Winston Gordon Team GB Judo and current UK number one middleweight was interviewed in the dojo at Ernest Bevan School in Tooting by ITV news this week about his preparation for London 2012 and how the team at Balance Performance Physiotherapy have not only helped him overcome several potentially career ending injuries but also improve his performance through strength, conditioning and movement drills.

Jason Progl from Balance training Winston and the boys at Ernest Bevan

It was a fantastic afternoon where Winston was filmed putting some of the pupils through their paces in the dojo, they thought that was hard until Jason Progl from Balance took over and tested their ability to really move.

Graham Anderson our Clinical Director has now worked closely with Winston for over ten years as Graham used to be the physio for Team GB Judo. With Graham’s and the team at Balance expertise and Winston’s hard work massive obstacles have been overcome in terms of injury. To be the current UK number 1 and hopefully soon to qualify for the Olympics is a massive achievement for Winston and everyone who has worked with him as Winston says himself

“ Balance is a great asset and an excellent team to work with. I would recommend them to anyone who has sustained a sports injury. I thank them all for all their help and support in enabling me to pursue my Olympic dream“

Dr Lucy Goldby has written a fantastic article on the Alter G treadmill (G-Trainer) that has appeared on Run Britain’s website. Run Britain is the largest online group for road running in the UK.

Balance has now had their Alter-G for over three years and firmly believe that a tool is only as good as the knowledge of those who use it. In the three years that Balance has had the Alter-G our team of therapists have accumulated hours of time using the G-trainer with clients from a huge range of disciplines, levels and with differing problems. From clients with hip replacements, club runners wanting to run faster to premiership footballers getting over a knock the Balance team have seen it all.

If you want to use the Alter-G at Balance and haven’t used it before you will automatically have a session with one of our expert therapists on how to use it to maximise your rehab and or performance to achieve your goals.

To read Lucy’s fantastic article please follow the link: http://runbritain.com/little-runbritain/157/

For more information on using the G-Trainer (commonly referred to as “Alter-G”) or to book a free session at Balance call 0207 627 2308

Sports injury and orthopaedic rehab at Balance Performance Physiotherapy

If you’re unfortunate enough to suffer an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) rupture as Lucas Leiva did last week – the Brazil international will miss the rest of the season having injured his left knee during Tuesday’s Carling Cup quarter-final victory at Chelsea – as a professional footballer reconstructive surgery is essential to return to the game.

If you’re not a pro but the injury results in your knee continuing to irregularly give way, an operation to reconstruct the ACL is really your only option, especially if you aspire to have an active lifestyle. At Balance of course we actively encourage you to ask for more and expect more from yourself. However whether pro athlete or not the operation is only effective if followed with quality rehabilitation executed with discipline and patience. Ensure your rehab guides you far enough down the road for you to achieve a complete recovery, give you absolute confidence to return to your sport and has provided you with resilience to future injury (either to the same knee or another structure that becomes vulnerable due to inadequate rehab). Of course there is no such thing as invulnerability in a human but to reiterate – you should be asking more of yourself and more of your physio or sports therapist. Do not pull up short!

Hamstring grafts are the grafts of choice these days but patella tendon grafts can also be used and do well.

Here’s the kind of schedule you’d expect going into rehab post operatively, which is initially quite straightforward:

Weeks 1-4 focussed on range of movement.

Return to sport at 5-6 months and contact sport soon afterwards.

This timeline is dependant on the quality of rehab, the individuals discipline and motivation, their unique circumstances and complications.

Most surgeons would like to see their work relatively protected for 9 months post op.

Balance got world class judo player Winnie Gordon competing in European champs at 5.5 months but that is rare. He went in to surgery on with a good level of preinjury knee strength which gave him a useful functional reserve.

Like every injury ones success is dependent on quality of training, movement, control and motivation.

At Balance we use tools that provide results, consequently we have a vast array of “toys” to work on specific weaknesses identified in our clients. There are some tools that we use over and over again, equipment that makes rehab more effective for a variety of reasons. one such reason is the ability to introduce something as early within the rehab process as possible to familiarise a client with the tool and also because we use equipment that is scalable – it can be used with more or less intensity depending on the stage of development a client has achieved.

For example Trigger Point Performance Therapy (TPT) and Alter-G partial weight bearing treadmill are used at very early stages in ACL rehab, CrossCore180 and kettlebells arent far behind. We make use of all of our available space: in Clapham and Fulham we have 1,000s of square feet of space to utilise and matted areas for essential ground work.

