Physical Therapy for People Who Don’t Want to Stop Moving

Physical Therapy for Runners, Triathletes, & Swimmers in Arlington, VA

Book a Free Discovery Call

I’m Greg Lemek, Doctor of Physical Therapy, and endurance sport enthusiast. I help runners, swimmers, cyclists, & people with persistent pain regain confidence & consistency with the activities they love through present, one-on-one care.

Growing up as a runner, swimmer, and cyclist in Arlington, staying active was always part of my life. When that was taken away from me due to persistent injuries, I realized how impactful pain and injury could be on the rest of my life.

As a patient and later a provider, I experienced rushed, fast-paced clinical environments where a focus on patient volume and maximizing billing insurance codes led to longer durations of care and surface-level quality. That’s why I started Persist PT: to give people faster outcomes and deeper quality care that doesn’t leave you wondering if something is missing.

5547 Langston Boulevard, Arlington, VA

Break Free from Pain & Regain Confidence in Training

Physical Therapy for Endurance Athletes in Arlington, VA

Schedule a Call

Hi, I’m Greg Lemek, Doctor of Physical Therapy, RRCA-Certified Running Coach, & Certified Bike Fitter. I help endurance athletes break free from pain - with fewer sessions, and without cookie-cutter care.

Services

  • Every year, 8-32% of runners will give up running due to an injury. Runners deserve better from the healthcare system. Too often, runners are told to simply “stop running” instead of being offered a realistic, proactive plan to recover and return - it’s no surprise that many runners avoid seeking care altogether. Learn more about physical therapy for runners.

  • Swimming is often viewed as a low-impact activity- but low impact doesn’t always mean injury free. Whether you're competing or swimming for fitness, repetitive strokes create significant load: elite swimmers can perform up to 30,000 arm rotations per week, and even recreational swimmers may hit 3,000+ rotations weekly during just a few pool sessions. Learn more about physical therapy for swimmers.

  • As a physical therapist specializing in endurance athletes, I provide professional bike fittings in Arlington, Virginia designed to reduce pain and help you perform at your best. Hours at a time in the saddle can lead to pain in places you didn’t know you had - and sometime, just a centimeter of change can make a world of difference. Learn more about the clinical bike fit.

  • Wellness and Performance sessions are designed to help you move better, train smarter, and stay ahead of injury — even if you're not currently in pain.

    These sessions are ideal for:

    • Runners, cyclists, and swimmers looking to optimize performance

    • Individuals interested in injury prevention and movement longevity

    • Older Adults seeking personalized mobility, strength, and recovery programming

    Learn more about personal training and wellness.

A person laying on a medical table receiving an injection or treatment from a healthcare professional wearing gloves in a clinical setting. Medical equipment such as a tray with syringes and a weightlifting barbell with weights in the background are visible.
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Talk to a Specialist

Free, no-pressure call with Greg Lemek, Doctor of Physical Therapy & Orthopedic Clinical Specialist

Duration: 20 minutes

aesthetic background in Persist PT green

Services

  • Every year, 8-32% of runners will give up running due to an injury. Runners deserve better from the healthcare system. Too often, runners are told to simply “stop running” instead of being offered a realistic, proactive plan to recover and return - it’s no surprise that many runners avoid seeking care altogether. Learn more.

  • Swimming is often viewed as a low-impact activity- but low impact doesn’t always mean injury free. Whether you're competing or swimming for fitness, repetitive strokes create significant load: elite swimmers can perform up to 30,000 arm rotations per week, and even recreational swimmers may hit 3,000+ rotations weekly during just a few pool sessions. Learn more.

  • As a physical therapist specializing in endurance athletes, I provide professional bike fittings in Arlington, Virginia designed to reduce pain, prevent injury, and help you perform at your best. Unlike standard bike shop fits, a PT-led bike fitting uses clinical expertise in movement and biomechanics to adapt your bike precisely to your body - not the other way around. Learn more.

  • Wellness and Performance sessions are designed to help you move better, train smarter, and stay ahead of injury.

    These sessions are ideal for:

    • Individuals interested in injury prevention and movement longevity

    • Older Adults seeking personalized mobility, strength, and recovery programming

    Learn more.

Dry Needling for Swimmer's Shoulder at Persist Physical Therapy in Arlington, VA
aesthetic background in Persist PT green

We’ll use one-on-one sessions, hands on techniques, and sport-specific programming to help you back to where you were before - and beyond.

Discovery Call with a Specialist

Free, no-pressure call with Greg Lemek, Doctor of Physical Therapy & Orthopedic Clinical Specialist

Duration: 20 minutes

aesthetic background in Persist PT green

Clinical Bike Fitting

When you spend hours at a time in the saddle, a one centimeter adjustment makes an outsize difference.

Book a Clinical Bike Fit

Stay up to Date on Rehab & Recovery

Latest from the Blog

Blog
Are you Addicted to Running?
Are you Addicted to Running?
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Do Your Running Shoes Actually Matter? What the Evidence Says
Do Your Running Shoes Actually Matter? What the Evidence Says
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What PitchFest Shows About What Patients Want
What PitchFest Shows About What Patients Want
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What, if Anything, is “Swimmer’s Shoulder?”
What, if Anything, is “Swimmer’s Shoulder?”

Shoulder injuries are the most common injuries in swimmers, with prevalence reported between 40% and 91%. PubMed Central But the anatomical source of that pain remains elusive — the term "swimmer's shoulder" can represent numerous different shoulder pathologies, including impingement syndrome, rotator cuff tendinitis, labral injuries, instability from ligamentous laxity or muscle imbalance, and nerve entrapment. NCBI Just as seemingly confounding, stroke preference has not been shown to correlate with the development of supraspinatus tendinopathy PubMed — there is no single movement pattern or stroke "deficiency" consistently associated with pain. So where do we go from here?

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Physical Therapy for Runner’s Knee
Physical Therapy for Runner’s Knee

It's been a while since my series on Running Injuries. Part of the reason, if I'm honest, is that this next problem hits close to home. Runner's Knee, or Patellofemoral Pain or Kneecap Pain, is both one of the most recurrent and common types of pain and the one that I've personally dealt with most consistently. I have plenty to say about this condition, and this won't be my first post on it to say the least.

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The “Snowball Effect” in Physical Therapy
The “Snowball Effect” in Physical Therapy

Physical therapy for runners involves deciphering all of the different factors contributing to an injury and to recovery — then switching the direction of the momentum.

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Boom-Bust: The Cycle Keeping Your Injury Going
Boom-Bust: The Cycle Keeping Your Injury Going
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Why Mindfulness Beats a List of New Year's Goals (And How It Helps Runners)
Why Mindfulness Beats a List of New Year's Goals (And How It Helps Runners)

With the onset of the new year, I found myself thinking about all the things I wanted to achieve - and, like so many of us, I started making a list of these outcomes. Feeling excited and accomplished, I finished up my list and set about my day.

Later that evening, however, I came back to the list - and to be honest, didn't love what I found. Instead of the inspirational manifesto I'd intended to create, what I saw on the paper looked more like a harsh list of faults. Not only that, but how was I supposed to keep track of all these different goals?

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Perspective from an endurance athlete, PT, and many-time injured person.

With my newsletter I aim to provide a brief, useful resource including the latest research on rehab & performance in endurance sport, exercise tips & tricks, and my own musings on the art & science of recovery.