DR. TODD THISTLE, DC, CCSP®
PROFESSIONAL
Dr. Thistle was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and was raised in San Diego, California. He spent most of his childhood either in the ocean or on a sports field with the San Diego weather making it easy to be outside all the time. The active culture allowed Dr. Thistle to learn early on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
At the age of 18 and during his first year of undergraduate studies, Dr. Thistle became a certified Personal Trainer and that was his primary work experience, until he started Chiropractic school, 10 years later. Dr. Thistle has been a Personal Trainer in both public and private settings and spent two years working with the San Diego Padres Baseball Club and the club’s owner as a Personal Trainer and Rehabilitation Consultant.
Upon receiving his B.A. in English from Southern Methodist University (Dallas, Texas), Dr. Thistle was at a crossroads – teach English or pursue health and wellness. The possibilities offered by becoming a Chiropractor were powerful and he found himself at the University of Western States in Portland, Oregon, despite never having been to a Chiropractor himself. The chiropractic philosophy and approach to health aligned perfectly with Dr. Thistle’s own beliefs and so he took a leap of faith and has never looked back.
Since graduating from the University of Western States in 2007, the vast majority of Dr. Thistle’s post-graduate education has been focused on Sports Medicine and all aspects of assessing and treating athletes of various levels. Dr. Thistle earned his Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician (CCSP) and has since also been certified in Active Release Techniques (ART) soft tissue therapy, as well as Functional Movement Systems (FMS). Dr. Thistle’s thirst for learning and improving as a physician has not been quenched and his latest accomplishment is certification by the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) – the world’s leading educational organization and research facility dedicated to the study of how the human body functions in relation to the golf swing.
ATHLETICS
In the athletic arena, Dr. Thistle has competed in many events throughout the years: multi-stage adventure races, mud races, road races and triathlons, including finishing the 2009 Ironman Wisconsin Triathlon. Dr. Thistle has embraced these events as a continual example of the triumph of the human spirit and is driven every day to create an inspiration in others that will motivate them to pursue and achieve more than they ever thought physically possible.
PERSONAL
Dr. Thistle is a delighted husband to a tolerant wife and a proud father to 4 young boys. When away from the clinic, he can usually be found taking “man walks” with his boys through a forest, trying to make healthy (and edible) pancakes or reading the latest issue of Surfer magazine.