Steve Sudell

Steve Sudell

Steve Sudell lives in sunny Venice, CA with his wife, Lindsay, and their two great dogs. He has been a Crossfit competitor since 2012 and specializes in working with high-intensity athletes on their mobility, prehab, and post-injury physical therapy.
Steve received his Clinical Doctorate of Physical Therapist in 2009 and finds the human body to be the most extraordinary machine ever built.


“The level of what we can accomplish with our bodies is a never-ending cycle of awesome. And I feel that Crossfit is really starting to un-tap what we truly are capable of mentally and physically. What really stuck out to me is how often we don’t take care of our bodies, and how often that leads to injury over time. This is especially true of those who engage in high-intensity workouts or sports. Most people don’t know how important it is to take steps to prepare their bodies for action.”

Steve has quite an impressive list of accomplishments:

  • Graduated with Clinical Doctorate of Physical Therapy, 2009 with Honors, University of St. Augustine 2009
  • Treated and trained professional baseball, football, basketball players along with professional surfers and American Open Olympic Weightlifters
  • Private Practice open since 2012 treats >90% Crossfit athletes
  • Helped develop Prehab program into Paradiso Crossfit Programming
  • Co-owner of Stretchlab, creator of the stretching protocols used by the flexologists
  • Athletic Trainer for Atlanta Falcons 2007
  • Athletic Trainer for Men’s Division 1 basketball, and football University of Central Florida 2007-2008
  • 2013 Crossfit Games Team Competitor
  • 2014 Crossfit Regionals Team Competitor
  • Crossfit Level 1 Certified Coach
  • SFMA Certified
  • Graston Technique Certified

What type of sports did you play as a child?

Primarily organized baseball, soccer, and tackle football, but I was also very active with surfing, skateboarding, etc.

How did you come up with the concept of the Neck Hammock?

As a physical therapist, I’ve seen a gradual uptick in patients complaining of neck pain. I could treat them at the gym, but there was nothing I could give them to use at home. All of the at-home products were either cheaply designed and ineffective or were expensive, big, and bulky. So one day I was working out, tweaked my neck, and wanted to give myself cervical traction so I grabbed a band wrapped it around a pole and the back of my head…10 minutes later, my neck pain was gone. I knew that I was onto something, but my biggest challenges were making it comfortable, portable, and affordable. 2 years later, here we are.

How does the Neck Hammock work?

It’s easier to visually explain it! Here is a video I posted explaining how the Neck Hammock works.

What are some of the health benefits of the Neck Hammock?

It is limited to just the Neck. By gently decompressing the cervical vertebrae, the muscles of the neck and shoulder gradually stretch/relax which can lead to decreased neck and shoulder pain, decreased stress, increased energy from improved blood flow, improved sleep quality for meditative benefits, promotes proper alignment which improves posture. We’ve had multiple patients report decreased tension headaches and even improved low back/ SI pain.

Who should avoid using the Neck Hammock?

Those with Acute Cervical Injury, Spinal Instability, Spinal Hypermobility, Neck Tumors, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteomyelitis, as well as those under the age of 16.

What type of stretches or treatments are a good compliment to the Neck Hammock?

While using the neck hammock we LOVE and highly recommend: 1) wearing an eye mask to eliminate bright lights 2) putting on meditation music 3) place some pillows under knees to support low back. We also suggest supplementing with any stretch to improve posture, this will help accelerate the benefits of the Neck Hammock. This includes: Stretching of the pecs, lats, and thoracic spine. We also recommend scapular strengthening exercises to improve posture.

Want more information on the Neck Hammock? Check out the website!

Post a comment