Stong Shoulders

If you grapple as part of your sport (rugby, wrestling, judo MMA) then add this into your conditioning sessions. I showed this clip at a shoulder conference full of physio's and surgeons and once they had uncovered their eyes they loved it - if your sport requires a strong and stable shoulder complex then you need to train it!

Fat Loss Strategies of Elite Athletes

I've recently linked up with one of the countries leading nutrition experts, Matt Lovell. Matt has worked with the England Rugby team on a number of their campaigns and has helped these player get in great shape with his proven nutrition strategies. He has put together a great resource that lets everyone out there tap into to some of the previously closely gaurded secrets that have helped the athletes he has worked with get lean.

I'm sure you will all have your holidays booked - if you are not looking too good in your speedo's you should check out Matt's programme and get lean in just 4 weeks.

In his plan Matt will explain

Cutting edge fatloss strategies used by international athletes now available to the
General Public.
No hype or bull- only proven stategies that burn fat

Inside, you will discover Matt Lovell's (England Rugby Nutritionist) strategies...

# 1 reason why most Dieters fail and how you can protect yourself from this curse
Video -TIME BUSTER- How to prepare 5 fat burning meals in under 15 minutes.

7 most common questions people ask about fatloss... and the answers.

How to time your meals (allowing you to eat more but still lose weight)

Three Weight Loss mistakes almost everyone makes (are you making them)?

Introducing Duncan French

Back in the day I had a website that ran a lot of Q&A's with leading experts in their chosen areas. They were all text heavy and took a long time to read through and produce. I've got a video camera now and we have already posted a couple of entries from the legend that is Alwyn Cosgrove! Here is a quick intro to a great S&C coach based right here in the UK, Duncan French.

Interview with a strength coach - Duncan French

Check out the first instalment which will bring you up to speed with Duncan's background.



Keep an eye out for future posts where Duncan and I discuss a range of topics, including:

1. Myths of youth resistance training
2. The importance of recovery and regeneration
3. Why endurance athletes that don't strength train are missing a trick
4. Why female clients and athletes can train like the guys and still look great and deliver fantastic performances.

Storm Force Kettlebell Course

Smart Fitness is teaming up with kettlebell expert Jon Le Tocq (creator of Storm Force Fitness and Worlds Toughest Workouts) to bring his Kettlebell Tour to Newcastle in September. The event will be taking place on Saturday 5th September at the Smart Fitness training facility within the Complete Football Centre, and will run from 10:00-17:00 (spaces are limited to just 16 so book now to avoid dissapointment).

What’s On The Tour?

1. Learn to master the key exercises
2. Muscle activation and mobilisation to eradicate problem areas / injuries
3. Using full body tension to increase strength instantly
4. How to develop awesome power and power endurance without needing Olympic lifting
5. Holding the kettlebell to greatly reduce callouses
6. Structure workouts for different goals
7. Bonus ’show boat’ exercises to practice!
8. Actual workouts so you know how they should feel!

Tour bonuses…..
You’ll also get all of the following extras for completing the course so you are perfectly set to wake up the next day and transform your fitness and physique…
1. Kettlebell Technique Development Manual And Videos
2. Metabolic Accelerator Nutrition System
3. Kettlebell Program e-book with programs for strength, conditioning, fat loss and muscle building including how to use GVT and EDT with kettlebells for muscle growth
4. Five Stage Flexibility Program
….and much more!

This is going to be a great workshop and is open to anyone that wants to learn how to get into great shape with a fast and effective training method (athletes, PT's, S&C coaches, weekend warriors)

For more information and to book your place on the Kettlebell Workshop check out the website HERE

What Makes A Good Coach?

I was recently talking to a local fitness coach/business owner and we were discussing the issues around hiring coaches. The final upshot of the conversation was that we don't need to have the very best, most highly qualified coach that can real off complex training theory(I can teach them the technical skills required). What we need, that sets a good coach apart from an average coach is the ability to 'connect'.

Sure I need my coaches to have a good background knowledge of strength and conditioning but more importantly I want them to be meticulous when it comes to talking to clients and athletes and listening to them. Our initial evaluation is a great opportunity to gather a whole host of information that will influence the final programme that is produced. Yes we look at them physically, but more often than not more is revealed during the informal conversations that take place.

