Dan Loch
PT, DPT, CSAC, Adaptive Sports Coordinator
Dan joins Adaptive Adventures as a Doctor of Physical Therapy specializing within sports medicine and biomechanics. He received his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Northwestern University and his Bachelors in Exercise Science from Tulane University. Prior to joining Adaptive Adventures, he owned his own private practice, Peak Performance Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine, and founded a multidisciplinary integrative healthcare organization, The Cascade Health Collective, offering a holistic approach to health and wellness and education to surrounding communities and athletic teams. He enjoys his time as a PT within private practice immensely, but his affinity for providing his skillset and being of service specifically to those with disabilities grew stronger over the course of his life until his passion to pursue his life’s work could no longer be ignored. He is grateful for the opportunity through Adaptive Adventures to combine both his passion for enhancing the health and wellness of kids and adults with disabilities with his favorite pastime for outdoor recreation.
Dan strongly believes that the experiences and emotions garnered within outdoor and adaptive recreation can readily translate to a successful, inspired and empowered lifestyle within other realms of one’s life. His desire to make an impact in the lives of those with disabilities and assist in leveling the playing field within adapted sports and recreational therapy began early in childhood while watching family participate in adapted sports. Throughout his adolescence and collegiate education, he spent much of his time volunteering for various organizations including Special Olympics, Aquatic Therapy, Hippo Therapy, Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Illinois and Louisiana among many others. He served as the Philanthropist Chair for his fraternity and received distinguished awards and recognition for his community involvement at both his undergraduate and graduate universities. The joy and inspiration he feels in working with those with disabilities and witnessing their journey, the achievement of their personal goals within adapted recreation, and the communities that grow and rally together, provides a deep sense of humbling fulfillment in pursuing his own life’s purpose. He also serves as a director on the Board of Directors for Variety of Illinois, a non-profit children’s charity providing adaptive equipment and enhancing accessibility and opportunities for kids with disabilities in Illinois and surrounding communities.
He utilizes his background in kinesiology and psychology to educate and motivate participants on optimal human movement, motor control, and peak performance to help individuals safely and efficiently break through barriers toward their goals be it within climbing, skiing, paddlesports, cycling and other forms of recreational therapy. Dan enjoys teaching nationally on biomechanics, pathophysiology and kinetic chain dysfunctional movement patterns at the collegiate, post graduate, and professional level to further advance the field of sports medicine and adapted recreational therapy.
Dan resides currently in the southwest suburbs of Chicago with his two beautiful sons after spending the better part of the last 10 years practicing PT in Oregon and enjoying the outdoors of the beautiful PNW. On his days off, he enjoys travel, mountaineering, backpacking, paddling, cycling and exploring outdoor recreation throughout the midwest and beyond. Dan looks forward to continuing to provide care and services to those with disabilities to enhance their health and wellbeing, educating and speaking nationally on optimal human performance and biomechanics, and advancing the fields of outdoor and adapted recreational therapy to the best of his ability.
If you would like to contact Dan Loch, please email him at dan.loch@adaptiveadventures.org or call our office at (303) 679-2770.
