Your first 90‑minute evaluation at Stay Strong Physical Therapy

One-on-one time that gets to the bottom of it

Staying active through your 40s, 50s, and 60s isn’t easy, especially when recurring pain keeps getting in the way. Whether it’s a lingering shoulder ache or a knee that flares up after a long walk, it’s frustrating to feel like you’re doing everything right but still not making progress.

At Stay Strong Physical Therapy, your first session looks completely different. You’ll get 90 uninterrupted minutes with me, Andrea, a licensed physical therapist with 20 years of experience and a deep respect for how much movement matters in your life. This isn’t about checking boxes or handing you a generic printout. It’s about understanding why you hurt, treating the root cause, and building a plan that actually works.

This article walks you through exactly what to expect—step by step. Whether you’re dealing with a stubborn injury or just want to move with more ease, your first session in a one-on-one setting at a gym in Chino, CA is designed to uncover what’s holding you back and begin fixing it, right away.

Your injury story matters

I start by listening—really listening

The first part of your evaluation is called the subjective assessment, but really, it’s a conversation. This is where I learn about your story.

We’ll talk through questions like:

• Where do you feel pain, and when does it tend to show up?

• What movements or workouts aggravate it?

• How long has it been going on?

• What have you tried that helped? What didn’t?

Maybe your shoulder aches every time you press overhead, or your knee flares up after your weekend run. Maybe you're having difficulty going down stairs, or squatting to get into a low cabinet. This is your chance to lay it all out—no rushing, no judgment.

We’ll also cover:

• Daily movement limitations: Whether it's loading the dishwasher or lifting weights, I want to know what’s hard right now.

• Medical history: Previous injuries, surgeries, or chronic conditions help shape what we do next.

• Treatment history: If you’ve seen other providers or tried different modalities (stretching, massage, injections), we’ll factor that in.

Why does all this matter? Because pain doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s part of a bigger picture—your body, your lifestyle, your goals. This first conversation is the foundation for everything that follows.

Physical assessment

From movement screens to special tests—we leave no stone unturned

Once I’ve heard your story, the next step is the physical assessment. This is where we dig into what your body is doing, and not doing. Every test I choose is based on what you’ve told me, and it’s designed to uncover why your pain keeps showing up.

Here’s what we’ll go through, step by step:

Range of motion & mobility

We’ll look at how freely your joints are moving, or where they might be restricted. This could include spine, shoulder, hip, or ankle mobility, depending on your issue. I’ll also check how smoothly your soft tissue and surrounding structures are functioning.

Strength testing

This includes isolated strength checks (like glutes, core, or shoulders), as well as comparisons between your left and right side. Sometimes pain happens not because a muscle is weak, but because it’s not doing its job at the right time. We’re looking for both deficits and imbalances.

Posture & gait analysis

I’ll observe how you carry yourself—standing, walking, and shifting your weight. Your posture and gait provide important clues about alignment, compensation patterns, and where strain is showing up when it shouldn’t.

Functional movement trials

This is where we recreate the issue in real time. I might ask you to squat, bend, reach, or perform the exact movement that tends to aggravate your pain. The goal? To reproduce your familiar symptoms—not to make you suffer, but to trace the pain to its source.

Neurological screening

We’ll check reflexes, sensation, and how well your nervous system is communicating with your muscles. If a nerve is irritated or compressed, we’ll catch that here.

Joint mobility testing

I’ll use hands-on techniques to test how individual joints are moving. This helps me distinguish between a mobility restriction (something’s stiff) versus a stability issue (something’s moving too much).

Special tests

If we suspect a more specific issue—like a rotator cuff tear, nerve impingement, or ligament injury—I’ll use targeted orthopedic tests to narrow it down. These are precise, evidence-backed ways to rule in or rule out likely causes.

By the end of this section, I’ll have a clear picture of how your body is working, and where it’s not. From here, we move into treatment and planning.

Immediate hands-on treatment

Relief begins in minute one

Once we’ve pinpointed what’s contributing to your pain, we don’t just talk about it, we start treating it.

In your first session, I’ll often begin with hands-on manual therapy. This isn’t a spa-style massage or a one-size-fits-all routine. It’s targeted, intentional work to improve how your body moves and feels, right now.

