AlterG

Gravity-defying low impact sports conditioning

AlterG’s Anti-Gravity Treadmill is offering a new way for elite athletes and sports professionals to increase their fitness levels and enhance their performance. The equipment utilises precise partial weight bearing training and allows users to achieve a natural gait with minimal impact on their lower limbs.

Engineered by NASA, AlterG incorporates advanced differential air pressure (ADAP) technology to create a powerful lifting force resulting in ultra-low impact exercise. The user wears neoprene shorts and zips into a pressurised, airtight enclosure suspended over the treadmill surface. By controlling the pressure in the enclosure, the user can change his/her weight, reducing it by as much as 80 per cent in precise 1 per cent increments and transition seamlessly back to full weight bearing.

AlterG is already widely used for conditioning in sport and is benefiting a large number of rugby clubs such as Bristol, Bath and Gloucester and is regularly used by elite athletes to reach full fitness potential. As well as being used at the Football Association’s St George’s Park sports science department, many Premiership Football Clubs also own an AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill. Most recently, MK Dons Football Club installed an AlterG and the players have used it for pre-season training to maximise their fitness levels.

Simon Crampton, head of sports medicine at MK Dons FC, said: “AlterG allows our players to train for much longer and harder than they could before and has greatly enhanced their aerobic conditioning in particular. We’ve found it particularly useful for rehab too and have been able to get players running and back on the pitch much quicker than usual following an injury.”

The anti-gravity treadmill is used by athletes for rehabilitation

CYBEX

CYBEX and the ATP World Tour Finals

The physical demands on professional tennis players are extreme – power, strength, agility, endurance, flexibility and speed are all characteristics that players need to be able to compete successfully on the world stage and while practice time on court is essential, it is often down to the time spent in the gym that enables athletes to excel.

From 4 to 11 November 2013, the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals will return to The O2, London, as the climax of the men’s professional tennis season. Featuring only the world’s best eight qualified singles players and doubles pairings, the event marks an end to a long season for its competitors; physical conditioning and injury prevention – or, in some cases, injury management – are therefore of utmost importance.

In preparation for the tournament, fitness equipment manufacturer CYBEX International UK will be equipping an onsite gym installed at The O2 especially for the tournament; a feature that ATP World Tour medical director Clay Sniteman confirms will be of huge benefit to the athletes: “Having a gym onsite opens up a lot of opportunities; players can run their own functional warm up sessions, cool down after matches or even rehabilitate injuries they pick up during the tournament.”

The gym will house cardio equipment including the CYBEX 770T treadmill, 625A Arc Trainer and 750R recumbent bike, alongside Bravo Pull and Bravo Press, two pieces from CYBEX’s cable-based Bravo Functional Training system.

“Cable based training is perfect for tennis players as it accounts for the multi-directional motion required for the sport,” explains Sniteman. “By using the CYBEX Bravo, players will benefit hugely from the range of motion, angles and also stability work, being able to isolate parts of the body during their workouts and target the weaker areas from abdominals to core, shoulders and lower body.”

The gym will include cardio and strength kit

KEISER

‘Broader vision of health’ club to cater for professional sports

Prime Health is a sports medicine, diagnostic and performance centre offering a ‘broader vision of health’. It aims to integrate a range of services from diagnostics and orthopaedic consultations to physiotherapy, massage therapy, corrective exercise, personal training, strength and conditioning, nutritional therapy, life coaching and group exercise classes.

The brainchild of Justin Buckthorp, performance director and Jonathan Shrewsbury, clinical director, Prime Health aims to be a complete resource with everything situated under one roof. This includes the latest technology in MRI scanning, digital x-ray and advanced ultrasound, as well as consultation rooms for the orthopaedic surgeons, physiotherapy suites, a private gym and mezzanine for classes. In total around 35 clinicians, therapists and trainers will facilitate the process, says Buckthorp. “Prime Health was created to fulfil a broader vision. Somewhere that a client could come to us and experience the entire ‘healthcare journey’ in a matter of days rather than months. With professional athletes we have on occasions been able to condense the process to one day – from MRI scan to diagnosis to treatment and initial corrective exercise.

“We have two units: one for sports medicine and diagnostics and another for health and fitness. This means that a client doesn’t have to seek us out after injury. They can come to us purely for health and fitness reasons, whether that be for classes, small group personal training, 1-2-1 coaching, nutritional consultations, sports massage, executive coaching or counselling.” The 10,000 sq ft site is contained in two units on a business village in Weybridge. A multi-million pound project, the centre features 12 consultation rooms, changing rooms, shower facilities, technology and equipment for use by the sports medicine team, as well as an open-plan gym and mezzanine. The gym features an array of aKeiser Air equipment.

The centre has two units; one for sports medicine and another for fitness

Technogym

English Institute of Sport invests in new gym at Sheffield centre

Sheffield’s award-winning English Institute of Sport (EIS Sheffield), which helped develop 12 medallists at the London Olympic Games, is embarking on a £1m expansion offering state of the art Technogym equipment.

