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I have known Peter Cirolia for the last eight years, and have been privileged to work with him in both professional and personal capacities.
I am a physician, previously treating patients in the Bronx, many of whom had a number of lifestyle issues, including obesity, smoking, sedentary behaviors. As a result they are at risk for and develop diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, osteoarthritis and depression. This is a difficult population to treat and study after study demonstrates lack of efficacy of our usual diet and exercise prescriptions.
Peter and I were able to partner in the care of a number of these patients. I offered cardiac and arthritis support and oversight, but Peter was able to use his tremendous knowledge of musculoskeletal form and function to offer an individualized exercise plan that was both safe and successful. In addition, he added nutritional advice, and kept an eye on their daily food intake. Several patients lost significant amounts of weight and one in particular 85 lbs, safely and with no side effects. All felt better and empowered by his program and his personal support. Patients with incapacitating spine arthritis were able to walk, lift weights, climb stairs and felt better than they had with orthopedic therapies. Because of Peter’s specialized knowledge as a result of his ballet training, he took these patients past the short term benefits of physical therapy and into the long term benefits of muscle strength and flexibility. Financial constraints have put an end to this cooperation, but I am convinced that every patient could benefit from an exercise program designed by Peter.
That brings me to our personal relationship. I have always exercised, but my exercise has been limited by injury. I ran and my knees hurt from chondromalacia. I swam and I had overuse injury of my rotator cuff. I biked and I pulled my hip flexors. My back hurt from dead lifts and my neck hurt from poor posture and tension. What a mess.
Peter started at the beginning, with a program of weights, cardiovascular training encouraging hiking, biking, kayaking and swimming, plyometrics , ballet and abdominal training. At this time, and at the age of 60, I am active every day, and can do a one hour advanced abdominal class that gives college students pause. I take ballet twice a week and outjump women thirty years younger.. I do get back pain at times, but Peter modifies the workout, keeping me active, and the pain dissipates usually over a few days.
My patients and I have benefited from Peter’s unique approach to athletic training, incorporating principles of ballet, with muscle elongation and weight training, while not forgetting cardiovascular conditioning and nutrition. I have watched him continue to grow in knowledge, as he has fed his significant intellectual curiousity, with both the popular and medical literature to keep up with the latest developments in nutrition and exercise physiology.
While there are many other personal trainers around, I do not believe that there are any with the combination of emphasis on strength and flexibility from ballet, injury prevention, muscle development from correct weight training techniques, cardiovascular conditioning through enjoying outside activities and the joy of a functioning and healthy body.
As I entered my forty's I noticed my cholesterol count was climbing high. I was determined to bring it down the natural way. The doctors I spoke to prescribed Lipator & various over-the-counter pills to control my condition. I decided to start working with a personal trainer to get in shape and help me eat healthy, control & lower my cholesterol. My personal Trainer Peter Cirolia introduced me to various cardiovascular exercises and weight training. He also advised me to eliminate saturated fats, sugars and the importance of portion control meals. Thanks to my trainer Peter and all the exercise, healthy eating and mind conditioning I have seen a difference in my body and lowered my cholesterol! I have been training with Peter for the past 3 years.
I have been working out with Peter Cirolia for over a year. His diverse training procedures, including exercises like cable machine leg extensions, abduction work and ballet body exercises have all contributed to strengthening my leg muscles which in turn support and protect my knee joints. I have minimal knee pain and much more strength in my lower body as a result of his training methods. I have lost 50 pounds since training with Peter Cirolia.
Peter is my private Dr. House because he analyzes how I move & is able to zero in my body's weaknesses and imperfections. By approaching personal training with a physical therapy mindset, he is able then to focus on the muscular & skeletal issues and imperfections that plague us all & intensify as we get older. But rather than hurting us, his knowledge of body mechanics & structure, he helps us and makes us stronger, better and healthy in spite of our injuries or imperfections. By strengthening certain muscles groups which result in better symmetry and alignment, I have been able to stand with less pain.
Every week I notice that my back feels straighter, I am in so much less pain and I am doing things which I never thought I would be able to do. I have more range of motion , better balance and am able to hold my back up which I was never able to do before my program of workouts with peter. My back muscles were not strong enough to combat the curvature in my spine and standing tall was always so painful. I spent 12 years going from specialist to specialist and I never came close to the results that I have achieved with peter. as my body moves thru these epiphanies of re-discovering itself & the proper way to move, I feel like and look like a different person, I am relearning the proper way to hold my spine straight by building up the primary, secondary & tertiary muscle groups We are also undoing all the damage, buildup of scar tissue, misalignment of joints and muscles that built up over the years in order to compensate for the spinal curvature and weaknesses. It’s been an incredible journey and I feel strong and confident instead of hunched over and in pain. It takes someone who is very knowable in body mechanics, physiology, anatomy and a dedication to his clients to produce the results that I experience everyday. Thank you, Peter. I am so happy that I found you.