Hidden Gems: Meet Andy Curtiss of Max U

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andy Curtiss.  

Hi Andy, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
To get to where I am today, you have to know where I’ve been. I am a lifelong athlete. From the age of 4, I was being taught martial arts from my father, then transitioned to wrestling. I stayed with those two sports my entire life. I played baseball, football, lacrosse, and track and field. I did the best in wrestling and martial arts. I competed in many wrestling and martial arts tournaments as a youth and teen and won several championships including a national karate championship at 16. I competed in the adult black belt division and beat everyone. 

I realized how important physical fitness and good movement patterns were in high-level competition very early in life. I began reading every book I could on health, fitness, anatomy, strength training, and bodybuilding. After high school, I turned down an opportunity to wrestle for Syracuse on a walk-on to serve my country in the Army. While in the Army I also began competing in professional No Holds Barred Fighting. This sport eventually became regulated and is now known as MMA. I retired from the sport in 2015. 

It was in the Army, while serving on a Special Forces A-Team in 2005 that I received my first certification as a personal trainer and Sports Nutrition Coach. Members of Special Operations are similar to professional athletes. They are highly specialized and their bodies endure specialized rigors. So, I was lucky enough to get to go to school to learn how to train my fellow teammates. It was in the Army that I also was cross-trained as a medic, and attended two courses in trauma medicine. 

I found that the medical field and health and fitness fields tend to go hand in hand. That never became more apparent than after suffering a spinal injury. There were two incidents while serving in Afghanistan where I was injured pretty badly. I fell down a 40-foot cliff pursuing Taliban and broke my L-4 and L-5 vertebrae. I was in so much pain I ended up aborting the mission and having to walk out of that situation. Another time I was extracting an Air Force Pararescueman from a hot zone on a motorcycle and went head over the handlebars and into a mud-brick wall. I was disguised as a local so I wasn’t wearing a helmet. I got a TBI and crushed my cervical discs. These injuries would haunt me. 

After getting out of the service in 2007, I really started feeling those injuries. I experienced a bout of semi-paralysis that led to severe atrophy of my left pectoral (chest), deltoid, trapezius (shoulder), latissimus (back), and arm. I ended up in physical therapy at the VA in Fayetteville North Carolina for months. My C2 through T1 vertebrae were so compressed that the nerves were being chronically impinged and since nerves supply the signal to the muscles, it was affecting my neuromuscular function. I was told that I was a good candidate for surgery, but that they typically don’t perform it on people as young as I was. With that said, physical therapy wasn’t working either. I was discharged from physical therapy no better off than what I started. 

That led me to start looking into “alternative” means. When I was attending physical therapy, I asked the therapist about TENS units. These units use direct electrical current to stimulate the muscle. I was literally told, “That will never work”. So, after I was discharged from physical therapy, that’s exactly what I did. I bought a TENS unit, I read everything I could on it and started using it. Within a month I was able to contract my left pec again. Within 2 months I was doing pushups and it only got better from there. 

Eventually, I was back to healthy functional condition again, pursued a career as an independent government contractor, and opened a gym in Fort Worth Texas where I was living. There, I trained people in MMA, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Military Combatives, and Physical Fitness. I would rotate overseas, leave an employee in charge of the gym and work for the government; then come back and manage the gym. During that period, I met a great Chiropractor. His name is Dr. David Saunders. He worked with me a lot on my injuries when I was home and introduced me to a variety of modalities that I continue to use on myself and others today. He was also a Certified Strength Coach and introduced me to Corrective Exercises. The chiropractic adjustments I needed were the result of dysfunctions that occurred due to poor posture, muscle imbalances, and movement deficiencies because of my injuries. So, he taught me the correct exercises to keep the muscles that controlled the joints that were out of whack in check. 

I had been to a lot of doctors, physical therapists, and chiros, and it was Dr. Saunder’s corrective exercise protocols that actually worked. Most Chiros who don’t understand that it’s the muscles that apply forces to the joints only fix the symptoms temporarily, and it’s why so many people have to keep going for readjustments of the same dysfunction. Dr. Saunders was teaching me how to correct the source of the problem as much as possible with the type of injuries I have. He’s definitely a one of a kind and influenced what I do today. I started researching as much as I could on corrective exercises. There weren’t many if any courses available in this at the time. So, everything I learned about it was through Dr. Saunders during my treatments or through my own research. I applied that in my own life and with clients at my gym. 

I ended up going back to school so I could be a Chiropractor. I attended the American Military University and received a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science with medical prerequisites (Pre Med). I graduated Summa Cum Laude (Highest Honors) in 2021 and walked out not only with a degree but also certifications from the National Academy of Sports Medicine as a Certified Personal Trainer with Distinction, Performance Enhancement Specialist, and Corrective Exercise Specialist. Along the way through college, I realized that the way I ultimately want to help people isn’t through chiropractic care, although I definitely appreciate the science and benefits of it. I decided to pursue a path in Sports Medicine. That is the path I plan on dedicating the rest of my life to. 

