Dan Kristenson – November 2022 Athlete of the Month
Dan Kristenson, 15, is a sophomore at Foxboro High School and a member of the football and wrestling teams. Dan arrived at Elite Sports Performance & Physical Therapy after suffering a torn ACL while playing football and has been working with Elite Sports Physical Therapist, Ben Godin, PT, DPT, SCS, following his knee reconstructive surgery. Dan’s goal from the start was to be able to return to the gridiron and wrestling mat and he’s been working incredibly hard to accomplish just that. During his challenging rehab process, Dan demonstrated some of the qualites that earned him our Athlete of the Month honor: determination, a strong work ethic, a positive attitude, and a desire to consistently improve and meet his rehab goals.
Prior to high school, Dan participated in karate and tells us his greatest accomplishment was receiving his black belt at just 11 years old! Dan hopes to wrestle at the college level and major in marketing. Dan tells us that his participation in sports “have been a blessing and curse.” No stranger to adversity over the past year during his rehab process, Dan has realized that he “has been set back physically, but mentally I have grown.” Dan pushes himself every day to get better and has never given up on his goals and dreams.
When asked how he defines a ‘true athlete,’ Dan identified some of the qualities he associates with a true athlete: “courageous, goal-oriented, determined, stubborn, heart-strong, and a sense of humility.” As to what advice he would give younger athletes, Dan demonstrates some wisdom beyond his years, realizing “real strength comes from within,” and “if you ever feel like giving up, remember what you fight for.”
Given his excellent progress, Dan recently transitioned from from working with Ben in physical therapy to working with Elite Strength Coach, Katie McCarthy, BS, CSCS. Dan has been enjoying his personalized strength and conditioning program and has quickly fallen in love with performing the bench press, one of his favorite exercises. Dan’s favorite dynamic stretch to perform at Elite is the spiderman stretch. When asked what he loves about Elite, Dan mentions the great workout that he gets every time he enters the gym, but he also states that he really enjoys how “you always feel at home and welcome, even if you have a bad day.” Dan recommends Elite to “anyone who can, should try Elite!”
Elite is excited to honor Dan Kristenson as Elite’s Athlete of the Month for November, 2022! Congratulations, Dan, we can’t wait to see all of your hard work pay off!
Elite Sports Performance & Physical Therapy offers Sports Performance and Athlete Training programs at both our Foxboro and Stoughton locations. To learn more about our programs for athletes of all ages and sports and how YOU or an athlete in your family can become our NEXT Athlete of the Month, click HERE or email us at EliteSPC@EliteFitCenter.com!