Former NFL player opens wellness center in north Mecklenburg with aim to help HS athletes
If there is one thing that Kannapolis native Aundrae Allison learned in his NFL career, it was the value of recovery after practices, games and exercise.
And if there’s one thing Allison doesn’t see from weekend warriors or area high school athletes it’s this: not valuing recovery after practices, games or exercise.
Those are some of the reasons he and his wife, Kailee, have opened a new center in Cornelius, Di + Thurma Wellness, and outfitted it with state-of-art tubs and saunas and other equipment — and he plans to be around with plenty of advice.
“When I was playing, all the old heads would immediate go hit the hot and cold tub after practice,” Allison said. “Us young guys, we’d play or practice and leave. We just relied on our athleticism. Then, you start getting those nagging injuries, and some of the older guys are able to keep going.”
Now retired from the game, Allison — who played at AL Brown High School and East Carolina — sees some of the same things from the folks he works out with in a local class and from high school athletes he sees, including his son, Quave Propst-Allison, a star basketball player at Providence Day.
“They train five or six days a week and they don’t recover,” Allison said. “What I notice is there are so many things in common with them and athletes. They get these nagging injuries. I stretch and drink water and understand the importance of sleep and eating right. It’s hard for them to persevere and push through a workout, whereas if I come in here and do (the recovery protocols), I can go nail it.”
Allison is seeing more recovery centers open up in Mecklenburg County, but most are in south Charlotte, like The Invigory in the Waverly area. He wanted to create something for the athletes and exercise-minded people on the north end. And he especially wanted to target high schoolers like his son.
Di + Thurma offers several different types of memberships that range from $69 to $299 per month, but there are a variety of single-service prices that Allison said he built while thinking about fast food.
A plunge in the Di + Thurma cold tub, for example, is $7 or $10. It’s $20 to use the Normatec Compression leg sleeves for 30 minutes. The sleeves use air compression to aid in recovery by promoting blood flow.
“I wanted to price it like Chick-fil-A,” he said. “Kids will go to Chick-fil-A and eat every day. Here they can come in and do something for their bodies.”
More information
DiThurma Wellness
Website: https://dithurma.com/
Address: 9606 Bailey Rd # E, Cornelius, NC 28031
Phone: (704) 789-3344
This story was originally published May 9, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
