The room – filled with compassionate people dedicated to “Making Better Lives’’ – is dotted with college and high school game jerseys. Athletes are part of the everyday landscape that makes Rock Valley Physical Therapy’s Knoxville Ave. (Peoria, Il.) clinic the special place that it is.
Resting – for the moment – near a pillar in the western portion of the always-bustling therapy room, is a nondescript, sturdily-built, aged, wooden box.
It is simply known as “The Box,” though there is nothing simple about the job The Box performs.
With a tinge of old-school patina, The Box is comfortable with its place in the fitness and recovery world, standing strong against the new wave of hard foam boxes with vinyl covers.
The therapist behind The Box is highly regarded Rock Valley Physical Therapy’s Luke Acklie, PT, OCS, SCS, CSCS, Regional Manager, one of life’s truly sound souls.
Box jumps, it must be noted, are simple and uncomplicated.
Stand firm, feet shoulder-width apart and explode upward in hopes of landing both feet on the box.
They play a vital role in strengthening of the quadriceps, gastrocnemius and soleus, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, and one’s core. If you are working your way back from an ACL injury, a hip scope or a lower extremity fracture, box jumps are a milestone in your therapeutic progression.
Scattered about The Box are signatures of athletes, a written badge of honor for those that reach the end of therapy. Therapy that required using The Box to achieve one’s goal and return to play.
In the six years since Acklie has used The Box as a motivational tool, 36 Division I athletes have signed The Box. Three Div. II athletes, 16 Div. III athletes, countless junior college and high school athletes have also earned the right to place their name on The Box.
Basketball, football, soccer, track and cross country, softball, dance, cheer, rugby, professional hockey, volleyball, and baseball athletes have earned the right to sign The Box.
The names of The Box signees are never mentioned. He even balks at other athletes waiting to reach their time with The Box, reading names already signed. Still, everyone wants to sign, to make that final – and successful box jump – signifying the end of their therapy.
Then return to competition.
“It is a sign of completion and those who make that jump look at it as an achievement,” said the always-upbeat Acklie. “There is a unique, competitive side wanting to have your name on The Box. And you want to get to that last box jump so you get back to achieving your goals whether it’s on the court, the field, the track.’’
The Box, Acklie says, will always be part of the Knoxville clinic landscape. It has stood the test of time, survived alongside newfangled boxes, and helped – along with a clinic filled with tremendous therapists – create a positive, goal-oriented environment.
There is even more when it comes to badges of honor with athletes rehabbing at Knoxville Ave.
When working leg-strengthening band walks, if the band used snaps, the athlete responsible for breaking the band is asked to sign it.
Acklie says he hopes to someday recognize those athletes. The issue is finding a place to display the broken bands.
“Maybe a shadow box,” Acklie says. “It’s simply recognizing hard work.’’
And there is tons of arduous work being put in at Knoxville Ave.
The Box proves is proof of that.
By: Johnny Marx, Rock Valley Physical Therapy Storyteller