Jake Nadermann Of UpLeveled Movement On The 5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The Health and Wellness Industry
An Interview With Jake Frankel
Education and Certification: Acquire relevant degrees and certifications to establish expertise in your field. Know precisely who you aim to help before you get too far into your studies or certifications.
The global health and wellness market is worth more than 1.5 trillion dollars. So many people are looking to improve their physical, mental, and emotional wellness. At the same time, so many people are needed to help provide these services. What does it take to create a highly successful career in the health and wellness industry?
In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The Health and Wellness Industry” we are talking to health and wellness professionals who can share insights and stories from their experiences.
In this particular interview, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Jake Nadermann.
Jake is driven to help athletes and people from all walks of life discover that they are able to move well and thrive without relying on invasive care to do so.
Jake diverged from a traditional medical science education to learn from industry disruptors in TRAINING — GOATA (Greatest of All Time Actions) and BODYWORK- Electrons Plus (Guided PEMF).
The synergy between these two practices is producing mind-blowing transformation and testimony. Jake wants to teach you how to take ownership of your posture, pain, exercise, and health, so you can become the best possible version of yourself.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series, Jake! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you grew up?
I spent most of my childhood in Ankeny, Iowa. It was a very small town. Pigs, corn, and soybean fields as far as the eye can see. I played multiple sports growing up, but mostly excelled in the weight room after having a serious setback with a neck injury my sophomore year. This set me on a long journey that ultimately led me to where I am today, as a performance specialist and an Electrons Plus (Hand Guided PEMF) Provider.
Was there a particular person or event that inspired you to live a wellness-focused lifestyle? Can you tell us about your main motivation to go all in?
Yes, absolutely! My own experience with injuries and pain over the years ultimately led me to this lifestyle and career. I experienced a cervical disc herniation as a result of a pretty hard football hit that I took on the helmet. The team doctor was an orthopedic specialist, and after taking an X-Ray, the picture being painted was fairly gloo- and-doom. I was told that I could not continue contact sports, and received a recommendation for neck surgery. Thankfully, I was able to get a second opinion and we were referred to a chiropractor who had me back out on the football field after about six weeks of regular treatment. This completely transformed my understanding of how the human body can heal from injuries. This set me on a path to educate myself in a way that would allow me to help others see that they too can heal from injuries without drugs and invasive procedures.
Most people with a wellbeing centered lifestyle have a “go-to” activity, exercise, beverage, or food that is part of their routine. What is yours and can you tell us how it helps you?
I have two things I could not live without. The first is the Torque Tank. It’s a sled/prowler that’s equipped with magnetic flywheel resistance. It’s some of the best functional leg training I’ve ever experienced. After having lifted heavy and hard through high school and college, I don’t do great with loading a barbell onto my spine.This tool allows me to get a tremendous stimulus at a much lower cost to my joints and soft tissue. I highly recommend training with one of these.The second is cold water plunging. There is a laundry list of benefits that one can derive from properly timed cold water exposure. My favorite benefits from cold exposure are managing inflammation, reducing fatigue, and increasing my endurance capacity.
To live a wellness-focused life is one thing, but how did it become your career? How did it all start?
My experience with a traumatic injury and chronic pain was the catalyst to going full time in the fitness and wellness space. I had searched far and wide for modalities that helped to reduce pain and increase performance. Because my mind was finally clear and focused from helping myself, I was convinced that I had to share this opportunity with others who were hurting and not receiving adequate care and attention.
Can you share a story about the biggest challenges you faced when you were first starting? How did you resolve that? What are the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
One of my biggest challenges was getting involved within a wellness based company that didn’t fully align with my ethos and mission. I was desperate for any kind of work in this industry at the time, but it was not necessarily the work that I envisioned in my wildest dreams. This pulled the life force from me because I was not often helping people who were like me.
