A California physical therapist is a social media sensation -- with millions of followers.
HONOLULU (KITV4) -- A California physical therapist is becoming a social media sensation with millions of followers. He goes by Dr. Jacob, and he encourages everyone to move their bodies to keep Aging Well.
He is Dr. Jacob Vandenmeerendonk, a doctor of physical therapy, and across all his social media platforms he has a combined two million followers. He started posting the short tutorials in 2019 to help people.
"I see everyone who comes to us after they've had an injury or having pain. My Instagram is to try to focus on teaching people how to prevent pain in the first place," he said.
Dr. Jacob is on TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook as well. His specialty is mobility work, and he's a believer in preventative medicine.
"Did you know that pain is not a normal part of aging?" a recent post asks viewers, before urging them to take just a few minutes a day to move their bodies.
He says the exercises he shows people are great for all ages. In fact, he says, it would be brilliant for young or middle-aged folks to start now, so they can ease gracefully into older years.
"The upper back should be rotated more than we typically do during the day. A lot of us are very forward-oriented so we sit forward, drive forward, look at our phones forward," he explained.
Dr. Jacob gave KITV4's Diane Ako a lesson in how to adjust.
"I want you to take your right hand and reach over to your left knee. Take your left hand and reach it up to the ceiling and look behind you. Then bring it down. Then up. Start to rotate and look behind you. Then bring it down. OK we've just mobilized the upper back," he said.
"Pain is not an inevitable part of the aging process. We should be moving in our 70s as we moved in our 40s," Dr. Jacob encouraged.
And he says just five minutes a day can make a difference.
"Exercises like the ones here," he urged, "can help maintain joint and spine health if we do them daily."
Diane is KITV4’s weekend evening anchor and weekday reporter. She hosts the Aging Well series on Tuesday evenings at 5, 6, and 10 p.m. She is a mother, a cat owner, and a yogi.