I feel strongly that whilst we are producing good coaches with a sound background in the science of conditioning, we don't always produce coaches that can actually 'connect' with their client or athlete. If you can't connect, you can't coach. The coach and client/athlete need to understand and trust each other, that can only happen if they have taken the time to connect.

Priming

Can thinking fit help us get fit? This is not a sales ad for the latest quick fix fitness plan - I'm sorry, you can't simply lay on the couch thinking yourself to a fitter, healthier you! But what if there was a simple strategy that could potentially help you maximise each and every training session?

The way you approach a training session can have a huge impact on the final outcome (both as a coach and as a client). Let's face it, there are times when you or your clients don't feel like training/coaching. It's these moments when you can make a difference through PRIMING. Have a try the next time that you don't fancy training/coaching. Spend 5 minutes just thinking about your final goal, how great you will feel when you achieve it - you will have a better training session - guaranteed.

If you are coach you can influence how well your clients/athelte's train by simply priming them before and during the session. Make use of those snippets of conversation during a training session to reinforce the benefits of the training they are undertaking (be a bit subtle about it!) all you are trying to do is put your client into a 'fit' frame of mind.

If you are interested in reading a bit more about the effects of PRIMING, pick up a copy of Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell.

Rat Race - Edinburgh 2009

Well I'm back safe and sound (much to the relief of my wife - she knows that when it all gets a bit competitive I can be a bit daft) - best not talk about the last 5 minutes through the streets of Edinburgh as we raced to make it back before the cut off time - it all got a bit....well....lets leave it at that!

The event was fantastic. I've done a bit of running, a fair amount of mountain biking and I've even completed some triathlons but I have to say this was the most challenging and yet enjoyable event I've ever taken part in.

Me and Tom looking fresh!

I entered this event back in November with my mate Tom, we both keep pretty active and didn't really know what to expect. What followed was 2 days of full on physical exertion and some serious team work. Saturday saw us running through the streets and parks of Edinburgh as we gathered points at each checkpoint. Tom is a pretty strong runner so I spent 2.5 hours looking at his arse from about a 20m distance - with just 45 minutes gone I was already suffering but just had to keep on going. Tom telling me we only had another hour to go didn't do much for my motivation! On the other hand a large group of females on a hen night was just the motivation I needed to stop walking and start running with a spring in my step! We completed the event on time but were disappointed with our points total. I couldn't help thinking that I had held Tom back and we could have picked up some more points.

Anyway, we didn't have time to worry because all of a sudden it was 07:30 in the morning and we were studying our map working out what the next 8 hours would bring on the mountain bikes! The bike section was our strongest day, Tom suffered a bit halfway through but dug in and kept the pace. Some of the challenges were funny (throwing each other in the sea!) and others were tough - cycle up a bloody great big hill to a lake on a windswept hilltop only to be told that one of you has to get in the lake and swim 100m! OK, 100m is not far, but it is when you have 2.5 hours if running and 6 hours of cycling in your legs! Lets just say the water was cold!

We raced back and finished with 1000 points (the maximum) and with 90 seconds to spare! We felt we had done ourselves justice and we have checked the results to find that out of the male pairs - we were 7th!!!! 30th out of all the teams (that included the 3 man teams). Now, here is the problem - having come so close without too much planning and preparation, I'm now starting to think how much I need to do to make it onto the podium! The running is the weak area and the place to make up the points.

If anyone is looking for a challenge and a great weekend I can really recommend the Rat Race. When it comes to Newcastle in 2010 - I'll be at the starting line!

Fitness On The Go

I've had a pretty crazy week this week and I'm finishing it all off with an urban adventure race (The Rat Race) in Edinburgh - 2 days running and cycling around the city, with some kayaking, abseiling and other generally crazy activities thrown into the mix.

I'm managing to keep on top of my training during the final build up for the event with some short yet highly effective training sessions. This is one that I banged out in just 20 minutes between clients (that is a long session for me - most of my work is 5-10 minutes) - interestingly I had a medical yesterday as well (I'm asthmatic so I have to have an annual check on lung function etc - my scores were up on previous years...good news and due in no small part to my training).

