PT Squared, LLC

PT Squared, LLC PT² | Melissa Roswold, PT
Evidence-based rehab 📍Madison WI
Creator of Love + Load™ Framework
Calm pain • Build capacity • Move confidently

my bio :)

Melissa is a licensed physical therapist who has been practicing in southern Wisconsin since 2001. She earned her Bachelor of Science-Biology/Chemistry degree in 1996 from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a Master of Physical Therapy degree in 2001 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has worked in the outpatient orthopedic setting her entire career and has worked wit

h a varied population across the lifespan with a multitude of diagnoses. She has a special interest in the therapeutic exercise based treatment approach and takes pride in developing individualized treatment plans for her patients involving corrective exercises that improve their joint mechanics and movement patterns, thus ultimately improving the pain/dysfunction. Melissa is passionate about educating her patients to allow them to maximize their functional and physical performance outcomes. Her treatment approach will always include education on the condition/diagnosis. She believes in empowering her patients to facilitate healing and/or improvement in pain/dysfunction. Her philosophy is that patients who understand their condition/diagnosis and understand the rationale for the treatment plan will feel empowered and will have the best outcomes. She is dedicated to assisting her patients in achieving their functional and/or performance goals through empowerment. When Melissa is away from her job, she enjoys staying active with her husband and two daughters. She particularly likes running as well as spending her time watching her two daughters expand their talents and athleticism through their extracurricular activities of club swim and volleyball.

06/18/2026

Exercises don’t have a single purpose, and there isn’t one “best” exercise for every diagnosis.

Choosing the right exercise - and understanding why you’re choosing it - is a skill.

Not only can these shoulder stability exercises help calm pain 🩵 and build shoulder capacity (tolerance to load) 💪🏼, they can also support the entire kinetic chain. Improving shoulder stability often influences the neck, upper back, elbow, wrist, and hand. 🔗

In this reel I’m demonstrating a few of my favorite options:

💪🏼 Prone lift-offs using yoga blocks to encourage precision and control
💪🏼 Plank walkovers on a 4-inch platform
💪🏼 BOSU plank challenge (try keeping the ball out of the center hole and/or challenge yourself to get it in!)
💪🏼 Plank to downward dog transitions

The goal is to choose movements that:

• Are tolerable
• Challenge your current abilities appropriately
• Help move you toward your goals

Within my Love + Load™ framework, we choose exercises that:

🩵 Calm pain when needed
💪🏼 Build capacity over time
🔗 Support the system

06/14/2026

Sometimes when it rains, it pours.

If one injury seems to be leading to another, it may be time to zoom out and look at the bigger picture.

😴 Sleep
🥗 Nutrition
😬 Stress
🏃🏻‍♀️ Training load
🧠 Recovery habits

Have you been feeling more run down lately?

Are you pushing through your body’s early warning signs?

Are you following a training plan without adjusting for everything else life is throwing at you?

When your body’s capacity is stretched thin, small issues can start to pile up.

Less “What’s the one thing causing this?”

More “What factors might be contributing?”

Sometimes the answer isn’t found in the injured tissue itself. It’s found in supporting the whole system. 🔗

Within my Love + Load™ framework, this falls under the Support pillar. Because when it feels like it’s pouring, the answer isn’t always more grit.

Sometimes it’s more recovery, more awareness, and a better balance between stress and resilience. 🩵💪🏼

06/13/2026

The internet loves a simple explanation for pain.
“It’s your weak glutes.”
“It’s a bulging disc.”
“It’s a labral tear.”
“It’s bone-on-bone arthritis.”

And sometimes there is a diagnosable reason that may be contributing to someone’s symptoms. But here’s where I think things get more complicated:

Many people have findings like labral tears, meniscus tears, disc bulges, and degenerative changes without any pain at all.

So when pain develops and imaging reveals one of those findings, we have to ask:

Is that structure driving the pain? Is it contributing? Or is it simply one piece of a much bigger puzzle?

Because pain is influenced by far more than tissue alone.
😴 Sleep
😬 Stress
💪🏼 Training load
🏃🏻‍♀️ Activity levels
🥗 Nutrition
🧠 Previous experiences
❤️ Overall health
All of these factors can influence how pain is experienced.

