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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Strength training, if done right, shouldn’t be easy.
Asher Crouse has one word for the burn he feels as he pushes a sled across a 25-yard space.
“Intense,” he said, trying to catch his breath.
He is 12 and is pushing himself hard. The reason partly comes from a self-given nickname.
“I call myself ‘Crasher,’” said Crouse.
He came up with the name because at one time in his life, he would fall and crash a lot. He lives with cerebral palsy.
“There are kids with this diagnosis who never walk by themselves at all,” said Allie Benson, a pediatric physical therapist at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.
Crouse walks independently, though his gait has changed over the years.
“It was not what you would call a safe or pretty walk, but he could get from place to place. It was more like he was falling quickly, but would catch himself,” said Benson.
Benson has worked with Crouse for more than half of his life. He has spent hundreds of hours doing rehabilitation therapy sessions to improve his walking and mobility.
While Crouse has found success in those sessions over the years, the last six months have produced some of his biggest gains.
“He is one of the first kids here that we have really focused on it with the pediatric neuro,” said Benson.
Crouse is trying a therapy only recently introduced to kids — blood flow restriction therapy.
A large blood pressure cuff is placed around his leg as part of this therapy.
“It is occluding a certain percentage of his blood flow depending on the exercises that we are doing, to basically make an easier exercise harder with less work,” said Benson. “So, we can do like 10 reps of something, instead of a 100 reps of something and get the same effect.”
Crouse began doing blood flow restriction therapy in the summer of 2025, and after an intensive three weeks, he saw clear results.
“His right was almost equal to his left,” said Benson.
She is talking about his feet, which turn in and hinder his gait.
The blood flow restriction therapy has created a big change.
“My foot almost went 90 degrees that way,” said Crouse, pointing left. “And now I can easily put my foot straight.”
While it has shown great results, it is not for everyone. The therapy comes with some pain.
That is a big reason why up until recently, it was not deemed appropriate for kids.
“But really, I think kids like Asher, who have gone through so much in their lives, have just a different pain tolerance than everybody else. And really, they can tolerate so much more than anyone gives them credit for,” said Benson.
“I know I can do more than people say I can do it,” said Crouse.
Nowadays, he does not use the name “Crasher.”
“I am just Asher,” said Crouse.
Fully embracing himself and his new confidence with walking.
Blood flow restriction therapy has been used for several years with athletes.
Research continues with its use with children, but Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital says it has shown great success among patients so far.
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Erin Murray
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