In Sports Medicine, there’s definitely the aspect of dealing with sport-specific and athletic injuries, but there’s also an occupational aspect to it as well. There are so many everyday problems that can be solved in viewing from a Sports Medicine lens. My hopes are to continue my post-grad in medicine and eventually practice a hybrid of conventional western medicine using a combination of best practices in medicine and exercise science. In 2020 at the height of Covid, I decided to start my company Max U LLC. The U is the symbol for potential in physics. The concept of my business is that all things have potential. Since matter or energy can be neither created or destroyed but only transferred from one form to another; this means that there is potential in everything and everyone. 

My business focuses on maximizing human potential through health and wellness. Through health and wellness, one can attain their own rugged independence. The goal is to help people through corrective and medical exercise, sports psychology, and hypnosis. I don’t feel that I’m helping people through not fixing the problem and keeping them coming back to me. Instead, not only do I help correct the problems through a variety of modalities, but I teach them how to do it themselves and eventually work myself out of a job. By doing this it fosters a relationship of trust between myself and the client, and they will come back to me for other problems in the future. 

I am a Certified Medical Exercise Specialist under the American Council for Exercise. I am trained to work with patients that are referred to me by their physicians. These patients may be rehab and post-rehab, those with cardiovascular disease, hypertensive, stroke, those with hyperlipidemia, obese, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, pregnancy, and post-partum, chemotherapy, and more. I am also certified and trained in neurolinguistic programming, and behavior change. and am a certified hypnotherapist. I am credentialed with the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare and have been issued a National Provider ID. In 2022 I was awarded the Exercise Is Medicine Level II Credential from the American College of Sports Medicine. 

I work with clients through a variety of modalities including, trigger point therapy, Ice and heat therapy, myofascial release, self-myofascial release, various types of stretching, inversion, therapeutic, medical, and corrective exercise, sports nutrition, sports psychology, and hypnosis. I specialize in working with people with neuromuscular issues. I perform a variety of assessments from body composition to static posture, dynamic movement, and gait assessments. I also conduct health risk factors and wellness assessments with my clients. I have a home-based practice and also an online distance platform. In 2021, my wife and I moved from Virginia Beach Virginia to Clarksville where we are today. I am happy to serve my community and work with anyone who wants to maximize their potential to become independent in their own health and wellness. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I view life through the perspective that there is nothing that isn’t attainable if you have the drive to accomplish it. Some people see life as a struggle. I only see challenges that require solutions. With that said there have been many challenges from physical injury to fiscal and as we all have seen recently political. However, I always get to where I want to go because every challenge has a solution. I am also a Christian and believe that God has put us all on the path that we were intended to be on and that it’s up to us to solve the challenges along the way. I feel like in spite of life’s inherent challenges I’ve been blessed at finding the solutions. This has brought me to the people I associate with and love as well as those who have inspired and influenced me. So, 17 years ago, if you asked me this I might have said, “Yeah life is a struggle.” However today I see it all as a necessary right of passage that I have successfully negotiated. I intend to “keep on keeping on”. 

As you know, we’re big fans of Max U LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Max U LLC is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business based out of Clarksville Tennessee. My business is credentialed under the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare and I have a National Provider ID. I specialize in helping clients who are obese, those with posture distortion, muscle imbalances, or movement dysfunction, those who are post-injury/ rehab, and a list of chronic medical conditions where exercise is beneficial for the improvement of the condition. Using a combination of corrective, therapeutic, and medical exercise along with sports psychology, hypnotherapy, and sports nutrition I help clients with a variety of everyday problems from a limited range of motion, weight loss, and even chronic pain. I also work with those interested solely in behavior change such as “quitting smoking” and PTSD. I work with physician referrals and those who work with other providers such as physical therapists and chiropractors. I hold certifications under the National Academy of Sports Medicine, the American College of Sports Medicine, and The American Council for Exercise. 

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat. It’s Latin for “Fortune favors the bold”. Knowing my past history as a Special Forces Soldier, Professional Mixed Martial Artist, and Independent Government Contractor working in “High Threat Zones” it’s clear that I have taken my fair share of risks. But taking haphazard risks is foolish. There is a difference between risk-taking and calculated risk-taking. Some may accuse me of playing semantics but that would be a logical fallacy. Every military mission and mission as a government contractor, and every professional fight I’ve ever participated in had risks. But there was also a great deal of planning that went into them. There were literally risk mitigation plans, preparations taken, and then lots of practice and rehearsals. All done in the name of limiting risk factors and increasing the probability of success. Truth be told every day is a risk. All we can do is accept that and do what we can to mitigate, limit or eliminate the risks we face. After all, a life without risk would have no value. Life without risk would be quite a bore, don’t you think? 

Pricing:

• Remote Posture and Movement Assessments are $250
• 52-week personalized training plans are $400
• 6-month personalized training programs are $350
• 8-week personalized programs are $250
• In-person corrective exercise packages vary in rate based on the package.

Contact Info:

• Email: thementaledge@maxurpotential.com
• Website: https://maxurpotential.com
• Instagram: @max_u_llc or @acurtiss78
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaxULLC/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaDA-F3IxPjbk81gRROAfHQ
• Other: https://www.fitsw.com/MaxULLC

Image Credits
Karissa Layne Photography