I had to step away from this niche in the wellness field to fully realize where my passion and life force was most magnified, in helping people get out of pain and mitigate their risk of reinjury. Upon correcting course, I built a business centered around postural modification, corrective exercise, and Guided PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field) Bodywork.
The biggest lesson from this experience was finding fulfillment and a sense of purpose in what you do and how you help people.
Can you share with us how the work you are doing is helping to make a bigger impact in the world? Can you share a story that illustrates that?
I’m a firm believer that the narrative surrounding recovery and healing is rapidly changing. What we once believed to be reasonable regarding healing and “return to work/sport” timelines is being challenged every day. The foremost example that I’m not connected to is Aaron Rodgers and his remarkable achilles repair and rehabilitation. Hopefully this ages well, but he appears he will be fully cleared to play in record time.
I believe that some of these outdated timelines could be due to the way in which our medical and insurance based systems go about covering and billing for services and therapy. I strongly believe that client/patient outcomes should always take priority over total profits.
In my own personal experience, I once worked with a woman shortly after she suffered a pulmonary embolism. The clot was behind her knee, and the resulting symptom of her incident was severe leg pain, especially while standing. She was told by the cardiology team that she may be wheelchair bound for up to six months while she was recovering from the PE.
We met a week after her PE. Her family was desperate to get her out of the house, pushing her around in her wheelchair at a farmer’s market where I was set up doing Electrons Plus demonstrations. After spending five minutes working the sore leg with the device, she stood up and pushed her wheelchair around the rest of the evening. After a follow-up appointment one week later she was jogging around the gym area of my practice. This was less than two weeks post incident. She was astounded, I was astounded, and most importantly; she was back to living her life and working over five months earlier than anticipated.
These are the kinds of stories that I strive to fill my practice with. I want to assist and inspire folks to overcome the odds that they’ve been dealt.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
The bodywork that I do obviously does require in person visits, but I firmly believe that the intentional work that we do within our exercise routines and throughout day to day life is equally, if not more important than the work we do on the table.
Because of how important this awareness of posture and exercise execution is, I’m currently working to bring all of these lessons and even workouts to the web. Expert guidance is a luxury for most, and I plan to help many more people gain an understanding of the causes of their pain, with a roadmap to pain free performance at a price point that doesn’t break the bank or any bones.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Integrity is number one. I want every single client that we work with to know that they have gotten an incredible value from the service we provide. Their best interest is taken to heart and their situation is going to receive ethical, consistent work. If my team or I
Next is resilience. Life and business are full of hurdles and setbacks. This is ultimately the road to mastery. I want to instill a no-quit mentality in all of the people I meet because I know first hand how beautiful life can look like when you don’t give up on yourself.
Adaptability has been extremely important to my development. There is constantly emerging science in the wellness and rehabilitation fields, and having the ability to move towards what shows promise for client outcomes has been paramount for me. PEMF technology, for example, is becoming a household name for good reason, because it is helping people holistically manage their health.
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Let’s begin with a basic definition of terms so that all of us are on the same page. Wellness is an incredibly broad topic. How would you define the term “Wellness”? Can you explain what you mean?
To me, wellness continues to encompass physical health, mental well-being, and overall life balance. It especially involves a holistic approach, including healthy lifestyle choices, mindfulness, and self-care practices to promote a sense of overall well-being. We have been inundated for decades with marketing and advertising for allopathic care. Why? Because it is profitable to prescribe drugs and perform surgeries.
So many people are on the path to creating wellness within their lives, and I believe that should look like autonomy and independence in as many scenarios as possible.
As an expert, this might be intuitive to you, but it will be instructive to expressly articulate this. Can you please share a few reasons with our readers about why focusing on our wellness should be a priority in our lives?
Prioritizing wellness is crucial because it contributes to improved physical and mental health, it enhances quality of life, and reduces the risk of various health issues.
It also fosters resilience, better stress management, and overall life satisfaction. Investing in wellness can lead to increased productivity, better relationships, and a more fulfilling and balanced life.
