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Kristen Cherry Hamilton, DPT

@kcherryperformancept

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PT at @vertexpt
MUSC DPT & CofC XC/Track alum
✨DM for info on strength programming
all things strength training - running/ injury prevention✨🏃‍♀️✝️

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Hi Friends! I'm Kristen Cherry, a physical therapist with a passion for helping runners, young athletes, and active older adults achieve their goals. My journey began in Santee, SC, and took me to the College of Charleston, where I discovered my passion for physical therapy while competing on the cross country and track teams. I went on to earn my Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the Medical University of South Carolina where I furthered my passion of working with runners and high school athletes. Outside of the clinic, you’ll usually find me outdoors — running, surfing, exploring, or spending time at the beach or lake with my fiancé, friends, and family. Since graduating, I have joined the Vertex PT Specialists team and strive to help my patients stay healthy, strong, and injury-free with 1 on 1 hour long sessions. You can find me at the Vertex Irmo location. I would love to work with you!

Email: kristen.cherry@vertexpt.com
Address: 10216 Broad River Road, Irmo, SC by @kcherryperformancept

🏈 FROM CHRONIC HAMSTRING STRAINS TO THE END ZONE. 💥

@young_finney11 working through chronic hamstring pain that kept him out for the season last year and preseason this year — now progressing through late-stage rehab with one goal in mind: returning to the field stronger, faster, and more confident.

Today’s session focused on building strength, controlling lengthening under load, and preparing the hamstrings for the demands of football.

🔹 HAMSTRING PRIMER — preparing for higher-level loading
🔹 SINGLE-LEG BRIDGE ISO — hamstring strength and control
🔹 SLIDER HAMSTRING CURLS — eccentric strength
🔹 CIRCUIT 1: Kickstand RDLs, bridge quick switches & single-leg jumps for height
🔹 CIRCUIT 2: Standing clams, Nordic hamstring curls & reverse lunges

The focus:
✅ Targeted hamstring strength
✅ Hip strength and stability
✅ Slow, controlled eccentrics
✅ Hamstring lengthening under load
✅ Explosive power and quick reactions

And the best part? Seeing that work translate back to the field — TOUCHDOWN! 🏈🔥

Rehab isn’t just about getting out of pain. It’s about rebuilding the capacity to handle the demands of your sport.

I’m so proud of @young_finney11 !!! Hard work pays off 🤝
#HamstringRehab #SportsRehab #FootballPerformance #ReturnToSport #AthleteRehab SportsPhysicalTherapy by @kcherryperformancept

✨The Serratus Anterior Muscle- one of the scapular upward rotators✨

As a PT, this is a muscle I think deserves way more attention when it comes to shoulder strength, mobility, and function.

💡 What does the serratus anterior do?
• Protracts the scapula (moves it forward around the rib cage)
• Helps stabilize the scapula against the thorax
• Plays a HUGE role in upward rotation of the scapula, which is essential for overhead arm movement and shoulder abduction.

Without adequate upward rotation and scapular control, getting your arm overhead can become less efficient and may contribute to increased shoulder symptoms in some people.

🏋️‍♀️ Exercises to train it:
1️⃣ Dolphin push-ups
2️⃣ Wall slides
3️⃣ Scapular push-ups
4️⃣ Plank saws

➕ Bonus: Prone snow angels— a great way to reinforce scapular control challenging the muscles that support overhead movement.

Remember: the goal isn’t just to strengthen the shoulder — it’s to build a shoulder blade that can move and stabilize well as your arm moves.

Save this for your next upper-body session!

#SerratusAnterior #ShoulderRehab #ScapularStability #vertexpt #SportsPhysicalTherapy by @kcherryperformancept

Week 3ish of rebuilding 💪🏼🏃🏼‍♀️

Over the past few weeks, the focus has been on calming symptoms and gradually rebuilding tolerance to movement and loading. Now, I’m continuing to progress my strength work while reintroducing more challenging ranges of motion and working toward a return to continuous running as tolerated.