At the heart of the development, a new three-floor Fitness Unlimited gym opened in October, which will cater for the local community including existing and new members, as well as those currently using Don Valley Stadium.

Operated by Sheffield International Venues (SIV), the Fitness Unlimited gym will overlook the athletics track, where Olympic heptathlon gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill trains, and will offer equipment from official London 2012 supplier, Technogym. The ground and first floor will house cardio, resistance and functional fitness equipment including Technogym’s innovative Kinesis Stations and Arke, while the top floor will boast a 35-station Technogym Group Cycle studio overlooking the running track.

The existing gym will also become one of the biggest free weights areas in the city. The new and improved facility will also aim to support the wellbeing of the surrounding community by providing tailored fitness packages and advice on leading a healthy lifestyle.

The centre helped develop 12 medallists at London 2012

Precor

Japanese Olympic swimming team at Basildon

Basildon Sporting Village (BSV), operated by Everyone Active, welcomed the Japanese Olympic swimming team prior to the London Olympics in 2012 as part of their pre games training.  The Japanese Swimming Federation had signed a memorandum of understanding with Basildon Borough Council prior to the Games, which agreed that the Japanese swimming team could have use of the Olympic size swimming pool, aerobic studios and fitness suite.

In the run up to the Games both the Japanese Olympic and Paralympic swimming teams followed a strict schedule in the 50m swimming pool, the first Olympic size pool to open in Essex. Training involved two sessions per day with one in the early morning and the second late afternoon. Still open to the public, swimming enthusiasts were able to train in available lanes alongside the athletes.

In addition to the pool the Japanese team made use of the aerobic studios for warm up and stretching sessions. Athletes also took advantage of the 100-station fitness suite, which is kitted out with a range of equipment

to more than meet the needs of top athletes.

Fitness motivators at Basildon Sporting Village provided the athletes with an induction to a vast collection of Precor equipment, including 62 cardio units encompassing treadmills, Adaptive Motion Trainers, bikes and cross trainers as well as 29 pieces of strength kit from the Precor Icarian strength line and Experience S-Line ranges.  The suite also offers the Precor P80 console which provides capacitive touch screen and easy to use motion controls.

The Japanese team at the Basildon centre

WATTBIKE

Indoor bikes to test Saracens

The Wattbike arrived at Premiership Rugby club Saracens’ elite training facility outside of St. Alban’s during 2012 in response to the search for a scientifically accurate testing and training tool. Following use at international level by the England Rugby team for the past three years, the Wattbike seems to have become the indoor training tool of choice for Premiership Rugby clubs – all bar one Premiership club has at least one.

Saracens were looking for a versatile solution which would allow them to test, train and undertake rehabilitation with players from junior through to elite ranks. With a no-compromise philosophy during the development phase with British Cycling, the Wattbike provides Saracens’ sports science team with a high level of accurate performance data. The demands of a professional sports team mean that players and equipment must be out of action for as little time as possible. The Wattbike provides a robust platform, handling a 130kg player performing a 2,000 watt plus six second peak power test, a protocol repeated throughout the squad in a single training session.

Rugby union has evolved significantly in the last two decades and as the sport turned professional the game increased in both pace and size. The appointment of leading sports scientists such as Phil Morrow, performance director, and Andy Edwards, strength and conditioning coach, at Saracens is testament to the investment in maximising players’ physical abilities.

Saracens’ training facility in St. Albans, Hertfordshire

Fusion

Walking ‘the beautiful game’

Fusion Lifestyle is running Walking Football sessions for people that would still like to engage in competitive football but can’t run around the pitch.

The Walking Football sessions, which have been running for the last four months, are a joint initiative between Fusion Lifestyle and the Surrey FA, and are aimed at the over 55’s, as well as younger people with injuries that have left them less able.

Having spent years away from the game, participants John McNiff, 54, Martin Goff, 67, and Andy Cox, 62, get to pull their boots on every Friday morning at Thornton Heath Leisure Centre and, after only a few sessions, are already singing its praises.

Cox said: “I’m fitter now than I was 30 years ago when I last played football. It’s benefitted all aspects of my life - now when I go on holiday I can go on longer scenic walks.”

The slower paced version of the ‘beautiful game’ is played with a size 4 Futsal and those who run, jog or sprint will be penalised with a free kick. Each hour-long session starts with a series of stretches and dribbling exercises, moving on to drills designed to improve a player’s ability to shield the ball, before ending with a small sided game. Crystal Palace Foundation has started promoting the sessions to its older and less fit supporters and, with sessions currently taking place in the morning, Fusion Lifestyle is looking to add an additional session during the evening or at the weekend to engage younger people.

Kevin West, Surrey FA development officer, said: “For anyone to engage, and continue to participate, in sport it must be something they enjoy. Walking Football provides this opportunity for those who previously loved to play football but felt they could no longer due to lack of fitness.”

The sessions have been very popular