Meet the Team: Michelle Tegenkamp - Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

For this week’s blog we wanted to highlight one of the rockstars of our team - Michelle Tegenkamp. Michelle is an elite athlete, incredible nutrition coach, and embodies the ethos of Headquarters Physical Therapy in every way imaginable. Read below for a short little Q&A we did with her.

1.  What is your athletic background?

I participated in a lot of sports growing up - softball, basketball, volleyball, figure skating, gymnastics and I started competing in long distance running (cross country, relays and on the track) in middle school. I continued with volleyball through high school but really found my love of running at the time training with a local club while competing for my high school. I represented Canada at 3 World Cross Country Championships (the first while I was in high school) and went on to compete for Michigan State University for college. 

2.  How did you begin your journey into nutrition and dietetics?  What work have you done throughout your career (teams, organizations, types of clientele, etc)

For most of high school I wanted to be an accountant or an actuary but as I was looking at colleges I made sure to choose one that had a dietetics program. As the level of training competition increased for me in running I started to understand how important nutrition was for athletes. I ended up double majoring in dietetics and kinesiology with the goal of working with athletes for my career. I have had the pleasure of working with many levels of athletics: collegiate with my work with the University of Portland and professional with my time with the Portland Trail Blazers. I have also worked with athletes of all levels in the private practice setting from weekend warriors to amateur and high school through collegiate and professional levels as well. 

3.  What do you enjoy about your profession?

I love working with individuals to help them achieve their personal goals. There is so much information out there about food and nutrition and not all of it is accurate or good advice. Each of us has different activity levels, needs and goals so I really enjoy working with clients to help them identify what can help them as well as providing a plan that is realistic and achievable. 

4.  How do you see nutrition and physical therapy working together?

There are a lot of ways physical therapy and nutrition complement each other. Some individuals are using physical therapy to heal/recover from an injury and proper nutrition is a tool that can support and enhance that process. Both physical therapy and nutrition can also be used by individuals to maximize their performance through injury prevention and maximizing their bodies ability to train and perform. Focusing on the whole picture serves to enhance this outcome.

5.  What do you like to do when you aren't working with clients?

We have 3 young kids so lots of outside time to wear off energy is a must in our house...trampoline, biking, hiking, camping! I still love to run and also love to spend time cooking as well as reading.

Michelle is able to see clients in clinic or remotely, depending on client preference. Don’t hesitate to reach out to her with the button below if you have any questions regarding how your nutrition might be enhanced to help you achieve your goals!