The goal of any rehabilitation is to restore function to the injured structure in the shortest amount of time, allowing people to return to their normal day-to-day activities with the minimal risk of re-injury. Rehabilitation exercise aims to bring back full function following an injury through restoring muscle strength, endurance, power, and flexibility. It’s fair to say that rehabilitation is as important as hands-on treatment, although it’s often forgotten about. It’s important to understand that injuries will improve and heal more successfully if an exercise plan is followed. It’s importan ..read more

There’s nothing worse than being in any kind of pain for a long period of time. More often than not, massage therapy and other hands-on treatment can alleviate a lot of these symptoms of pain and also help to identify restrictions before they become a problem. Unfortunately, though, we don’t have magic wands. Where most people find great relief after receiving a treatment from our therapists, others find niggles that may take a few sessions to start to resolve and feel more comfortable.   As a sports therapist, I am a huge advocate of rehabilitation and its role at aiding your recove ..read more

Sports massage may seem like quite a new concept to many people, but its origins can be traced far back into history. But who was first to use it? And how did it become used in the way it is today?   Early use of massage and reflexology Early use of massage and reflexology can be traced all the way back to ancient Egyptian times! Decorations on the tomb of Ptahhotep (a Vizer during the reign of Djedkare) show Ptahhotep having a manicure and pedicure and also receiving a massage from his servants. It’s likely that the purpose of these massages was very different from the modern-day sports ..read more

We’ve all got out of bed in the morning and our body starts sounding like a bowl of rice crispies; Snap, Crackle, Pop! And you probably know that one person at work who’s constantly clicking their knuckles and being told that they will get arthritis from doing it. Thankfully, there’s been a lot of research around joint clicking, and there’s been no demonstrated correlation between cracking your joints and developing arthritis. Hooray!   In this blog we’re going to explain the science behind joint clicking and to debunk the myths surrounding this topic.     Anatomy of joints &nbs ..read more

The dreaded ‘R’ word is the word no one sporty wants to hear and the word not many people actually do. In our society we’re often on the go all the time and the importance of staying active and regularly exercising is drilled into us. We’re busy people. That’s perhaps why rest normally comes with an overwhelming sense of guilt. Would you believe that rest days are just as important as exercise? In fact, even the most successful fitness regimes all have scheduled rest days. Taking regular breaks from exercise allows your body to recover and repair. It plays a critical part in progress, regardle ..read more

The term Strength and Conditioning (S&C) can be confusing. You may have heard of it but perhaps you don’t fully understand what it means. If so, read on!   In essence a S&C Coach plans, delivers, and reviews the physical and physiological preparation of athletes aligned to specific sports performance outcomes.   To do this, Strength and Conditioning Coaches have a deep understanding of the physical characteristics needed for their clients to excel in sports performance and advanced components of training. They understand what it takes for an athlete to be resilient to the dem ..read more

This is a question we get asked numerous times a day and a question that is tricky to answer. Every injury is different and the recovery time is relative to what the injury is, how severe the injury is, the location of the injury, your lifestyle, your approach to training with the injury, and how you approach injury management.   What is an injury? In essence, you’ll know that an injury is damage to the body. This can include damage to various tissues within the body, such as the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Each tissue type has a different healing time frame which is due to t ..read more

 In this new world of lockdown after lockdown, there’s been a lot of talk about the negative effects on our mental health, and rightly so. But as therapists we’re also interested in how our bodies have changed and coped with the new pressures they’ve been under.  This blog discusses the importance of addressing our body’s changes and looks into the physical and mental benefits of doing so.   Lockdown Commences It’s the 23rd of March 2020, and your head is still trying to work out how you are going to get through 3 weeks of lockdown. Little did we know what we were in for! Some o ..read more

Sleep. We all need it, and we all do it. It’s even a hobby for some of us! A good night’s sleep can make us feel like a million dollars when we wake up. On the flip side getting up in the morning after interrupted sleep or waking up with aches and pains can make us feel ready for the scrap yard! As adults we average at 7 hours of sleep a day, so being still for this period of time can cause strain on our bodies. So how do the positions we sleep in affect us? Are there positions we shouldn’t be sleeping in? The list of various sleeping positions is actually rather more extensive than you ..read more

Barefoot running is as it sounds. It is the process of running without any footwear or protection from the outside environment. During the cold wintertime, you can imagine this sounds mad so why do people do it? This style of running requires good strength and conditioning of all foot muscles/calf prior to running with no shoes. However, when done correctly can create increased sensory feedback (proprioception) of your feet with the ground, which allows greater activation of foot and ankle musculature to restore optimum movement of the feet, knees, ankles and hips. If it is so good for you, th ..read more