Lindsay Principe made it through both college soccer and a semi-pro career without any significant injuries. As any college or professional athlete will tell you, that’s a pretty impressive feat.
Perhaps ironically, it wasn’t until Lindsay was playing with her, comparatively casual, after school soccer club that she sustained a knee injury that necessitated surgery.
Like many athletes, Lindsay is strong-willed—that mentality served her well throughout her soccer career and now as Assistant Coach of Women’s Soccer at Roger Williams University. She thought she might be able to recover from her surgery without professional help.
“As a mom, it’s easy to put yourself last,” Lindsay reflects. “Life gets so busy and the challenge becomes taking care of yourself while taking care of your children.”
But knee surgeries are rarely straightforward and how you recover and move forward post-injury has nearly as much to do with what happens on the operating table as the work you put in once the surgery is complete. Lindsay suffered from articular cartilage damage to her knee, and damage left untreated can lead to excessive swelling and loss of motion.
So Lindsay teamed up with TB12 Head Body Coach James Castrello. “James’ enthusiasm and positive mindset was on another level. I knew that James was looking at more than just my injury,” Lindsay recalls. This holistic approach is what defines TB12.
James and Lindsay worked together—starting with pliability massage and progressively moving to box step-ups, turf workouts with resistance bands, and running on the treadmill. “James is the most supportive Body Coach I could ever imagine,” Lindsay says, “And having him on my side through all of the ups and downs has made all the difference for me.”
Lindsay says her goals are simple: “Just spending time with my kids and being able to do the daily things moms do. I do want to coach my kids, I do want to be out there with them. The hardest part [of being injured] was not being able to pick up my little 2 and a half year old son and play on the ground with him, being on his level. All of those things I didn’t get to do for a long time.”
Sometimes seemingly simple goals are the most important ones.