The Berman Method

Episode #208: Holiday Challenge and Gift Ideas

• Jenni • Season 1 • Episode 208

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In this episode of The Berman Method Podcast, Dr. Jake and Physician Assistant Jenni dive deep into the hard truths of today’s medical landscape—and why relying on insurance-based care is costing people real results. They break down how reimbursement cuts force providers to rush through appointments, why “one-on-one care” is becoming almost impossible in traditional clinics, and how patients are ultimately paying the price with slower progress and poorer outcomes.

Jake and Jenni also share the game-changing regenerative therapies now available at Berman Health Club—from far-infrared saunas to EMTT, shockwave, stimpod, and the surprisingly effective Liberty Patch that enhances balance instantly. They discuss why these modalities are becoming some of the most popular (and most meaningful) gifts this holiday season.

Finally, they challenge listeners not to fall into the typical December slump. Instead, they offer simple, measurable physical tests—balance, squats, flexibility, and even hydration—to help you continue progressing through the holidays rather than regressing like most of America.

This episode is part truth bomb, part motivation boost, and part invitation to take your longevity seriously—now, not later.

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SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, baby, we are rolling down the road with the Berman Method podcast focused on treating problems and not symptoms. Dr. Jake Berman here, my beautiful co-host.

SPEAKER_01:

Jenny Berman, physician assistant.

SPEAKER_00:

David going against Goliath, Goliath being the corporate medical system, big pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies, they do not have your best interests in mind. They will choose profits over patient outcomes every single time. And we're at the point now in American Western medicine that you really shouldn't be going anywhere that accepts your insurance. The quality of care has just gone through the freaking floor. The Medicare reimbursement just came out again with another three percent cut. So think about that. Your physical therapist that accepts Medicare for physical therapy services just got their reimbursement cut by another 3%. This has been going on for years now. Do you think that you can continue providing a quality product if you're not getting paid for it?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, the answer is no. You can't because you got to do more to make the same amount of money. You can't. Right?

SPEAKER_00:

Back in the 90s, you could see one patient an hour and get reimbursed everything that you charged for. Then back in the early 2000s, you had to, you only got reimbursed one patient an hour, you only got reimbursed X amount, even though you charged for a lot. Then in the 2010s, you had to see two patients an hour, 2015s, you had to three see three patients an hour, 2020. Now you're seeing four patients an hour just to make the same amount of money from the clinic. Right. Now another three percent cut.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

It's like it's it's not possible. You should not be, nobody should be going anywhere that accepts insurance for anything that you want a significant result from.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. So this is to in layman's terms, this is why your providers, physical therapists, for instance, are seeing four and five patients at the same time that they're seeing you in the same hour that they're seeing you. So you're actually at physical therapy for an hour. You might get 10 minutes of one-on-one time with your physical therapist out of that 60 minutes that you're there, and then they're moving on to the next client to spend their 10 minutes and you're shifted off doing exercises or still working on the table, but maybe not having one-on-one attention, not being watched for it with every move that you're doing. And this is so that the practice can make money by seeing that many clients an hour as compared to what they were making many, many years ago, seeing that one patient an hour.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01:

And same thing with doctor's offices. And I was there when I was in internal medicine. We were required to see X amount of patients a day to make ends me essentially for the hospital system. Um, we were required to prescribe so many medications, we were required to do so much, you know, certain testing. We couldn't do this. Um we couldn't prescribe this without doing this testing first. Like they have requirements of what you have to do and the rules you have to follow so that the hospital can make money. But then, of course, you're also dictated on what you can't do. So, physical therapy, for instance, if you're coming in because it's you have a script for your feet, but today you have back pain, the hair's not gonna look at your back because your script says your feet, and that's part of being an insurance.

SPEAKER_00:

It's absolutely insane. And again, those of you listening to this, we're preaching to the choir, but it's so true, it's so freaking true. You gotta bite the bullet, you get what you pay for, you have to invest in your own health, you just have to, and that's one of the things that I wanted to bring up today is with all of the regenerative therapies that we have right now, we've got a product that's significantly better than any spa that you go to in this town. Like you can go to any spa, I don't want to name any, right? Because we're not trying to create enemies.