When an individual has focussed on prevention (prehab) prior to their current injury (remember there is no such thing as invulnerable) their subsequent recovery is much faster. Such prehab involves a mindful approach to movement skills, joint mobility, intelligent recovery following practice/training/competition: sports massage, self massage (Trigger Point Performance Therapy), hydration and nutrition, good quality sleep, stress management (mental and emotional).

As for Lucas, he and Liverpool are now considering when last season’s player of the year should undergo surgery.

The Balance team of Martina, Keith and Scott were at it again at this weekends Virgin London Triathlon working closely with KT Tape Europe to help the athletes with advice and taping any problems that they may have. The Balance team are becoming old hands having helped athletes at the 2011 Virgin London Marathon and 2011 Edinburgh marathon. KT Tape is the best kinesiology tape as far as the Balance team is concerned which is why we are hosting KT Tape education courses at Balance from September the 7th onwards to train other physios, osteopaths, sports therapists and chiropractors on how to use it and share their expertise. The courses will then be appearing throughout the UK.

The in-depth and highly practical courses will be over two days and cost £279. It will consist of an introduction to kinesiology tape before moving deeper into more advanced uses and taping techniques.

To book online follow the link below or to find out more speak to Scott Morris at Balance on: 020 76272308.

http://www.shop.balancephysio.com/collections/services/education-workshops

Much focus has been placed on the recovery needs of triathletes, cyclists and marathon/ultradistance athletes when it comes to TP therapy but the reality is that EVERYONE can benefit from increased confidence in their movement capabilities and an effective approach to recover and offset the stresses (physical, mental and emotional) we all experience. From sedentary office workers with upper limb tension problems and/or headaches to the very active professionals in the military, or dancers who are equally vulnerable to overuse issues.

Its important to acknowledge and understand history. The history behind Trigger Point Performance Therapy is that the creator of TPT tools, Cassidy Phillips, did so out of a need to combat his own pain and dysfunction and return to the activities that were most important to him. For Cassidy, although he had a background of BMX and other extreme sports, it was Iron Man Triathlon. Consequently much of the early focus was on the endurance athlete community.

Just as kettlebells and CrossCore 180 were not a fitness industry boardroom invention, TPT also has the integrity of being born out of a need for greater effectiveness not making a quick buck. The common denominator for these high quality tools is not simply a good product/tool/brand but also high quality and ever evolving education.

Balance Performance has since its beginnings in 2001 strived for our clients to understand that their best hopes lay in learning strategies that empower them to take care of themselves. We continue to work at improving the way we communicate this message of gaining a long term perspective and taking control of ones own rehab, recovery or performance. Having some exceptional tools at our disposal makes it easier than ever for our clients to introduce new habits of movement, recovery, strength and conditioning.

Balance holds 2 classes per week in Clapham using Trigger Point therapy tools http://bit.ly/fbbYKr, one focussed on the Ultimate 6 (areas of the body that are most influential on the way that we move) and the other focussed on the trunk and upper limbs. We will soon be adding 2 more Ultimate 6 classes, one in Fulham (FitRooms SW6) and another in our South London (Lambeth) facility.

Balance was the first facility to introduce such a recovery class to the UK but we’d like to see many more spring up around the UK so that those who recognise the value of TPT can maximise on their investment and understand more about the tools at their disposal. To do this needs Ultimate 6 education providers – and this is why Jonathan is providing regular U6 education workshops for coaches and trainers to be confident to teach and empower their clients and members of the public the powerful results one can achieve using Trigger Point Therapy.

The next workshop in London will be September 16th (Friday afternoon) and held in Fulham, London, SW6. Following this there will be dates in Scotland, the North East of England, and hopefully Brighton and Bournemouth.

for more information and to book on to the 4.5 hour workshop go to the Balance Performance shop site:

Trigger Point Therapy for recovery and performance

This fascinating course is aimed at anyone who wants to use Trigger Point Therapy in their professional capacity. You might be a Physiotherapist, Osteopath, Chiropractor, Sports Therapist, Massage Therapist, Personal Trainer, Sports Coach or even an Athlete. If you work with people who want to perform better, recover faster and prevent injuries from occuring then this course should be on your radar.