Here's yesterdays training session.

Strength Circuit (15 seconds work :15 seconds recovery - repeat for total of 5 mins)

1. Jump Squats

2. DB Swings

3. Push Ups

4. Mountain climbers

Tabata Row

Set the ergometer to 3 on the resistance and then complete 8 repetitions of 20s work : 10s recovery

At this point I was ready to drop and was getting some odd looks from the gym bunnies that were doing their steady state cardio whilst watching TV and reading books! Knowing I had a bit of extra time I went at it again and repeated the sequence. BRUTAL!

I'm really enjoying my training at the moment and the intensity is really what does it for me. If you are also looking to get in great shape and drop some fat, and are looking to do it in a hurry then check out Craig Ballantynes - Turbulance Training. This programme is a very time efficient, short workout programme that builds muscle and burns fat without you having to spend hours in the gym. I love it!

Thin Slices and Locked Doors

I'm possibly the slowest reader in the world with the memory of a goldfish! I still read as much as I can though. The latest book that I'm working through was given to me a couple of months ago by a strength and conditioning intern that I mentored whilst working at the EIS. The book is called BLINK and is written by Malcolm Gladwell who also wrote THE TIPPING POINT (another great read).

I'm zipping through this one as it is a great read (a real page turner! - anyone that is a fan of comedian Michael McIntyre will understand why that is a funny thing to say about a book). Anyway, the reason for this post is that one thing I tend to point out during talks that I give is that whilst research is fine and can be very useful it is usually playing catch up with what is happening out in the real world. As Alwyn Cosgrove likes to sum it up 'researchers are historians!'

One story that I recount is that when I started off working with the British Gymnastics team as a young graduate I thought I knew everything there was about sport science! I couldn't work out why the coaches that I watched didn't appear to monitor the gymnasts training more closely.

I monitored and evaluated every training session to 'check' that the coaches were working the gymnasts appropriately (reps, sets, volumes, intensity, work rest ratios, the lot). At the end of a month long research period my findings concluded that the coaches were spot on - they didn't use heart rate monitors, they didn't capture hours of footage on video, they didn't use a stopwatch - they just knew. This was the 'art' of coaching. In that month I learnt a lot about coaching in the real world! These coaches were able to "THIN SLICE". Through years of coaching they were able read deeply into the narrowest of slivers of experience. They didn't need to have facts and figures-they just knew - FANTASTIC.

Back to BLINK. In one of the opening chapters of the book there are a couple of pages took me back 10 years to my work with gymnastics. Here are some of the key sentences.

"Our world requires that decisions be sourced and footnoted, and if we say how we feel, we must also be prepared to elaborate on why we feel that way"

When I spoke to the coaches they were not always able to articulate why they performed a certain type of training. My scientific mind then had alarm bells ringing. If they can't explain why, then how do they know it is working. I had to try to find out why - it simply wasn't enough for them to refer to instict or gut feel!

For me, like many others it was a lot easier to listen to the scientists, after all, as Malcolm Gladwell points out "...because the scientists could provide pages and pages of documentation supporting their conclusions."

What I learnt back in 1998 has stood me in good stead during my coaching career. Working in sport is not an exact science. Yes we should always strive to understand why we are training in a certain way but we must also acknowledge the 'art' of coaching. Sometimes we just have a hunch, an instinct, a gut feel that what we are doing or seeing is the way to go.

"We need to respect the fact that it is possible to know without knowing why we know and accept -that- sometimes we're better off that way."

Quick Fire Top 10

Here is another one from the archives. Eric Cressey asked me to give him my top ten pieces of training advice that would help the readers of his newsletter become leaner, stronger, faster, and more muscular? Here's my respsonse.

1. Set goals – SMART goals so that you know where the journey is going to take you and how you are going to get to your destination.

2. Keep a training diary – You need to track your progress.

3. Train consistently – Set a plan and stick to it. It’s all too easy to say, “Hey, I’ll train today.” If you don’t schedule a time to train, chances are you will get to the end of the day and you will have missed your session.

4. Recover well – anyone that follows my blog will understand why!

5. Concentrate on the 98% - Everyone is so busy trying to find the extra 1 or 2 percent that they forget about the other 98%! - Do the basics well - repeat!

