Dr. Nathan Denning, PT, DPT, SCS, CSCS

My mission is to revolutionize human performance through physical, mental, and educational support utilizing a systematic approach. To achieve peak performance as an athlete or clinician, I believe we must systematically find the problem, address it, and continue to measure it to improve it ourselves.

I believe that in order to achieve the status of our own peak performance, whether athlete or clinician, we all must be treated as individuals. We must rely on the systematic approach to identify our own unique strengths and weaknesses and create a plan based on our own individual needs to achieve our peak performance. 

As an athlete when I was young, mainly football and baseball, I was lucky to be gifted with size and power that gave me an edge in both sports. I had dreams, like most kids my age at the time, to play in the pros! I was a determined kid, too. I started to lift before anyone else. I was fascinated with all things performance so that I could get that competitive edge on my competition.

Unfortunately, I had a few roadblocks at crucial stages of my development. I had a shoulder injury that prevented me from throwing in baseball, and several muscle injuries that prevented my off-season development to continue to get stronger and more powerful in football. 

I did my rehab to help get me back to playing and once I did, I realized I missed out on developing as a player and competitor at the time. Once this cycle happened a few times, I realized my dream of the pro’s (or even college sports) was not going to happen. I thought to myself, "There must be a better way. There must be a way to be able to continue to improve your performance, even if you encounter a roadblock such as an injury."

That’s when I became obsessed with all things rehab and performance and how to mix the two together. I started my path as a sports physical therapist by completing my Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Indiana University and went on to complete a Sports Rehab Specialty Certification at the University of Evansville, where I was given the opportunity to learn from some of the best professionals in these fields. 

But my learning did not stop there, I wanted to be able to create a gold standard system to help all athletes get to their peak performance. So I decided that in order to provide the best care in rehab and performance, I must work with the highest level individuals, athletes AND professionals. This took me down to Florida to EXOS, a human performance company. Here I soaked in all things human performance, and that helped shape me in bridging the gap between rehab and performance.

I learned from some of the best strength coaches and rehab professionals while working with the highest-level athletes. I also obtained my Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialty while I was there. From 100s of NFL players, countless members of our special operations military, and MLB players, we put systems in place to ensure these top-level athletes were able to compete at the absolute highest level in their sport and profession through the rehab and training we provided.

But I still wasn’t satisfied. We only worked with most athelets for 1-3 months.  I wanted to see how rehab and performance systems work in a year-round approach. So, I decided to join the Minnesota Twins as a Physical Therapist and Reconditioning Specialist, working in rehab and also removing movement barriers to healthy players to improve their pitching and hitting.

This is where I really perfected a system for rehab and development. Working with the highest-level professionals, athletes and clinicians, we mapped out strategies to best get each individual player to their highest level. 

I was amazed how many players (pro players!) did not have the education on what they should be doing to their body for development, rehab, and development, even at this level. I started thinking how so many more players could benefit from this systematic approach to human performance to limit injuries and improve performance to help them achieve their goals. 

That’s when I decided to leave the team setting and start Integrated Performance. I am committed to bringing that high level rehab and performance to athletes of all ages, no matter where they are in their journey. I believe we can work with all individual athletes in a systematic way to attack their weaknesses and make their strengths stronger so that they can obtain their peak performance.

Personally, I am a believer in Jesus and a child of God. I love spending time with my beautiful fiance, Anna. Together, we love to go on hikes, stay active, and play recreational sports! We also love to travel whenever we get the chance

I love being around my family as well! My Mom, Dad, sister and brother-in-law get together as often as we can. We enjoy hanging out on the patio, grilling and sitting around a fire outside. I have a niece and nephew that I get to fully enjoy playing with -- they keep me going chasing them around and carrying them wherever we go!

Football and baseball still have a special place in my heart. I am a diehard Eagles fan (GO BIRDS!) as well as the STL Cardinals. I also have to cheer on my alma mater, Indiana University basketball, baseball, and football!  Any objections, we can have a nice friendly debate ;)