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Our goal is to help our clients live a high performance, pain-free life. If you like to do CrossFit, we’ll help you stay healthy while you train. If you love tennis, we’ll get you back on the court and keep you there so you enjoy quality time with your friends/team. If you’re a runner and have aspirations of doing your first half marathon, we’ll help you accomplish that goal!
Dr. Andrew Kenas is a residency and fellowship trained physical therapist who specializes in helping athletes from the professional level to weekend warrior quickly recover from injury so they can move better and continue to be active in their sport.
Dr. Kenas graduated with a B.S. in Kinesiology from Arizona State University in 2009 and Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Nova Southeastern University in 2014. Upon graduation, Dr. Kenas moved to Houston Texas where he completed an Orthopedic Residency from Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, and soon after, a Sports Manual Therapy Fellowship from the prestigious Institute for Athlete Regeneration. Through these expert programs, Dr. Kenas evolved into an elite clinician with unparalleled skills in manual therapy, exercise prescription, injury prevention, movement analysis, recovery, and human performance.
He is dual board certified in orthopedics (OCS) and sports (SCS) specialties and holds certifications as a strength and conditioning specialists (SCSC), Kinesiotape Practitioner (CKTP), and Sports Nutritionist (CISSN). This rare combination makes Dr. Kenas one of the highest credentialed physical therapists in the US. Dr. Kenas is a published author in multiple national journals and presents regularly at conferences to educate fellow clinicians.
His advanced treatment methodology allows him to not only efficiently diagnosis his patients but uncover and treat the underlying cause. This allows him to achieve not only quick short-term improvements, but also long-term results. His eclectic approach allows him to succeed where other practitioners have failed, and help athletes reach a level that was otherwise not attainable.
Dr. Kenas is an athlete himself, passionate about CrossFit and Olympic Weight Lifting. He understands the unique mindset of this population and has focused his physiotherapy mindset to specifically treat and help fellow CrossFit athletes struggling with pain, mobility restrictions, and acute or chronic injuries. Whether you are new to your sport or a seasoned veteran, his goal is to help you continue to perform at a high level in the CrossFit community and live an active lifestyle without pain or dysfunction.
Dr. Aerial Burleson is a born and bred Charlottean, who graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2016 at Mars Hills University with a B.S. in Athletic Training, where she also received the Outstanding Graduate Award in her field. At Mars Hill University, she was very active in the community volunteering.
Her interest in long-term health motivated Campbell to join The Charlotte Athlete team where she strives to maintain an exceptional level of customer service and supports all of the physical therapists’ daily tasks. You can find Campbell at one of the CrossFit Mecklenburg morning classes with her husband.
In her free time, Campbell scours Youtube to hone her homemade barista skills, finds squirrel-filled parks to take her two dogs to, and constantly seeks ways to get outside by-way-of paddleboarding, biking, backpacking, and hiking. She graduated from Texas Tech University in 2020 with a B.S. in Agricultural Communications.
Dr. Mike Chamberlain is a transplanted Texan originally from Nacogdoches known as the oldest town in Texas. He is a former collegiate baseball player where he attended North Central Texas College prior to transferring to Houston Baptist University where he graduated in 2014.
Dr. Mike then graduated from The University of Texas Medical Branch with his Doctorate of Physical Therapy in 2018 and began working for Houston Methodist Clear Lake while also enrolling in the Institute of Athlete Regneration’s (IAR) Sports Manual Therapy Fellowship. In late 2019, he returned to his hometown to further his practice with Nacogdoches Medical Center where he also served as Physical Therapist for Stephen F. Austin State University. Through his fellowship and practice experiences, he has become adept at movement assessment to identify faulty movement patterns that result in pain and using his manual therapy skills to assist in putting out the fire. His true passion is Return to Sport rehab and lives by the mantra “Better Than Before'' resulting in a blend of Physical Therapy and performance training to get you back crushing your goals. To further assist you through your injury, he is an emergency medical responder for the athlete, a certified Running Rehab Specialist, and certified in Dry Needling (DN) and Blood Flow Restriction Training (BFRT).
Dr. Mike continues to compete in Men’s League Softball and is an avid golfer. He takes an all encompassing approach to training utilizing a variety of powerlifting, plyometric, and endurance cycles to maintain rotational power while expanding physical ability for strength, speed, and endurance. Through these different training methods, he understands the pains and mobility restrictions that pop up while training and can help fellow athletes progress through their programming whether it’s an acute or chronic injury. In his free time, he enjoys attending sporting events and exploring the country through travelling, hiking, or biking.
Ells is originally from New Orleans, LA but spent most of his time growing up in Asheville, NC. He grew up playing multiple sports including soccer, lacrosse, football, and track as well as spending a lot of time with Olympic weightlifting.
Through spending time with these sports, he generated interest in what it takes to become a better athlete. Ells ended up getting his undergraduate degree in Exercise Science at Appalachian State University while throwing shot put, discus, and javelin for the track team. Ells continued his education graduating with his Doctorate in Physical Therapy in 2021 at Winston Salem State University. After graduation, Ells moved to Charlotte and quickly enrolled in the Sports Manual Therapy Fellowship of the Institute of Athlete Regeneration to continue with his passion for sports and athletes.
Ells continues to be an athlete in the gym and has a strong passion for strength sports including weightlifting, powerlifting, bodybuilding, and CrossFit is slowly growing on him. His interest is in optimal performance and being the best athlete that you can be, in whatever discipline to choose. Outside of the wide world of sports, Ells has an interest in movies, music, art, and animals. He has three snakes as pets and one of them he has had since he was 10. His favorite era of movies is the 80s and is a big nerd of comics and video games.
Campbell relocated from Texas to Charlotte in January 2022. Since starting CrossFit in 2017, she’s become a loyal advocate for the sport and keeps an eye out for partner competitions to compete in.
Her interest in long-term health motivated Campbell to join The Charlotte Athlete team where she strives to maintain an exceptional level of customer service and supports all of the physical therapists’ daily tasks. You can find Campbell at one of the CrossFit Mecklenburg morning classes with her husband.
In her free time, Campbell scours Youtube to hone her homemade barista skills, finds squirrel-filled parks to take her two dogs to, and constantly seeks ways to get outside by-way-of paddleboarding, biking, backpacking, and hiking. She graduated from Texas Tech University in 2020 with a B.S. in Agricultural Communications.
At The Charlotte Athlete, we are passionate about not only helping our community but growing in our profession. We travel both locally and nationally to collaborate with athletes in collegiate and professional organizations. We teach their clinicians advanced physical therapy concepts and skills. We believe the teaching is best practice to mastery.