6. Include conditioning work (prehab/remedial/injury prevention….call it what you like….my choice is conditioning) in your training session. Superset between the main lifts – that way the work gets done and you will be on the way to becoming “bulletproof.”

7. Replace steady-state running with high intensity intervals – Come on, do I really need to explain this one? Intervals will give you more bang for your buck than slow steady-state running.

8. Don’t get hung up on TVA recruitment – Isolating a muscle will not necessarily transfer to improved core strength during athletic movements. Train how you are going to perform; make sure you hit all of the major muscle groups (rectus abdominus, obliques, erector spinae, etc.).

9. Learn to handle your bodyweight – I’ve worked with elite gymnasts – these guys are super strong. I don’t really care what your bench is if you can’t even handle your own bodyweight with good form. Don’t neglect the basics (see my point 5).

10. Whole body hypertrophy programmes – I’m with Alwyn Cosgrove on this one. Why go for split routines when you can get a greater training effect from a whole body hypertrophy routine?

Recovery and Regeneration

Anyone that has followed my work over the years knows that I'm a huge believer in the benefits of recovery and regeneration - in my mind recovery interventions can make or break your training. Hours training in the gym can be rendered useless if you don't take care of business outside of training.

We are at the business end of the year for a lot of the guys I work with and I've put together a short video just to act as a reminder of the key things they need to consider when it comes to recovery and regeneration. I've condensed a 90 minute presentation and extensive e-manual into a 4 minute video! (I sound like I have a cold on the video - apologies - I think I need to play around with my microphone settings!)

If you want more information then you can check out Recovery and Regeneration: The Essential Guide To Training Hard Without Falling Apart. As I highlight in the video rigorous scientific investigations looking at the effectiveness of recovery strategies are rare. However, anecdotal reports from coaches and athletes continue to grow. So I could wait for another 10-15 years for the science to catch up before bringing you up to speed on recovery or, seeing as I know that you can't always hang around for the science to catch up, I could tell you what's currently happening in the field and how you can improve your training programmes by taking care of recovery. The decision was made and now you can get your hands on the e-manual you have been waiting for!

Coaching the Coaches

I've just got back from a great coaching conference hosted by County Durham Sport. The two day County Durham Sport Coaches Conference (was an opportunity for local coaches to develop their knowledge and understanding of key coaching concepts. I had a busy day, delivering two sessions.

The first session was looking at Fitness Monitoring and the final session was exploring programme design. The sessions were great and whilst there was a wide range in coaching experience everyone got stuck in and contributed to the learning experience.

I was up against legendary coach, Dr Frank Dick OBE, who was delivering a parallel session at the same time as my fitness monitoring session! Once we had established that everyone who was in my audience actually wanted to be there we got cracking! In one way it was reassuring to have such a good turn out for the session, despite someone of Franks stature talking at the same time - it confirmed that the delegates really wanted to learn about fitness testing.

When I talk about fitness monitoring I have to qoute Alwyn Cosgrove "If you ain't assessing, you are just guessing!" - how true (the cartoon sums it up!). We had a great hands on session which highlighted how fitness monitoring didn't have to use state of the art expensive equipment - something that I know the coaches attending the session appreciates, as budgets are always tight! (nice form by the way Andy - once a sprinter, always a sprinter!)

The programme design session was a monster! Cover every aspect of programme design in an hour and half - the mission impossible soundtrack just kept going round and round in my head! This was a content heavy session but I think my opening slides really say it all.

Well done to the County Durham Sport team for organising a great event - thanks for the invitation Catherine, I had a blast and I hope I get called back next year - just don't put me up against a coaching legend!

Steelman Triathlon

Just a quick one to wish all the triathlete's that I've worked with recently the best of luck in today's Steelman event in Cleveland. There should be some great battles taking place today - especially amongst all the guys and girls that train with me at Smart Fitness. Have a good one, it's going to be hot!

Training Ballet Dancers

I've been looking back throuh some of my archives and I'm going to start posting up some of my old Q&A's. These are not available anywhere else (due to the fact that the building that held the servers for my very first website burnt down!).