SPEAKER_01:

Correct.

SPEAKER_00:

But you go to a spa and you get a facial, you get the steam bath, and you get a massage, a facial, whatever else that you can get there, and you feel great leaving, but it's all a superficial thing, right? Versus you come here to our regenerative therapies, our far infrared sauna, five to ten minutes, our EMTT shockwave, stem pod, you're actually healing cells and creating real longevity of your body.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. So, all of you that are last-minute Christmas shoppers out there, you should be focusing on getting your gifts, your longevity or our longevity services, where we're creating tons of coupons. We've not done coupons in 10 years, been in business for 10 years, and I rarely sold any coupons for Christmas. Like nobody wants to give the gift of physical therapy for Christmas. Right. But this year, now that we're Berman Health Club, we can't even keep up with these freaking coupons. People are coming in left and right saying, Let me get one session, let me get 15 sessions, let me get 30 sessions, and gifting them because this stuff is insane.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. To to just try it and see the difference in your sleep and in your pain. And, you know, we even had a client this past week say, It's actually different and it and it actually works. And I'm like, Well, we wouldn't have recommended it if we didn't think it was gonna work for you. Um, so yeah, just feeling different and the immediate effects that it has on reducing inflammation, pain response, um, sleep and and energy, of course. So the regenerative modalities have been a great gift. And so many will be like, I don't know what to get this person. They have everything, like they don't need anything, but they need longevity. So give them the regenerative abilities, they don't need it, they should want it though, and they'll be grateful if you give it to them. But I think everybody needs it.

SPEAKER_00:

We'd like to think they need it, they should want it though.

SPEAKER_01:

Even if you don't know that you have something going on, everybody has oxidative stress of some kind that could improve.

SPEAKER_00:

I agree. Touche, okay. Everybody needs to come in for at least five minutes a day, seven days a week to get in our far-infrared sauna to help with this oxidative stress.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, anyways, whether it's a need or a want, it's beneficial.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Check this out. So we've we've got these balance patches that we've had for six months now or so, and it's gonna be hard to explain this through a podcast, and it's even hard to explain this in person. But what this if you want to look this up, it's called hepatics, and it's the science of the brain's ability to perceive certain um designs, certain shapes, certain um patterns is what it is, and then the body responds in a different way based off of that pattern that it responds uh that it perceives. So we've got these patches that's called the Liberty Patch. And what the Liberty Patch does is it goes onto your skin, you just put it right under your arm, and you instantaneously have better balance. And as I say this, it sounds so snake oil-ish. I mean, it sounds so fake, and to be completely transparent, I did not believe this thing worked. I just did it. I mean, the sales rep, he presented it for 18 months at all of our events, and I just shook my head and looked the other way every time he talked about it. But it freaking works.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Until we tried it, until we freaking tried it. So this past summer I said, okay, I'll entertain this, and I got a a package of them, and I started putting them on, I put a patch on literally every single person that walked in the door, including ourselves. And I was doing everything I possibly could to debunk this thing and call it snake oil, but it works 100% of the time. And I'm just I'm going, this this just doesn't make sense. It's just a pattern. There's no, it's not a transdermal thing.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, no medications, no contraindications.

SPEAKER_00:

It's literally just a pattern on a sticker that you put on your skin, and your brain perceives that pattern, and then instantaneous, instantaneously tells your body to perform better. Right. So I've been using this on a quite a few of my clients who are 80, 75, 80 plus years old, and just doing these tests, and every single time I do a pre-test. Stand on one leg, now stand on the other leg, counting how wobbly you are, how many seconds you can do it. And then I tell you to put your arms out in front of you, grab your hands, and then I try to push your hands down to try to essentially push you forward, pull you forward. And I'm doing all these things to do a pre-test on your balance. Then I put the sticker on and I do the same exact test objectively, not trying to cheat or anything. And the look that people put on their face, unsolic, unsolicited look, where they just instantaneously they go, Oh my gosh, that's better.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Those are the most common words that I'm hearing is oh my gosh, that's better. Why?

