WHAT IS BLACK SHEEP PT and PERFORMANCE?
black sheep
/ˈblak ˈSHēp/, noun
: an idiom that describes a member of a group who is different from the rest
The Origin of Black Sheep PT and Performance was born out of necessity. I had started undergrad as a civil engineer who loved everything to do with sports, competing and fitness. My freshman year I developed a pretty severe ankle injury that prevented me from doing what I love. I went to physical therapy, orthopedic surgeons, foot specialists; any possible specialist, I had an appointment with them. None of them were able to get me back to playing sports and competing.
I was told to give up playing sports, that “you had a good run”. That answer didn’t satisfy me.
Dr. Ryan Bessette, Owner, DPT, PT, CSCS
I dove head first into trying to solve my own problem. Eight months into burying myself into Kinesiology and Nutrition textbooks I switched career paths to Exercise Physiology while applying to get into a Doctorate of Physical Therapy program at Umass Lowell. I became obsessed with finding the answers to how to integrate performance and rehab. I shadowed at PT clinics, gyms, strength and conditioning facilities, participated in strength and conditioning internships, and worked as a personal trainer, group fitness instructor, rehab aide, and opened my own remote programming business, all while getting my doctorate in physical therapy.
In the last year of my doctorate, I helped to open LIFT Training Collective, a strength training gym in Burlington MA, where I became the Director of Performance and Programming. This allowed me to put all of the ideas surrounding performance and rehab to the test. In the process, I started to lay the groundwork for starting my own practice.
The goal was always to open a practice that allowed for the best possible treatment, to take someone from injury to beyond their former levels of performance. That has never waivered. This was the goal for 8 years in the making. Now I can say my goal is a reality.