One of this week’s lifts included:
Movement prep: Dead bugs, cat-cows, and good mornings to prepare for loading and movement.
Circuit 1: • Deadlifts • Lateral plate leans • Single-leg hip thrusts
Circuit 2: • Jefferson curls • Pallof press with rotation • Bird dog rows

One of the biggest changes this week is gradually reintroducing movements that I had initially been more cautious with due to pain, including: ↔️ Side bending with plate leans 🔄 Rotation with Pallof presses ⬇️ Loaded spinal flexion with Jefferson curls (these need some work)
Alongside these, I’m continuing to build strength and control with deadlifts, unilateral hip work, and dynamic core stability.

The goal isn’t to avoid spinal movement or rush back to my previous training. It’s to progressively expose my body to different movements, ranges, and loads while monitoring how my symptoms respond.

Rehab is a progression, not a race.

Come see me!

#LowBackRehab #musclestrain #ReturnToRunning #RunnerRehab #physicaltherapy by @kcherryperformancept

Week 2 post lumbar muscle strain 🤝🏃‍♀️

Last week was focused on calming symptoms, finding movements I could tolerate, and getting back to pain-free walking. ✅
I was able to walk pain-free this past weekend, so I started introducing walk/runs yesterday and today:
🏃‍♀️ 5:00 warm-up walk 🏃‍♀️ 2:00 jog / 1:00 walk × 8

If my low back continues to tolerate this with minimal discomfort, I’ll gradually increase the running intervals and decrease the walking breaks.

I’m also progressing the strength work from last week to start rebuilding more capacity and preparing for the demands of running.
Some of this week’s movements include: • Deadlift • Bird dog • Dead bug • Cat/cow progression • Single-leg bridge • Split squat
The goal is to gradually expose my back to more load, movement, and eventually running, while using symptoms to guide the progression.

Pain-free walking → walk/run → longer running intervals → progressive loading → return to normal training 🏃‍♀️

One of the biggest things I’m reminding myself as both a PT and a runner: rehab doesn’t end when symptoms improve.

These exercises and progressions are specific to me and may not be appropriate for every person with acute low back pain. Find movements and loads that you can tolerate and progress appropriately.

#physicaltherapy #musclestrain #lowbackpain #runner #betterfaster by @kcherryperformancept

When the PT becomes the patient 🤝

Check out what I’m doing for an acute lumbar muscle strain following a lifting injury.

For the past week, I’ve had pain with walking, staying in one position for too long, and some daily activities.

As a PT + runner, my goal isn’t to completely rest or rush back to running. It’s to calm symptoms, keep moving, and progressively rebuild capacity.

Week 1 rehab:
Daily:
• Hooklying posterior pelvic tilts — 2 x 12
• 90/90 abdominal bracing — 2 x 5, 10-sec holds
• Supine marching with brace — 2 x 10/side
• Quadruped rock backs — 2 x 10
• Gentle prone-on-elbows — 2 x 8
• Cat/cow — 2 x 10
• Hamstring flossing — 2 x 5/side

Every other day:
• Glute bridges — 3 x 10
• Bird dog holds — 3 x 30-sec/side
• Quadruped clams — 3 x 12/side
• Tall-kneeling Pallof press — 3 x 10/side

🚶‍♀️ I’m also progressively increasing my walking, with pain-free walking as my first milestone before returning to running.

The biggest reminder: acute low back pain doesn’t automatically mean complete rest. I’m finding movements and loads I can tolerate, gradually increasing capacity, and letting symptoms guide progression.

The goal → pain-free walking → progressive loading → return to running. 🏃‍♀️

*these exercises are specific to me and may not be for every acute LBP patient. Find what movements feel good to you.

