Revolution Physical Therapy Teaches Athletes to Train like Troy Polamalu, Readies New Space

Troy Polamalu is well known for a unique training regime that focuses on quickness, agility and coordination rather than then the conventional method of gaining strength through lifting heavy weights.

While the Pittsburgh Steelers safety travels to the Sports Science Lab in California for his high-tech workout, the same kind of training can be found right in Cranberry Township.

Physical therapist Lyneil Mitchell, owner of , studied under Sports Science Lab founder Gavin MacMillan with the hopes of bringing to the greater Pittsburgh area the same kind of technique—called neuromuscular intensification training—that make Polamalu such a standout on the football field.

“I learned the secret to the sauce for Troy,” Mitchell said.

And soon he is going to have a new space to offer it in.

Currently located on Route 19 adjacent to , Revolution Physical Therapy is moving down the road to the former Safari Sam’s building, which most recently was

Along with the traditional private treatment rooms, Cranberry resident Mitchell and partner Jannan Turner, also a physical therapist, are adding a heated pool to the cavernous space for aquatic training.

There also will be two locker rooms with showers, a cardio cinema room that will allow users to watch movies while they work out and a separate group exercise room.

Besides rehabilitation services, Revolution offers clients nutrition and fitness management. Turner said an instructor certified in BeachBody workouts has been hired to teach Insanity workouts at the new facility and there will be Zumba, hula-hoop and strengthening aerobic classes in the group exercise room.

The facility also will house 35 yards of turf used for conditioning as part of Revolution’s popular sports enhancement program. The program includes instruction in sports performance, speed, power and core strength.

Key to the training is the Isokinetic Accelerator, the apparatus used by Polamalu in his Sports Lab training. The machine, which enables athletes to gain strength through specific movement patterns, can be used every day without muscle soreness, Mitchell said. Emphasized in the exercise is speed, agility and quickness.

“The best athlete is the most coordinated athlete, not the biggest,” Mitchell said.

Locally, Mitchell said he works with the Seneca Valley Junior Football Association, the Butler Girls Basketball Team and area soccer groups. Several Olympic athletes also have come to Mitchell for rehabilitation, including heptathlete Hyleas Fountain, who won silver in the 2008 Olympics. 

Mitchell said he was introduced to Fountain and a host of other Division 1 college and professional athletes—including Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco—during his residency with the sports medicine department at the University of Cincinnati.

It was also during this time Mitchell— who was a three-sport college athlete himself—saw firsthand the superior care professional athletes often receive in rehabilitation. The Butler native said he wanted to bring that same kind of treatment to his hometown.

“We decided there is no reason everyone shouldn’t have better care,” Turner added. “Our philosophy is that people shouldn’t be satisfied with 85 percent. They should be able to get back to where they were before they were injured.”

Beginning June 19, Revolution will hold summer sports training camps for youth of all ages. The training will teach and reinforce movement patterns that can prevent injury on the field or court.

While Revolution’s office and treatment rooms are still located adjacent to Absolute Primary Care, Turner said she expects the sports camp to be held at the new location. Construction should be finished up on the new facility by October, she said. 

“It’s going to take a little while,” she said. “There’s a lot of good stuff that’s going to be coming in.”

To learn more about the sports training camps, visit the Revolution Physical Therapy website by clicking here.