SPEAKER_01:

Those are the that's the next word, why? Why did that work?

SPEAKER_00:

And I always say the same thing. I don't freaking know. That's this hepatics thing, and I'm not even gonna try to explain it. But what I'm trying to say is that Berman here at Berman Health Club, we're constantly trying to find the latest, greatest, real thing that's gonna help you live a higher quality of life, help you arrive at 80, feeling 60, help you arrive at 60, feeling 40. And these are real things that are helping real people get significantly better quality of life than they had just a couple of years ago. Right. So, my two cents to you is this Christmas season, Hanukkah season, if you're looking for a gift, come in here to Berman Health Club. We'll give you a nice little printout on a gift certificate so that you can give somebody the gift of regenerative therapies. And hell, if you don't want to give somebody the gift, gift it to yourself. Right. Because there's deals on these things, it's not a it's not a full price thing. There's still deals on these.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. Because you're you're helping someone else or helping yourself through the holiday season, and we don't want to negate you helping yourself either. So you're allowed to buy them for yourself. Yeah, buy it and put it in your own stocking, and then on Christmas, you're like, oh my gosh, look what I got.

SPEAKER_00:

I get to take care of myself. Man, I'm gonna help decrease my oxidative stress. Oh my gosh, I'm gonna sleep better tonight. Yeah. Oh my gosh, I'm not gonna fall and break my hip.

SPEAKER_01:

That's exactly it. Oh my gosh, I can feel my feet.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, let's pivot just slightly. Here we are, mid-December, and most people are quote unquote giving up right now. They're slowing down, if not giving up entirely on gym routines, progressions, and just saying, you know what, let's pick this thing up in January. And it happens every single year.

SPEAKER_01:

Don't do it.

SPEAKER_00:

Don't do it. So here's my challenge is let's do a quick test on something. I'm gonna go ahead and rattle off a few things and just whichever one is your worst one, that's gonna be the one that I'm gonna challenge you to. So here's the simplest one. Stand on one leg. Then stand on the other leg. And see if you can make it 60 seconds on your right leg. See if you can make it 60 seconds on your left leg. There's a lot of people listening to this that won't make it five seconds. There's a lot of people listening to this that can make it five minutes.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and there's a lot of people that say, Oh, I could do that, that's easy. But actually try it.

SPEAKER_00:

Try it. So if you are one of the people that can make it 60 seconds, no problem. Now I want you to try to stand on one leg with your eyes closed.

SPEAKER_01:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00:

Right? It's a completely different ball game. And then whatever your answer is, let's say that you can only stand on one leg for three seconds. It's middle of December right now. There's no reason at all why you shouldn't be at 30 seconds two weeks from now.

SPEAKER_01:

Correct.

SPEAKER_00:

Right? So let's say that you plot pass those with flying colors and like Jake, that's too easy. Alright, well, get down on the ground and get back up again and don't use your hands.

SPEAKER_01:

All the way down on the ground.

SPEAKER_00:

All the way down. And you do it using the right leg dominantly, then the left leg. Okay, that's easy too. Well, how about air squats? How many air squats can you do in one minute? Set a timer. See, how many can you do in one minute? Should be somewhere around 50. Right. You should be able to get 50 air squats in 60 seconds. Yes. If you can't, let's say you only got 20. Let's try to get that number from 20 to 30 by January 1st.

SPEAKER_01:

I like that goal.

SPEAKER_00:

That's a good one.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I really like it. Let's say you can do 50 air squats in 60 seconds. Okay. What about a full squat as to grass without falling backwards?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, and without injuring your knees.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So doing it the right way.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, just being able to do it. Can you do a full squat all the way down as to grass, pop a squat like a toddler, and hold it there without falling backwards? Or do you need to hold on to something to get down there? Or do you just your knees won't let you get down there? You're too stiff, you're too tight, you're too achy, too painful.

SPEAKER_01:

We get down there and can't get back up.

