ll talk about how that applies to our work, and how Stretch Mobility Coaching equips you to step into a higher calling in proactive care.

If this resonates with you, check out my free Start Here program—the link is in the show notes. You're not behind. You're being trained.

-----------

↗️ Click here to join our PTA Skool and get the FREE course: https://www.skool.com/the-stretch-mobility-coach-4630/about

⬇️ Download my Free Book on how a PTA can advance your career, "The Stretch Beyond PT"

👉🏻 $47 How to Go Solo without a PT Course

✨ Work with Me

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it on your Instagram account and tag me @KimNartker

Thank you for supporting the show!

Additional Resources

📸 Find Me On Instagram @KimNartker

👍 Follow Me on FB https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.swain1/

🌏 Website: https://kimnartker.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So many rehab professionals—PTAs, PTs, OTs, OTAs—come into this work asking: “What techniques am I going to learn?” But here’s the truth: that’s the wrong question.

In this episode, I walk you through why technique is not what you need next, and how that mindset is the very thing keeping you stuck. I share what Stretch Mobility Coaching really is (and isn’t), why we don’t teach you how to stretch (yep, I said it).

I also pull back the curtain on what you will learn: how to spot unhealthy movement in healthy people, how to build a longevity-based business outside of the broken reactive care model, and why mentorship—not more tools—is the game-changer.

This episode is for the ones who feel called to something more—something better—are ready to leave symptom-chasing behind. If you’re curious, a little scared, and your heart is stirring... You just might be ready.

-----------

↗️ Click here to join our PTA Skool and get the FREE course: https://www.skool.com/the-stretch-mobility-coach-4630/about

⬇️ Download my Free Book on how a PTA can advance your career, "The Stretch Beyond PT"

👉🏻 $47 How to Go Solo without a PT Course

✨ Work with Me

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it on your Instagram account and tag me @KimNartker

Thank you for supporting the show!

Additional Resources

📸 Find Me On Instagram @KimNartker

👍 Follow Me on FB https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.swain1/

🌏 Website: https://kimnartker.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m diving into the science behind muscle health, joint protection, and longevity. You’ll learn how skeletal muscle supports your joints, what happens as muscle breaks down with age, and why this decline leads to chronic disease and movement issues.

I’ll also introduce the Stretch Mobility Coach model—a proactive, preventative approach that helps maintain flexibility and build muscle before dysfunction starts. If you’re passionate about aging well or supporting others in doing so, this one’s for you

-----------

↗️ Click here to join our PTA Skool and get the FREE course: https://www.skool.com/the-stretch-mobility-coach-4630/about

⬇️ Download my Free Book on how a PTA can advance your career, "The Stretch Beyond PT"

👉🏻 $47 How to Go Solo without a PT Course

✨ Work with Me

Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it on your Instagram account and tag me @KimNartker

Thank you for supporting the show!

Additional Resources

📸 Find Me On Instagram @KimNartker

👍 Follow Me on FB https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.swain1/

🌏 Website: https://kimnartker.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.