It is being taken by Jonathan Lewis (above) who is not only the Uk’s sole Trigger Point Therapy Master Trainer but also a formidable knowledge on rehabilitation and training methods to ensure that individuals develop not only agility, speed or strength but resilience which is key to the concept of Trigger Point Therapy, so you are guaranteed an afternoon of the highest quality teaching

It comprises of 4.5 hours of CPD and runs from 1pm-6pm on Friday the 17th of June. Places are obviously limited so book soon to avoid disappointment, course fees are £145. To book and reserve your place call Balance on 020 76272308

POSE Running workshop on Sunday May 22 at Balance.

Balance Performance Physiotherapy is delighted to announce that Naeem Akram the “Running Engineer” is going to be back at Balance next Sunday to host another of his exceptional POSE running workshops. POSE is the only method in the world scientifically proven to reduce knee impact by 50%, used worldwide by CrossFit. Naeem is not only a well respected authority on this technique but also a great speaker and teacher, we would thoroughly recommend this course to anyone who enjoys running but wants to train in confidence and reduce the stress on their body and reduce injuries.

To book and pay please follow the link directly to Naeem’s website http://runningengineer.com/

Yesterday at Balance. Jonathan taught the second “Ultimate 6″ 4.5 hour workshop in the UK for Trigger Point Performance.

After the success of Edinburgh a few weeks ago another small group of quality professionals learnt not just the highly effective techniques that provide maximum returns when using the TP tools (TP massage ball, TP footballer and TP quadballer) but the ethos of Cassidy Phillips company which is so closely aligned with that of Balance Performance. Empowering people to take care of their own health.

The group yesterday, who I hope will demonstrate their knowledge and pass their test to become certified by TPP to go on to the Ultimate 6 provider network, consisted of personal trainers, strength and conditioning coaches and Balance team soft tissue specialist and osteopathic undergraduate Trevor Speller.

There will be many workshops to come so keep a look out for dates on the facebook, twitter and news pages of balance. We are passionate and determined to see more professionals being able to teach individuals and classes in the community at large these simple often life-altering techniques.

For greater understanding of what Trigger Point Performance Therapy is about go to the main website of TP Therapy or contact jonathan @ balancephysio.com and ask for the contact details of a provider near you in Scotland, Wales or England.

Unlock your body, release your strength!

I risk going on a bit too much about the WarMachine or Crosscore 180. But it represents so much of what Balance Performance is about. Practicing movement to achieve functional movement that is fluid, flowing, accurate, precise, full of intent and purpose. Functional movement is dynamic, rotational, variable in speed and intensity: we recommend use of bodyweight, dynamic resistance (kettlebells), and bodyweight plus eg. the WarMachine.

I was asked by a journalist from Health Club Management about the difference between the WarMachine and CrossCore 180. For some WarMachine seems a bit too confrontational so prefer the name CrossCore 180. The military, MMA, combat sport and strength/conditioning coach community have few issues with the WarMachine. Schools and colleges, sports teams, commercial fitness gyms, physiotherapists, rehab facilities and pilates studios feel CrossCore 180 “Turn your Game Around” is more appropriate for their clients. At Balance Performance where we have a mix of clients following a path of rehabilitation and those focussed on improving sports/functional performance right from the outset we quickly educate them that the WarMachine that hangs in our centre is accessible to all!

Whatever label you choose the challenge of “pulling the pin” remains. Rotational movement is available once control of simple symmetrical movement has been achieved – rotation/spin/twist and turn is what the human animal does and needs to maintain and improve.

Matt Mcdonald and his friend Andy approached us at Balance as they are currently training for a very ambitious cycle expedition to ride from London to Sidney to raise awareness and money for the charity War Child. They are both local and Matt had previously been to Balance as a client and so was very keen to get our input to maximise their preparation. We immediately wanted to get involved and so have sponsored the guys and arranged for them to see several key people at Balance to ensure they are ready to take on the world!

They have just seen our dietician Rees Colling to ensure they stay fuelled up. They are also due to see Dr Stewart Laing our resident sports scientist, Stewart will be carrying out an in-depth hydration assessment, this will be key in staying healthy on their long trip and preventing illness. They are also going to have a session with one of our physios Martina to develop a comprehenve stretching program and also jump into one of our trigger point therapy workshops. Matt and Andy are taking advantage of our team to ensure that they are able to perform at their best and prevent any problems occuring.

http://www.thecyclediaries.com/

They have a great website so check it out and you can sponsor them too its all in a good cause!