I have always loved this analogy from airline safety presentations:
“individuals should secure their own mask before assisting others, such as children or those needing assistance. This ensures everyone can breathe adequately during an emergency situation.”
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increasingly growing understanding of the necessity for companies to be mindful of the wellness of their employees. For the sake of inspiring others, can you share steps or initiatives that companies have taken to help improve or optimize their employees’ mental and physical wellness?
I can speak on two main initiatives that I find very promising.
Wellness Programs: Introducing fitness challenges, movement classes, or wellness workshops to encourage physical activity and healthy lifestyle choices. This is a massive productivity hack in many cases if sustainability and consistency are rewarded over “biggest loser” approaches. Nobody wins by over exerting themselves or eventually crashing out of a contest due to burnout or injury.
Workplace Ergonomics: Creating ergonomic workspaces to reduce physical strain and improve comfort. This assists in mitigating musculoskeletal issues among employees.
It is important however that wellness programs and ergonomic workstations work hand in hand, because not all comfort and ergonomic arrangements are created equal. Many chairs, desks and workplace setups only act as a band-aid or crutch to a larger problem: the human body is being crushed by keyboards, mice, chairs and infrequent “movement breaks”. We may not be able to completely reimagine the keyboard or mouse, but the tide is turning on chairs.
Kneeling chairs and saddle chairs are the honest to goodness solution that some companies are beginning to swap into their workplaces. Need proof that kneeling should be accessible to everyone? Just have a look at indigenous populations and our children and toddlers. When playing or working intently, these groups often drop to their knees and shins to utilize their own built in chair.
By now the office managers are probably rolling their eyes. “How could we possibly remove lumbar support or ask people to sit on their aching knees?”
This is where the wellness program should shine. Educational programs and guided workouts should demonstrate that oftentimes the cause of degeneration and musculoskeletal issues is due to a combination of faulty footwear and poor sitting/resting habits. The shoes many of us wear are often overly fashionable and overly cushioned. The chairs many is us sit in offer us far too much support when in fact we can and should be more mindful of what we should be using to sit if we are doing it at all.
What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The Health and Wellness Industry”?
Education and Certification: Acquire relevant degrees and certifications to establish expertise in your field. Know precisely who you aim to help before you get too far into your studies or certifications.
Holistic Understanding: Embrace a holistic perspective on health, recognizing the interconnectedness of physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Many people are opting out of the traditional version of healthcare, so being prepared to guide people to make proactive, holistic decisions for their health and wellness is key.
Adaptability and Innovation: Stay adaptable to evolving industry trends and embrace innovation to offer cutting-edge solutions. Fifty years ago, the VCR didn’t exist, and now you would be hard pressed to find one that is in regular operation. There will be a new “sliced bread” just around the corner.
Client-Centered Approach: Prioritize a client-centered approach, tailoring your services to meet individual needs and goals.
Passion and Commitment: Cultivate a deep passion for health and wellness, and commit to ongoing personal and professional development. You and your practice are your biggest investments. By operating in the wellness industry, you must lead by example.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would promote the most wellness to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I firmly believe that the human body is brilliantly made, and that mother nature offers abundance and health. With that being said, I would love to start an anti-gym movement. The world needs more bare feet in the grass, more sunshine on our faces, and exercise done outdoors. With proper planning and a select amount of tools and equipment, a strong durable body can be built with very little to no equipment at all.
We are blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I absolutely love Tim Grover’s work and I would love the opportunity to collaborate with him as he prepares another generation of UNSTOPPABLE athletes. I’m a strong believer that the best ability is availability, and I have a keen eye for mitigating injury.
Arianna Huffington would be a close second place. I really have a lot of respect for what Thrive Global is doing in the corporate world, and would love the opportunity to consult in the movement and stress management categories of Thrive’s Operations.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
I’m most active on the Instagram app. You can find me at https://instagram.com/upleveledmovement
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!
