Injury Prevention & Performance Enhancement – Individual or Club Services

Sporting injuries place a high burden on both individuals and clubs, both in terms of rehabilitation costs, time off work, and time lost to play. Research has also demonstrated that time out with injury has a significant impact on performance and overall success of the competitive season. The Performance team recommends both off-season and in-season strategies for injury prevention and performance enhancement. Off-season is the perfect time to work on developing a solid base of strength, power, plyometric ability and endurance. Never done strength work before? Join our GymStart program, or sign up for some personal or group training or just see one of our strength and conditioning specialists to help you develop a safe and effective off-season plan. Our team can also provide analysis and optimisation of key movement patterns – eg analysis of running, change of direction, kicking and throwing techniques.

In-season, any strength and conditioning programs need to be well planned to ensure the athlete is not overloaded. Knowing how to progress loads and training volume safely by understanding acute and chronic workloads is also critical. Incorporating key skill development and addressing risk factors for injury within regular warm-ups is another excellent way to prevent injury and enhance performance.

The Performance team views warm-ups as a key component of the strength development and training process. Considering the evidence questioning many current practices in warm-up, a new classification of warm-up phases has been developed. The “RAMP” system provides a method by which warm-up activities can be classified and constructed. This system identifies three key phases of effective warm-ups.

The “RAMP” approach provides a framework around which to construct effective warm-up procedures for both competition and training. At all times the aim of the warm-up is to ensure optimal preparation for performance while minimising injury risk. Activities should be selected that provide for raising the body temperature, activating and mobilising key muscles and joints and preparing the athlete for performance, but without the development of undue fatigue.

Planning of warm-up periods through the training week can enhance key skills required for injury prevention and performance, with no additional time requirement. Activities included in the ‘Raise’ section can be used to develop movement skills required for the particular sport. The ‘Activate and Mobilise’ section can be used to optimise strength, control and dynamic flexibility around areas central to performance of the sport and at highest risk of injury. The ‘Potentiation’ section provides an ideal time to carry out activities such as speed and agility training, providing a very time efficient method by which to ensure athletes have controlled doses of this type of training throughout the sporting year.

The Performance team at Physiotec has prepared a number of RAMP combinations for various multidirectional field and court sports, where injury risks are highest. We can also develop custom RAMP’s to suit the specific needs of any individual or team.

Keep yourself and your team safe and performing at your best!

Our GymStart Instructors
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Eric Huang - A Qualified Physiotherapist - PhysioTec

Eric Huang

Physiotherapist
Bike Fit Analyst

BPhty

Eric Huang

Eric has been a qualified Physiotherapist since 2004, having worked in a variety of clinical settings from medical centres to holistic health centres before joining Physiotec in 2009. With this many years at Physiotec, Eric is currently our longest serving physiotherapist. For many years, Eric split his time between PhysioTec and providing onsite injury management services to a variety of manual handling industries. In 2018, Eric decided to move from onsite injury management to work with Dr Patrick Weinrauch at Brisbane Hip Clinic. His many years working and training under Dr Alison Grimaldi and now under Dr Weinrauch make him highly qualified in the management of Hip & Groin pain.

His other interests in physiotherapy are neck and upper back pain, cycling related pain and injuries and dry needling. Eric is a competitive cyclist himself, runs his own cycling crew, MIA, and is passionate about all things cycling. He has competed at both Australian and World Track Championships. Eric provides our bike fit service and has a personal and professional interest in strength & conditioning. This experience he brings to our GymStart programs, where Eric can teach, assess and correct your form with gym lifts to ensure you will be safe and gain maximum benefit from your gym program. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience where it comes to balancing optimal performance outcomes and recovery from injury or training fatigue. In his spare time he also enjoys spending quality time with his family and keeping a great looking tropical aquarium.

Performance Services