First up we have an interesting Q&A with Nick Allen. Nick runs the rehab for one of the UK's premier ballet companies. In his interview he shares with us how he has transitioned from the world of professional rugby to working with professional dancers.

NG: Thank you for the interview. Why don't you start by telling us a little bit about your current commitments?

NA: Thanks for the invite. At the moment I am the Clinical director of the Jerwood Centre. For those who are not familiar with it, it is a £¼ million rehabilitation centre specifically designed for elite level dancers and athletes. I have also continued my work with England Hockey and sit on a register available to other National Bodies who require clinicians with international or elite level experience.

NG: Nick, you've been around a bit!! Can you tell the reader your educational or previous career background and how you ended moving from professional rugby to work with Birmingham Royal Ballet.

NA: I have had a very fortunate career so far. I hold an honours degree in Physiotherapy and a Masters in Sports Medicine. I am currently working on my expression of interest for my PhD. I have amongst others, worked as a Clinical Specialist in Sports and Musculo-skeletal Medicine in the NHS, been part of the RFU’s Regional England Academy set-up as well as Head of Medical Services for a Premiership rugby club. The decision to give up a top Premiership job wasn’t easy. What challenges me professionally are the cases that despite extensive intervention they still have problems- whether they be a persistent injury or just a catalogue of different injuries- this post gives me the opportunity to take the time to focus on those individuals, often working with their own medical teams to provide a solution.

NG: What have you taken from your work in elite sport and implemented into the Ballet. How have they taken to it? What matters are you still banging your head against a brick wall about?

NA: I feel strongly about manipulating all variables that contribute to optimal performance. One of the main omissions that I noted, was the dancers are happy to push themselves to the utmost limit, but failed to take on effective recovery strategies to take full advantage of all their good work. The other issue is a combination of determining fitness needs and nutrition requirements. We are still working hard to determine the true physiological demands of their discipline so we can provide effective programmes both to enhance fitness and provide the fuel needed while maintaining optimum body mass (an all to common scenario in the sports world!). In regard to banging ones head up against the wall, we, like in sports medicine come across the usual “we didn’t have any of this in my day and worked flat out 17 hours a day and never got injured” coupled with some dancers who still don’t see what they do as any relation to sport so are reluctant to do anything else but dance. That said I work for what must be one of the most progressive companies in the business that gives me fantastic support for my work.

NG: I guess the flip side of that is what could coaches and physios working with sports people learn from the performing arts?

NA: I always describe myself as a cultural heathen. Prior to taking this post my only venture into the arts world was taking my wife to see the Lion King as a gift (not much has changed since, having been with the Company for 1½ years I have only been to one ballet -another gift for the wife!) So when I originally watched the dancers jump and lift I figured they must have a pretty comprehensive Olympic lifting programme, nothing could be further from the truth. I have come to realise that what makes the dancers so exceptional is their skill and technique. Their ability to repeat a movement technically correct time after time gives them an efficiency I have not seen in any other sporting discipline. Second is the issue of “core stability”.

NG: What in your opinion are the essential skills needed to be a successful physio working in a high performance environment.

NA: I think the clinical side is a given, a more important factor is the clinical reasoning. But I think the key is to understand that an injury may not be just an injury. Appreciating what an elite competitor has gone through to get to that stage in their career gives an insight as to the impact it may have on their training and ultimately their career. Simon Barnes of The Times when describing David Beckhams metatarsal fracture indicated pain is the staple diet of sport and anyone who participates in it! I think this summarises the ethos of elite performance- they are simply prepared to push past the point at which the likes of Joe Average would say “no more”. As a clinician working with elite performers you need to be aware of that. A decision to continue competing should be based on whether the injury would get worse as a result, or that the convalescent time is extended as a result rather than necessarily pain. It really is a balance between seeing performers as both patients and athletes. Favour the patient side and you could inadvertently hinder the progression of an athletes career, favour the athlete side and you could prematurely end an athletes career. Some might argue not an enviable position to be in!

NG: What are your typical clients and personal achievements as a physio?

