PLATTSBURGH — At Pearl Physical Therapy, there are no excuses.
The physical therapy clinic at 135 South Peru St. has made exercise as medicine more accessible to more people in the community, regardless of age or lifestyle, with its newly constructed Lifestyle Medicine medical fitness facility and membership program.
“We’re changing the trajectory of people’s lives,” owner Elizabeth Pearl said.
“No one wants to just accept that their quality of life will decrease as they get older,” added Kim Sweener, exercise physiologist at Pearl Physical Therapy.
“No. At the end of the day, it’s what you make, how you make it and what you put into it. A lot of people sit in the chair and say, ‘I’m 70, 80 years old, I can’t put on any new muscle mass,’ and I say, ‘Well, you’re not going to get anywhere with that attitude.'”
Customized Plans
Pearl’s new facility features cutting edge BioCircuit technology and exercise equipment that can be tailored to your specific strength level and movements to help anyone build muscle mass. As muscle is built, so does tuning.
The equipment makes this possible when members join Pearl’s LifeStyle365 program to access the facility and are programmed into a circuit. Members can then use the facility 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, during supervised clinic hours from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
But before members are approved and have free access to the facilities, they must go through an onboarding process that includes three interviews with an exercise specialist.
Get started
Sweener said the initial consultation will take an hour and a half and will record the member’s basic health metrics, including oxygen intake, strength, heart rate, blood pressure, pulse oxygen, grip strength and waist circumference. The initial consultation will also include a segmental body composition measurement to look at muscle mass in each leg, arm and torso as part of the Inbody570 analysis.
The second appointment sees members go through a circuit of exercise equipment stations three times to understand how it works and see if unsupervised exercise is right for them.
The third is when we discuss the best path forward for your member’s strength training methods and how they can safely and effectively reach whatever health goals they may have.
Once settled into the program, members check in monthly with an exercise specialist to review their progress and make any adjustments needed to reach their goals.
Safe and appropriate
Pearl says the program generally recommends strength training three times a week, along with a certain amount of cardio, though this will vary depending on your individual workout plan.
“The whole idea of this program is to create individualized strength training that is safe and appropriate for people, because the biggest problem that happens to people with their muscles and skeletal system as they get older is that they get so weak that they don’t know how to get stronger,” Pearl said.
“So that’s why a lot of people fail for a variety of reasons, and that’s why they end up with bad knees, bad shoulders and things like that.”
Pearl said her clinic is the only one in New York state equipped with the device, and she said there are only about 70 circuits in use nationwide.
People who want to become members of LifeStyle365 can call Pearl Physical Therapy to let them know they want to join and discuss next steps. People with pre-existing conditions will need a referral to participate in the program, Sweener said.
If you are joining for the first time, you will need to pay a $199 initiation fee in addition to the $144 monthly membership fee, for a total of $343 to join. After the first month, you will pay the standard monthly rate of $144.
Program details
So far, 132 people have taken part in the program, and Pearl said the circuit can accommodate 250 people.
On a recent tour of the facility, there were several people on the circuit at the same time, and the circuit synchronizes everyone’s training sessions and rotates them through different stations at the same time. When someone comes in and wants to start exercising, they have to wait in line until a station becomes available to ride.
Three full-time qualified physiotherapists and two exercise physiologists will lead the lifestyle medicine medical fitness programming.
But Pearl made it clear that the facility is not meant to replace regular physiotherapy.
This program is intended for anyone who can benefit from proper strength training and is not intended for those recovering from serious injuries such as ACL reconstruction surgery.
“Plattsburgh is rural. It’s not Burlington or Montreal, so it’s really hard to recruit health care workers. One of the challenges in my clinical practice is we do a really good job and we have a lot of people who want to come here, but we can’t see everyone. I have to maintain a good life balance,” Pearl said.
“That’s why I invested in this facility, built this, so my clients can come to me three or four times and then they just come to the gym, and the gym will give them the strength training they need. I can take care of so many more people.”
“This equipment is different and they’re getting feedback they can’t get anywhere else,” Sweener said.
“This gym could have been outfitted with equipment for a lot less than what they have now. I’m not saying I’m the most expensive. I’m saying, ‘I’m outfitting you with equipment. I’ve taken away all your excuses.’ It’s 24/7. It’s safe. It’s meant to do great things.”
Member Recommendations
One of the many people who have benefited from the program is Lisa Napper.
Napper said she has been taking part in LifeStyle365 since November and has seen big changes both physically and mentally.
“One of the standout features of this wellness center is the amazing team you surround yourself with,” she said, praising Sweener and Alyssa, the newest addition to the team.
“They believe in you, encourage you, and regularly check in on your progress. You also get to see Liz and her PT staff engaging with members and celebrating their progress. This level of support is a real bonus that enhances the overall experience.”
She says that in the past, she would worry about the number on the scale when giving training instructions.
Napper says the LifeStyle365 equipment takes the guesswork out of training, allowing him to focus solely on his form and strength building.
“Liz Pearl had a vision for a community. This unique technology is less like a traditional gym and more like a home, filled with positive energy, support and above all scientific data to support a ‘number-obsessed woman’ like me. This environment has been essential in my fitness journey. A month ago I had knee replacement surgery. Thanks to the personalized programming, I regained my strength and my recovery was smoother and faster than the doctors expected,” she said.
“LifeStyle365 has the staff and tools you need to get better and stronger. If you’re looking to improve your physical health, mental health, or both, give LifeStyle365 a try. It’s made a huge difference in my life, and I’m sure it can do the same for you. Just yesterday I was training with a 93-year-old man and this program gave me goosebumps.”
