A Movie The APTA Must Endorse

It’s not often our team at Nutritional Physical Therapy gets excited about movies; however, a recent movie has got the whole team excited: The Game Changers.

The Game Changers will change the sports, physical therapy (PT), athletic training, and strength and conditioning world. James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan are the producers, along with the elite athletes of Lewis Hamilton, Novak Djokovic, and Chris Paul helping out.  The movie has been currently endorsed by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, the Special Operations Medical Association (SOMA), the Defense Health Agency (DHA), and the Green Sports Alliance. Hopefully with enough momentum we can see the likes of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA), and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) join the endorsement ranks.

The movie features James Wilk, special operator trainer and UFC fighter, on a mission to share his personal search for an optimal diet for healing and rehabilitation. Wilk outlines how he found the benefits of a whole-food plant-based diet following a serious injury which sidelined him for 6 months. After weeks of physical therapy and seeing the slow progression, Wilk knew there was something more to PT and rehabilitation than simply “doing his PT exercises”. Wilk says:

“I started researching the optimal diet for recovery and stumbled across a study about the Roman gladiators which concluded that they ate little or no meat. This seemed really far-fetched to me since I was confident that animal protein was necessary to build muscle, sustain energy levels, and recover from injury. So I flew to Austria to meet the researchers who made this discovery and left convinced that the gladiators — known at the time as Hordearii, or “the Barley Men” — really did train and compete on a plant-based diet.” -www.gamechangersmovie.com

What he uncovered was that the strongest, fastest, and quickest to recover athletes were those eating a predominantly plant-based diet. Athletes eating a plant-based diet could rehabilitate more quickly, something that every PT, ATC, or MD should know. Besides healthcare providers, the movie also highlights the success of the following athletes, who are vegan or eating a whole-food plant-based:

• Lewis Hamilton - Formula 1 race car driver
• Chris Paul - NBA player
• Novak Djokovic - Professional tennis player
• Derrick Morgan - NFL player (along with other Titan football team mates)
• Patrik Baboumian - World record-Holding strong man
• Kendrick Ferris - World record weightlifter
• Morgan Mitchel - World record holder sprinter
• Scott Jurek - World record holder ultra-marathoner

Needless to say the athletes cast in the movie spread the gamut of racing, football, lifting, tennis, and more! From super-endurance athletes (like ultra marathoner Scott Jurek) to power lifting athletes (like Kendrick Ferris), the movie showcases how a whole-food plant-based diet provides adequate protein, sufficient energy, and reduces disease and injuries. Moreover, the cast of athletes goes further, and we haven’t even mentioned the scientists included in the list, such as Dr. Micheal Greger, Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. James Loomis, Dr. David Katz. Needless to say the movie is going to be chock full of evidenced-based nutrition, just like our continuing education courses for PTs and healthcare providers. 

The ideas presented in The Game Changers movie are not new to our team at Nutritional Physical Therapy. Our 3rd online, board-approved, evidence-based continuing education nutrition course for PTs highlights the sport specialty of PT practice, which emphasizes functional foods to optimize recovery, reduce inflammation, and boost performance. Most of such foods are the mainstays of the whole-food plant-based diet or vegan diet, depending upon the references cited. We will have to wait and see what the rest of the movie has to offer in regards to nutrition, physical therapy, training, and health! Hopefully the APTA and other health organizations see such data and compelling stories and back the movie!

The movie is out! Watch it here. Meanwhile, if you are a physical therapist (PT or PTA), trainer, or strength coach, check out our online continuing education (CEU) courses. The courses are approved for PTs through a component of the APTA; however, any healthcare professional is welcome to take the courses for educational enjoyment. Enjoy and see you in class!

Keywords: movie, sport nutrition, physical therapy, continuing education, online CEU, APTA