SPEAKER_00:

Get down, can't get back up.

SPEAKER_01:

So maybe try this next uh some help. Uh something stable.

SPEAKER_00:

Now let's say that everything that I mentioned so far, you can do with flying colors. Okay. What about standing up with straight knees, bending over? Can you touch your toes?

SPEAKER_01:

So now we're not focused on mobility and strength as much as flexibility.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, the ability to get into an awkward position if you're trying to reach under a sink or something, that's where injury occurs. So if you have quote unquote never been flexible, I've never been able to touch my toes. Well, that's bullshit. Yeah, you can keep telling yourself that story if that's the story you want to live. Right. If you can, with straight knees, only bend over and touch your knees, why don't we get down to your shins within two weeks? All of these things are very possible. I've been doing it for years, helping my clients do this for years. So you can't sit here and tell me that it's not possible because we do it on a regular base, regular basis. And the important thing to note here, actually, let's do one last one. Let's say you could do all of those things, no problem. Okay, fine.

SPEAKER_01:

What's next?

SPEAKER_00:

Let's go to a cardio thing.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

How long does it take you to walk a mile?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh.

SPEAKER_00:

Let's say it takes you 15 minutes to walk a mile.

SPEAKER_01:

It's a fast mile.

SPEAKER_00:

Is it?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

How how long should it take to walk a mile?

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, 15 minutes is great.

SPEAKER_00:

But let's how long would it take me to walk a mile?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, I'd say I'd say you could do it in 16 minutes.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so 20 minutes?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so let's say half a mile. How long does it take you to walk a half a mile? Does it take you 10 minutes to walk a half a mile? Okay. By the time January 1st rolls around, see if you can get that down to nine minutes. Okay. If you could do a half a mile in nine minutes, and you used to do it in 10 minutes, that's significant. The whole point of this is we're trying to pick something to improve over the next two weeks if we're gonna go to holiday parties, if we're gonna travel, if we're gonna have company, if we're gonna miss some workouts here and there because we're traveling or whatever the excuse is. Just pick something.

SPEAKER_01:

What's the challenge that's gonna help you continue to progress and not regress over the next two weeks?

SPEAKER_00:

That's it. Something simple. So that way when January 1st rolls around, you can be happy and proud that you actually did something to progress through the holidays while 99.9% of America is regressing.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe it should be like a hundred ounces of water. Because think about it, all the parties and not sleeping as much, and more alcohol, and more sugar, and more just stuff, and then we're busy, so we forget to drink water. And water, I mean, your body is made of water.

SPEAKER_00:

It is important, it's really, really important. So I drink over 100 ounces a day, very close to 128 ounces a day. Which is a gallon, which is a gallon. And when I was on my hunting trip in Missouri for eight days, maybe got 50 ounces a day.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And the first thing that I noticed was my GI motility, where it's like, holy cow, I'm not regular anymore. And this is actual effort, and I have to actually time this thing or force it because I it's not being regular. Then after that, I noticed that the the few times that I did make it, I did make it to the gym four times in those eight days, but my performance in the gym was sluggish at best. So water is a crucial, crucial component to it, especially if we're gonna have an influx of alcohol and sugar and carbs, which is sugar, over the holidays.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, yeah, and dehydration even affects our energy, not just your performance in the gym, but your energy if you're feeling fatigued during the day, it affects our hunger. If we're feeling more hungry and more craving, you're probably dehydrated. Motility, as you mentioned, 100%. Muscle cramps, like it affects so much, and especially through this holiday season where we're so busy. So that could be another challenge.

SPEAKER_00:

Water okay, good. I like it.

SPEAKER_01:

Simple. All right, so gift regenerative therapy.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep, come in for a gift certificate.

SPEAKER_01:

Try the liberty patch for balance.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, if you know somebody that doesn't have great balance, you'll know literally in five seconds.

SPEAKER_01:

And challenge yourself to one thing over the next two weeks and write it down.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, measure it. What's get what gets written down gets measured, what gets measured gets improved.

SPEAKER_01:

Awesome. Happy December, channel.