NA: I am not sure I have typical clients, actually it tends to be the opposite- I generally see the atypical patients. From an achievement point of view I have been very fortunate to be part of a team that won the end of season Championship, the Cup and finished the season 11 points clear at the top of the table- only European glory eluded us. I also count as my personal achievements working 1:1 with a number of international athletes with potentially career threatening injuries and seeing them return back to competition. It’s a good feeling.

NG: Can you describe a typical day at Birmingham Royal Ballet?

NA: It does depend on what day it is. Monday I start the day with a meeting my physician where we discuss all current cases to ensure we are constantly exploring all options to help speed up the healing process. It’s normally followed with his treatment session (He won bronze at the World Triathlon Championships in Hawaii last year). I have a similar meeting with rest of the Jerwood Centre team where we discuss at length each case programme. The rest of my time is committed to clinic sessions with some time allocated for our research project (I am currently drawing correlations from our musculo-skeletal and physiological profiling with an injury audit to develop an effective tool for predicting injury).

NG: What does a day in the life of a dancer look like?

NA: This varies a little depending on whether they are in rehearsal or performance periods. Generally there is class at 10.30 for 1¼ hours. This can be followed by up to 5 hours of rehearsal calls, then during performance periods this may be followed by a show from 7.30 –10.30. It becomes a bit of a nightmare trying to fit in things like complimentary training aspects, let alone nutrition and recovery.

NG: How do you keep your dancers performing. I'm guessing you face similar issues to coaches trying to keep athletes healthy for a full season. What are your 3 top tips for keeping dancers out of the treatment room?

NA: I am a strong believer in fitness, more specifically aerobic base. We have a physiological lab here at the Jerwood Centre and perform VO2max testing on all dancers as part of our screening. I also believe you cannot get the best out of your body if you don’t treat it with respect- we work hard on nutrition and recovery. But probably the most important focus is on symmetry. I can’t often tell you how strong is strong enough but I can tell you is asymmetry exists- be it muscle imbalance, range of movement- there is a good chance some structure within the kinetic chain may sustain an injury.

NG: What's the one thing that really gets under your skin when it comes to sports physiotherapy?

NA: Insecurity. It’s by no means across the board but some individuals tend to want ownership over their patients. I think they feel that they are exposing weakness by allowing other thoughts or specialities to become involved. It comes down to accountability. One of the lessons I learnt heading up a medical team for a professional club was that whatever the situation you have to find a solution. I do think you need to be absolutely certain and confident which sources you use and that they have a proven track record with elite level performers and work well with you own objectives but ultimately I don’t care who gets my patients better, as long as they get back to playing

NG: What's your opinion of S&C, where does it fit in with physio?

NA: I was going to say hand-in-hand, but the mental picture it conjured up is disturbing me a little. I believe the greatest successes are born out of good working relationships between S&C and physios. Again it comes back to this issue of insecurity, but I think it is great to have some overlapping skills as it allows the bridge between clinical rehabilitation and functional rehabilitation. If you are secure in your skill set and want the best for your athlete, there shouldn’t be a problem.

NG: Core stability - everyone does it but not many people understand what it really means!!! It's all recruit TVA and multifidus, fire through the core, co-contract - but are we missing the point? When we are talking about sporting performance (not a clinical pathology - low back pain etc) which is the most important - the ability for a healthy ahthlete to recruit deep muscles or the ability to use larger global muscles (RA, Obliques etc)?

NA: I suppose this is where I stick my head out a little bit. I don’t believe in injury prevention! I believe in performance enhancement. The body has an optimal but finite amount of loading it can withstand, beyond which the structures will fail. Unfortunately, most of our athletes break down before this point. How we “prevent” that is to manipulate all the variables that affect it, like fitness, strength, co-ordination, skill, nutrition and hydration, and yes I am afraid “core strength muscles”. A simple analogy would be if you and I had a one lap race of our rehab pool here at the Jerwood Centre (aprox. 8m) but I get to push off the wall at the start but you don’t. Chances are I would win. Core stability muscles provide a stable platform from which larger global muscles can generate force. The more stable the platform the greater potential for force production. So I think the short answer is they are both important if we are considering optimal performance.

NG: In my experience, most physio's are pretty poor at programming (3 x 10 seems to be a favourite). What do you think?