One reason I’m cautious about the “root cause” conversation is this:
What happens when we “fix” the thing we thought was causing the pain, and the pain doesn’t go away?

I’ve seen people undergo procedures and surgeries expecting complete relief because they were told a specific finding was the cause of their symptoms. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes it doesn’t.

That’s why after 24 years as a physical therapist, I’ve become more comfortable saying, “It depends" when people ask why they're in pain or where their pain is coming from.

Not because I don’t know.
But because human beings and pain are complex.

Most of the time, I’m less interested in finding the root cause and more interested in identifying the factors that may be contributing and figuring out which ones we can actually influence.

Sometimes there is a clear diagnosis.
Sometimes there are several contributing factors. And sometimes the answer is both.

That’s why I tend to think less in terms of a single root cause and more in terms of a web of contributing factors that together influence a person’s pain experience.

I'm curious where you land on this conversation. Drop a comment ⬇️
And because the internet doesn’t need to be serious all the time…If you’re a Diet Coke pe

06/13/2026

If your treatment plan came from Google, ChatGPT, and your saved Instagram folder…

we should talk. 😅

Because knowing exercises isn’t the same as having a personalized plan. 🩵💪🏼🔗

My logo for PT² (Physical Therapy & Performance Training) blends:🔹 a backward capital P🔹 a capital T🔹 the number 2, desi...
06/12/2026

My logo for PT² (Physical Therapy & Performance Training) blends:

🔹 a backward capital P
🔹 a capital T
🔹 the number 2, designed as a flexed bicep 💪🏼

Together, they represent more than physical therapy because there’s one more thing hidden in it.

The entire logo forms the shape of a person: one hand on their hip, the other arm flexed in a pose of strength and confidence.

In this photo, I’m recreating that pose. (And yes, I’m currently working on rebuilding those biceps with my rekindled desire to lift heavy things again. 💪🏼😉)

The logo was designed to symbolize strength, resilience, empowerment, and confidence - qualities I hope every client gains along their journey.

As I’ve gained perspective through life’s challenges over the years, those same qualities have come to mean even more to me than they did when I first created PT². 🩵

👇 Tell me honestly: did you see the bicep before today? 💪🏼

06/09/2026

Hamstring tendon pain doesn’t generally need complete rest. Sometimes it needs the right kind of load.

Isometrics (muscle contractions held with little to no movement) can help reduce pain sensitivity in an irritated hamstring tendon while also beginning to restore tendon capacity.

Research suggests isometrics may provide short-term pain relief for some people with tendon pain, particularly when symptoms are more irritable.

In this reel:
• Seated heel press into the ball
• Supine heel dig/bridge hold
• Prone hamstring curl hold into the ball

can be performed with both legs at once or using a single leg and are examples of ways to introduce hamstring tendon loading in a more tolerable way.

Within my Love + Load™ Framework, this fits both the Love and Load pillars:

🩵 Love: calming an irritated tendon and reducing pain sensitivity

💪🏼 Load: beginning to rebuild tendon tolerance and strength

Recovery usually isn’t about avoiding load forever. It’s about finding the right amount your body can currently tolerate and progressing from there.

A few parameters I commonly use as a starting point:
🩵 Hold 30–45 seconds
💪🏼 3–5 repetitions
🩵 Mild and tolerable discomfort is often okay (generally ≤4/10)

Remember: tendons tend to like load. The key is finding the amount they can tolerate today while gradually building their capacity for tomorrow. 🩵💪🏼

06/07/2026

Recovery isn’t just about the right exercises. Sometimes the biggest wins come from the things that happen outside of your rehab program.

If I were struggling to recover from an injury, I’d focus on creating an environment that supports healing:

😴 Sleep
🍎 Nutrition
🧠 Nervous system regulation
🌱 Stress management
🚶🏻‍♀️ Smart activity modification
💭 A realistic, optimistic mindset

The goal isn’t perfection. It’s stacking as many healing factors in your favor as possible. 🩵💪🏼🔗

(And yes… following this page might make the list too 😉)

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7878 Big Sky Drive
Madison, WI
53719

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