Depending on what we found in the assessment, your treatment might include:

• Joint mobilization: Helping stiff joints move more freely and comfortably.

• Soft tissue release: Easing tension in overworked or protective muscles.

• Nerve glides: Freeing up irritated or compressed nerves that may be causing pain or tingling.

• Muscle activation: If key muscles (like your glutes or deep core) aren’t “firing,” I’ll help cue and retrain them so your movements become more effective and less painful.

This part of the session is active. I’ll be working with you, not just on you. Whether it’s adjusting how you move, reintroducing load in a controlled way, or retraining your nervous system, the goal is to start making progress immediately—not weeks from now.

And just as important: everything we do connects back to your goals. Whether you want to lift weights, run comfortably, or just unload the dishwasher without wincing, treatment is shaped around what you care about most.

Leave with a plan

Your personalized Home Exercise Program (HEP)

Before you leave your first session, you’ll get a clear, customized home exercise program—something you can start right away, without needing fancy equipment.

I’ll walk you through 3 to 5 specific movements chosen just for you, based on what we uncovered during your evaluation. These are simple, effective exercises designed to:

• Reinforce the progress we made in-session.

• Address key deficits (like mobility, stability, or coordination).

• Build consistency between visits.

You’ll receive:

• Access to our home exercise program app, so you don’t have to rely on memory.

• Clear instructions for how many reps, how long to hold, and how often to do them.

• Guidelines for what to expect (including when something might feel uncomfortable but not harmful).

This isn’t busywork. It’s the foundation for progress. Your body needs repetition and reinforcement to change, what you do between sessions matters just as much as what we do in the clinic.

And if anything feels off once you get home, you’re not alone. Patients often email me questions, and I welcome it. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s momentum.

Roadmap for your recovery

From pain relief to long-term strength—here’s what comes next

Your evaluation is just the beginning, but it sets the tone for everything that follows.

After we wrap up your first session, I’ll walk you through my clinical recommendations. Every plan is tailored to your body, your goals, and how your system responds to treatment. But in general, the road to recovery follows a clear progression:

Phase 1: Calm the nervous system & control pain

When you’re in pain, your body’s first job is to protect. Muscles tighten, movements compensate, and your system becomes reactive. In this early phase, we focus on relieving symptoms, restoring comfort, and giving your nervous system time to settle.

Phase 2: Restore mobility

Once pain is under control, we zero in on restoring the way your joints, muscles, and tissues move. That might mean improving shoulder flexion, ankle dorsiflexion, or simply helping your spine rotate without triggering symptoms.

Phase 3: Build strength where it matters

Strength is what helps you stay out of pain, not just get out of it. But we won’t rush this phase. Starting heavy too soon can aggravate healing tissues or re-trigger old compensation patterns. When your body is ready, we’ll introduce progressive loading to help you move better, lift better, and feel more resilient overall.

What about follow-up sessions?

If your evaluation reveals multiple deficits, or if your goals go beyond basic pain relief, I’ll recommend a follow-up plan that aligns with your needs. For some, that means a few targeted visits. For others, it’s a longer arc with regular check-ins to rebuild strength and confidence.

Either way, I’ll make sure you know:

• What the next few weeks might look like.

• How we’ll measure progress.

• When to advance your program (and when not to).

• How to modify your current workout routine to protect your progress, and avoid further injury.

Physical therapy isn’t about chasing pain or repeating the same exercises forever. It’s a process of unlearning, relearning, and reloading—with your goals at the center of it all.

The 90-minute evaluation that changes everything

If you’ve been sidelined by recurring pain, or just tired of quick fixes that never seem to stick, your first session at Stay Strong Physical Therapy is designed to break that cycle.

You’ll get more than just answers. You’ll get a plan.

This 90-minute evaluation is your chance to:

• Understand why your pain keeps showing up.

• Get immediate, personalized treatment.

• Leave with a plan that makes sense, and actually fits your life.

Most importantly, you’ll have my full attention—working directly with me, Andrea. No bouncing between providers. No generic protocols. Just one-on-one care designed to help you stay active, stay strong, and move with confidence again.