#vertexpt #columbiasc #physicaltherapy #irmosc #lowbackpain by @kcherryperformancept

Building load tolerance for knee pain in college runner 🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️

A look into part of our session with queen @yelloits_tay 👑👏🏼

This progression is designed to gradually increase the knee’s capacity to tolerate force, speed, and impact:

* Split squat overcoming isometrics to build force production with minimal movement.
* Split squats with depth limited to work within a tolerable range while progressively loading.
* Single-leg RDL balance weight passes on a Naboso surface to challenge stability, foot control, and lower extremity coordination.
* Seated squat jumps to reintroduce explosive force.
* Front foot lunge hops to progress toward higher-rate loading and improve impact tolerance.

The right exercise is the one that matches the person’s current capacity. Progressions should be driven by symptom response, movement quality, and performance.

Are you a runner with knee pain? Come see me @vertexpt!

#PhysicalTherapy #SportsPT #KneePain #Rehab #vertexpt by @kcherryperformancept

💪🏼 MEDIAL ELBOW PAIN 💪🏼
A look into today’s session working with a weight lifter with medial elbow pain.

Once pain is under control, the goal shifts from pain reduction → restoring tendon capacity and upper limb performance.
In this progression I’m using:
💪 Overcoming isometrics with the elbow fully extended Loading the wrist flexors in a longer muscle-tendon position while producing a maximal intent contraction. This is a great way to expose the tendon to higher force with minimal movement before progressing to heavier dynamic loading.
🏋️ Tempo wrist curls Slow, controlled concentric and eccentric reps increase time under tension and progressively build load tolerance. Current tendinopathy evidence supports progressive resistance training as the cornerstone of long-term tendon rehabilitation.
🎯 Shoulder and scapular stability The elbow doesn’t work in isolation. Optimizing proximal control can improve force transfer through the kinetic chain, particularly in active individuals who repeatedly load the upper limb.
The objective isn’t simply to eliminate pain—it’s to restore the capacity to tolerate the demands of sport, lifting, work, and daily life.
👇 Save this for your next medial elbow rehab session. Disclaimer: some of these exercises are specific to this patient and the stage he is in currently.
#GolfersElbow #MedialEpicondylalgia #Tendinopathy #SportsPhysio #vertexpt by @kcherryperformancept

Happy Workiversary @kcherryperformancept! by @kcherryperformancept

A look into a fun Friday session with some of our Dutch Fork athletes 🏃‍♀️working on two different injuries with some overlap for these sisters 🤠 gold star if you can guess who’s who?¿

#vertexpt #betterfaster #physicaltherapy #irmosc #columbiasc by @kcherryperformancept

🏋️6 Hip Extensor Strengthening Exercises for Runners🏃

Here at Vertex, we have a lot of runners come in with knee issues. One of the biggest things we try to focus on with runners is hip and knee strengthening to strengthen everything around the knee. This month, we came up with 6 hip extensor exercises for runners to build strength in the back of their hip! Runners with weak hip extensors tend to rely more on their knees during running, while strong hip extensors shift more load to the hips and posterior chain. Also, the hip extensors contribute roughly 30% of forward propulsion during efficient running gait, so stronger glutes equals more propulsive force which means access to faster speeds!

So if you are a runner who wants to take some pressure off your knees when you run, or one who wants to increase their running speed, try plugging a few of these into your workouts! For most runners, we would suggest picking 2-3 of these and performing 3-4 sets of 6-12 reps of them 2-3 times a week for at least 6 weeks to really move the needle in your hip strength and performance!

Let us know what muscle group or injury we should do next!

#BetterFaster #hipstrength #runningphysicaltherapy by @kcherryperformancept

Quick look inside a session with a pro baller 🏀 @chriswitdabutta working hard 👏🏼👏🏼

Locked in on rebuilding hamstring strength the right way—progressively loading through different angles and layering in reactive work.

Some staples in the mix:
Trap bar kickstands, eccentric hamstring curls, and hamstring “tantrums” 🔥

All tied together with basketball-specific movement to bridge the gap back to play.

#SportsPerformance #HamstringRehab #vertex #BasketballTraining #StrengthAndConditioning by @kcherryperformancept