Power skating into fitness: Olympian and TFI bring together physical therapy and athletic training

When an Olympic athlete talks, you listen.

“There’s not too many places that do it quite like us,” Olympic speed skater Brian Hansen said about the health and wellness center he jointly owns — TFI Physical Therapy & Sports Performance in Vernon Hills.

TFI, at 701 N. Milwaukee Ave., opened May 30, 2023, seven years after the opening of TFI’s first location at West Bradley Place in Chicago. Hansen first got involved in 2021 with TFI Chicago, formerly known as The Fit Institute.

TFI offers a multidisciplinary approach of physical therapy, personal training, private and group Pilates, and a recovery room featuring ice baths, sauna and compression boots.

A Glenview native now with a 16-month-old child, Hansen earned 13 World Cup medals as a speed skater and participated in the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics, earning a silver medal in 2010 in team pursuit.

After his competitive career, he moved into marketing and continues to coach with the Northbrook Speed Skating Club. He’s TFI’s marketing manager and power skating trainer.

Hansen got full bore into physical therapy after suffering a herniated disc in the months leading up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics; his TFI relationship began after his father, John Hansen, attended therapy sessions at the Chicago center under co-owner Luigi Degirolamo.

Hansen was drawn to TFI to blend his marketing skills in a sports environment.

Now a Highland Park resident, Hansen compares TFI’s methodology to what he experienced at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

“It mimics a lot of the elements of the training facility out there, where you have that collaboration,” he said. “I don’t think there’s many privately run facilities that offer that collaboration. It mimics the feel of a high-performance center, and that being said, you don’t have to be an athlete.”

Pilates, for example, may be incorporated into physical therapy sessions to address balance and improve range of motion and strength. Physical therapists and trainers in the 5,500-square-foot facility work in tandem to create a personalized rehabilitation plan. Clients may communicate and work with trainers in multiple disciplines.

Under the systematic approach of recovery specialist Ryan LeFever, a program of breathing, heat, cold and compression offers a variety of benefits for athletes and non-athletes.

TFI will introduce newcomers to this “fire and ice” protocol in a free “Recover Like a Pro” session for new clients at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 17.

Like Hansen, TFI co-owner LeFever brings a high degree of experience and skill. A physical therapist since 2004, for eight years he was a consulting therapist with the Chicago Bears and spent three years as the Chicago White Sox’s physical therapist.

Degirolamo is a certified personal trainer and strength and conditioning specialist with an extensive background in soccer. Pilates director Niki Stefanov earned her doctorate in physical therapy at the University of Illinois-Chicago. A current program is geared toward dancers 8 to 14 years old, using Pilates to enhance their movements.

TFI Director Isaac Lai, who has more than two decades of experience in physical training, earned a doctorate from Duke University in the specialty.

A Vernon Hills resident with a sophomore son who plays baseball at Vernon Hills High School, Lai also trains pitchers from Stevenson and Mundelein high schools at TFI, he said. The Vernon Hills facility offers sports-specific training.

Athletes get a kick out of an “open field to run around like crazy,” Lai said.

The size of the space is one of the things he likes about TFI, which he calls a “mom-and-pop shop” compared to chain training facilities.

“The uniqueness about TFI is that we take every client that is coming into our doors and we give them individualized personal attention,” Lai said.

It may be a mom-and-pop shop, but it’s got Hansen’s seal of approval.

“In my opinion, it’s better than a lot of storefront facilities that don’t have the same resources or variety of employees,” Hansen said.