NA: You mean 3x10 doesn’t fit every scenario?? Sorry but I would tend to agree. I know from my own development both my postgraduate degree as well as working along side physiologists has improved my understanding as to applicable programming.

NG: I know you study the field a lot. Who do you go to for advice?

NA: In regards to S&C I have been fortunate to have worked with Mike Anthony from the New Zealand All Blacks, Rudi Meir from Australia and Ed Archer from South Africa (who is currently doing some great work at the moment trying to bridge the “functional Rehabilitation “divide) and Dr Matt Wyon. They tend to be my first port of call

NG: Who else in the field has influenced or helped you? What are the best tips you learned from them and can pass on to your readers?

NA: I used to work with a chap called Dr Wayne Diesel (Head of Medical Services at Charlton Athletic Football Club). I think sometimes we can tend to over complicate matters. Wayne always told me to keep it simple. Work with the basics and the solution is there.

NG: What tips could you add of your own?

NA: Listen to your body. It is telling you something- our job is to find out what and to make sure it doesn’t progress into something that will hinder training or performance. Be wary of asymmetries- they could become a cause for concern

NG: What are the most common injuries that you see in your clinic?

NA: The whole spectrum really. My particular areas of interest are the biomechanics and peripheral nerve entrapments. Those odd injuries that appear common enough, but where the mechanism of injury may not always fit the injury, or it doesn’t seem to settle in the normal time frame. That’s when we start to look at the whole kinetic chain and appreciate the various influencing factors.

NG: What do you think about some of the supplements on the market such as glucosamine, chondroitin etc. Do you think they work? What would you recommend.

NA: I think in regards to the supplements as a whole, my fear is that athletes tend to rely on them rather that just good fresh food. Short of endurance athletes (like some cyclists), generally most athletes can plan their nutrition around their training needs. That said there are times when the body needs more that n the usual and supplements can play a role. Glucosamine and Chondroitin have always been interesting. As a supplement rather than a drug had meant the major drug companies weren’t as interested in researching it, as they couldn’t hold a license for it. But some research has been trickling through and the results seem to be positive. Anecdotal evidence from some of my surgeon friends is also encouraging in support of its use.

NG: What are your goals as a physio?

NA: This is not to sound altruistic but providing support to elite athletes allowing them to achieve their goals allows me to fulfil mine

NG: In a nutshell - What is your philosophy?

NA: Keep it simple

NG: Anything else you'd like to mention?

NA: I suppose I would like to commend Birmingham Royal Ballet Company for the investment in the Jerwood Centre but also the work they are doing in the community. They are currently involved in a huge charity project that is brining the experience of the arts to disadvantaged communities. (See up coming series on Channel 4 in September including an interview with yours truly- on the “3 minute wonder” series)

NG: Where can people read more about your theories and programs?

NA: I am currently talking to a number of partners to try arranging some sessions looking at functional rehabilitation and specific stability training but I still remain primarily a clinician.

NG: I'm asking all of our contributors for their top three books - the ones every S&C coach should have in their library? We've had some great answers and I'm building a virtual library on the links page of the web-site....what are your top 3?

NA: One of my principal reference books is Clinical Sports Medicine by Peter Brukner and Karim Khan. It provides a good quick reference guide to the normal and not so normal pathologies I see in clinic. Then I tend to spend a bit of time with the bigger anatomy and physiology texts like Gray’s. Sorry, it tends to be building my cases around comparisons to “normal” anatomy and biomechanics.

Wimbledon Fever

Wimbledon fever is sweeping the UK and whilst the senior mathces have so far been fantastic (even if Andy Murray is making life pretty tough for himself), I've been watching this year's Junior Wimbledon with some interest.

For the past 9 months I've been working with the Northumberland Tennis Academy, looking after the conditioning for their talented young players. One of the players I look after is Alex Walker and this week she came close to pulling off one of the shocks of this year's Junior Wimbledon.

After gaining a wildcard entry into the tournament Alex had a second round singles clash against the girls' number 10 seed Camila Silva of Chile. Despite being up against a player 268 places above her in the world rankings, Alex battled all the way before finally succumbing 6-4 7-6 (8/6) in stifling conditions at the All England Club.

Well done Alex and keep up the good work.