World-class athletes’ destination takes shape in Niagara
The partnership of the Pelino Athletic Performance Centre and Limitless Training Systems at 9515 Montrose Rd. in Niagara Falls is a match made in sports performance heaven.
The Pelino APC is a 10,000-square foot facility that includes: therapy and elite performance pools with underwater treadmills; medical grade hyperbaric medicine chambers; six VersaClimbers; two-of-a-kind, two-metre treadmills; multiple treatment rooms; next generation technology and therapeutic techniques; a very large collection of cognitive training and athlete testing equipment; a five-to-seven-person infrared sauna; other advanced recovery tools like the NovoTHOR red light therapy bed; two cold plunge tubs; and, EWOT (exercise with oxygen therapy).
Limitless Training Systems is a 5,000-square foot complex that includes traditional strength and conditioning elements such as racks, barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells and much more.
“What we do different at Limitless is take technology — we use a company called Vald — that allows us to assess the athlete on a deeper level. We can give you a reading of what the hamstrings’ power output is and its imbalances from left to right and the same with the groin, hip, shoulder, lower back and neck,” owner Paul Ferri said. “You can see those pieces in a digital reading that allows us to consistently retest to make sure there are no gaps. They come to us with a 20 per cent imbalance left to right in the groin or the hip. While Joe (Pelino, Pelino APC’s clinical director of sports medicine) can fix it, we can implement a program that triggers the progression to close the gap of asymmetry and by then, you are not only developing the athlete you are fixing the problems along the way. Just in that element, the increase in performance is drastic because you have corrected malfunction in the body.”
Ferri was with the Florida Panthers in 2012 when he opened a small spot in Oakville to train kids in the summer.
“When I knew I wanted to have kids, I really stepped away from the pro game and went more to the development side,” he said.
Limitless Training Systems was launched in 2015 as its own business and it has grown to four locations in Niagara Falls, Oakville and two in Burlington.
“Our goal is simply to take performance and scale it back and implement it into development. A big piece for us is taking a 12-, 13-, 14-, 15-year-old kid and creating a development pathway for them to get to wherever they want to get to in their sport. That could be anywhere from a single A or double A hockey player to a professional athlete. It’s creating that pathway of development and implementing all the pieces that support it to be successful.”
Pelino APC and Limitless started talking partnership about 18 months ago when Niagara IceDogs owner Darren DeDobbelaer set up a meeting between Ferri, the IceDogs’ director of performance, and Joe Pelino.
“We came and had a sitdown and I was very impressed with the products, for the lack of a better term, and the offerings that they had. This was 18 months ago inside a makeshift facility that had no appearance like this,” Ferri said. “We were interested at that stage and we brought Dr. Joe on as our team chiro. Between Dr. Joe and another friend of mine, they convinced me to come out here.”
The partnership was a no brainer for Pelino.
“Limitless Systems is a top brand and we have the top equipment, the desire and the appetite for people to train in professional and amateur athletics at the top level. We can’t be everything for everybody so for us to be the best at what we can do for the treatment of injuries and the recovery, we learned the hard way that we’re not a destination for the gym world,” Pelino said. “When we met Limitless and Paul Ferri, we understood right away that when you do anything great you notice it right away. We thought, ‘Boy if we have them next door where they have a gym, we could do recovery and treatment and get that person back into the gym faster than normal.’ They can do what they do and when they do have someone that is injured or needs more recovery they can’t do, it’s what we do. It is the perfect service combination for that discerning client, that high-level client.”
The goal of the partnership is simple.
“Our focus is getting the brain connected to the body and the body connected to the brain so the person, by definition of what I learned at school, they can execute their humanity which is to go out there and do stuff; ride a bike and play sports. In order to do that, they have to condition the body —cardio, pulmonary, cardiovascular,” Pelino said. “They have to be stronger where their weaknesses are and they have to be motivated to push harder than they might otherwise. You see a lot of it in the Crossfit culture but you see a lot of unfortunate injuries from the way they train. These guys don’t do that.”
The partnership is a perfect fit for Ferri.
“Why it is great for us is all the pieces you need as an athlete — to fuel nutrition and supplementation wise, to train, to recover, those are the three main categories, and then to test and repeat — they are here,” he said. “The testing equipment that we have fills in the gaps of what they don’t have and the testing equipment that they have fills in the gaps of what we don’t have. It gives us the opportunity to implement the brain training and implement recovery all in the same space and that’s a huge piece in creating an all-around athlete.”
Pelino is excited about the partnership.
“It’s being the best available for the athletes and it’s all under one roof. We all grew up as children of parents who drove us everywhere for things. Finally someone has done it right,” Pelino said. “What is most important for parents is their child will have an opportunity to get to a high level of sports whether it’s professional or amateur, Division 1, Division 3 or U SPORTS. The other part is that they will have a great opportunity to get an education. I am a dad and that is what I wanted for my kid.”
Ferri is looking forward to Phase 3 of the facility. Phase 1 was launching Pelino APC, Phase 2 was getting the Limitless gym built and Phase 3 will be the construction of a sports complex on site, housing a soccer field, batting cages, synthetic ice and golf simulators or something of that nature.
“Phase 3 is a massive project. We would obviously love for it to be open in October but I doubt we will hit that window,” Ferri said.
He expects it to be ready sometime during the 2024-25 season.
“We are taking the whole element to the next level. Now they brain train, they lift and they’ll perform a sports-oriented task in the same building,” Ferri said. “I see it as an international destination for all things that an athlete needs from a professional level to an international competition level. I would go on the record and say there is not a facility that is going to have what this building has to offer in one place period. I would say in the whole country.”
Pelino can’t wait until all the phases have been completed.
“You’ve got brain speed protocols here for recovery, for rehabilitation, for injury and the big one is concussions. That is here right now. It’s high intensity, brain speed, balance, timing, coordination, symmetry. Those are skills specific to sport,” he said. “Next door in the same building, you have high intensity body training, camps and programs for teams. Beside that, there will be sport specific skills.”
All three important elements will be trained in the building.
“You have the speed which you have to see and react. You have the body that can get you to conquer, overpower or get away from an opponent and then you apply that to sport specific skills,” Pelino said.
He loves that the facility is homegrown.
“We have the Professional Hockey Players Association, we have the IceDogs, we have the River Lions and other local sports groups. Part 2 to that is the destination concept of tourism in Niagara.”
The Italian national hockey team, coached by Mike Pelino, is coming to the facility for two weeks this summer for a two-week program of brain speed and body speed training.
“This is a work in progress to that end,” Joe Pelino said.
Pelino APC operations director Laura Micevic has been questioned why a facility like this is located in Niagara.
“We get asked that a lot and the question is why not Niagara? We have a lot of amazing athletes right here in Niagara who have had to leave for that level of training, that level of care and we decided it was time to have it here. It is also a place where we can start bringing athletes here to Niagara to showcase what we have.”
