by rocktapeuk | Jul 17, 2017 | Uncategorised
My story: I’m Stephen Jarvis and I live in St Austell Cornwall. I had my kidney transplant in 2004 and since took up athletics. In 2016 I took part in the British transplant Games, Liverpool, where I qualified for the World transplant games, competing in 100m, 200m, 400m, high jump and both relays. It’s been a really hard year having to train extra to get my fitness up and above normal, more to do with having a back issue. My cartilage had worn away between my L1 and S1 vertebrae putting pressure on my nerves running down both legs, causing pain and discomfort (part and parcel of having immunosuppressive drugs). In March 2017 I had 2 facet joint injections in my back, one worked, the other made it worst down my left leg. Every session had become painful. Determined to make it I pushed on. In June 2017 I had to compete, the pressure was on. The GB team physio had nothing to help and had run out of ideas. She then came up with a thought to try RockTape over night before the race. I woke up in the morning pain free for first time in months. New RockTape was then applied for my races. I felt so good it was like having a new leg. Smashing 4 world records and 6 gold medals later I’m sold! I couldn’t have ran or felt any better. It simply removed the nerve pain I had for last 4 months competing and enabled me to run my perfect race. And to top this I was the 4th fastest British athlete this year for my...
by rocktapeuk | Jun 19, 2017 | Interviews, Rocktape Kinesiology Tape
Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Hi I’m Ricardo, I’m a psychology lecturer at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, which is in Scotland, UK. I was a former international triple jumper, till a severe knee injury last year. How did your track & field career begin? When/how did you get into jumping? Originally I was a basketball player, I used to do extra sessions with our speed, agility, quickness coach, Dr. Nikolai Böhlke, who also worked in Talent ID. Dr Böhlke noticed I had an aptitude for jumping events and coached me in high, long and triple jump. With some guidance from Nick Dakin I was lucky enough to work with some of the best jumps coaches in the world including Dr. Filipe Conceição, Terry Lomax, Emily Parker and finally Tom Crick. I practiced everyday (and sometimes twice a day) with all my coaches, and value their effort in getting me from never having tried a jump event, to an international standard. What do most people not realize about training for competitive jumping? People probably don’t realize that we rarely jump in training. I took part in a study led by Dr. Sam Allen, where he modeled my triple jump technique and calculated that in the landing of the hop phase I had to deal with forces of up to 22 times my bodyweight. That kind of impact means full approach triple jump is sparingly practiced in training. Though we often practice short approach triple jump, sprinting and plyometrics. What are your greatest achievements? I’ve won the British University Championships several times, thanks to excellent support from Loughborough University....
by rocktapeuk | Jun 7, 2017 | Uncategorised
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/@MSD_Prosportmassage April 29th, 30th and May 1st Perranporth Beach, Cornwall The English National Surfing Championships have always been a highlight of the national surfing calendar, and this year was to be no different. Having been recently appointed as the head of Health and Fitness for Surfing England, this was a great opportunity for me to work with Surfing England and spend some time with the management and the surfers. Now it would not be an English bank holiday weekend if we did not have the typical English weather, from one extreme to another. That is exactly what we experienced. We arrived late on the Thursday night and checked into our caravan at the Perran Sands Resort. We headed to the to contest site first thing Friday morning. greeted with beautiful sunshine it was the ideal weather to set up our brand new easy up tent and treatment area. The waves were not great at this time, but the afternoon saw enough size for the contest to get udnerway. The slow start to the contest allowed me to treat several surfers before their heats. It is a common miss conception that surfing is soft on the body, on the contrary it is very physically demanding and we come across all kinds of injuries and muscular skeletal issues. The level of surfing at this event was very high, so it is easy to see how intense the demand on the body is. With the high performance aggressive manoeuvres being performed by the elite surfers, a lot of stress and impact is going through the hips and lower limbs. This...
by rocktapeuk | May 24, 2017 | Uncategorised
Trail running has a ton of benefits for practitioners of the sport, as well as some unique challenges and injuries. Probably the main problem trail runners face is an acute ankle sprain, and taping may help prevent sprains and can certainly be helpful in the aftermath. Of course, trail runners are just as prone to the chronic knee and hip problems other runners face, too. Uneven terrain makes falls more prevalent and gives trail runners a higher need to protect their lower legs, especially, and doing so also helps with those tight single-track sections that may put you in proximity to thorny plants or all our “poisonous” friends like ivy, elm and oak. Protecting your shins and lower legs from these sorts of plants as well as protecting them from falls or scrabbles over fallen trees, rocks and other obstacles is the domain of RockTape’s excellent RockGuards shin protectors. Originally designed to help CrossFit athletes protect their shins during deadlifts, box jumps and rope climbs, RockGuards were quickly adopted by obstacle course racers and trail runners alike. RockGuards offer a lightly padded, highly protective front side that will take pretty hard impacts from obstacles or falls while running. The back is a breathable mesh that doesn’t hold water, so you’ll stay cooler than you would with a full running pant/tight. RockGuards also have zippers so, depending on your footwear, you may be able to get them on and off over shoes. If not, wearing them for a full run is a heck of a lot better than scratched, bashed shins or running into poison ivy and getting the post-run...
by rocktapeuk | May 23, 2017 | Uncategorised
This summer Libby Kerr and Lisa Trollope are attempting a continuous round of the Munros (all the mountains in Scotland over 3,000 feet). We’ll be summiting all 282 mountains, cycling between them and throwing in a little bit of kayaking. This will involve 1,000 miles of running, 1,000 miles of cycling and 149,000m ascent -17 x the height of Everest (eek!)! This feat has only been completed by three other women in the past with a fastest known time of 113 days. We plan to complete the challenge within 80 days, blogging and filming our adventure to inspire other women to get out into the mountains and to get active. Our first Munro will be Ben More on the Isle of Mull at the start of July and we’ll work our way around Scotland to end on Ben Hope in the north in mid September. This challenge is going to be tough on our bodies, and this is where RockTape comes in! Libby has experienced issues during training with her left knee during training. Her VMO muscle appears to be having a break and letting the rest of the quad muscle do all the work. She’s been trying to kick the VMO into action both with exercises and with RockTape H20 applied to the muscle to encourage it to activate. Much of the running will be across pathless hillside. Scree covered descents, grassy tussocks, thigh-high heather/gorse and uneven ground mean that there is a high potential to land awkwardly and ankles especially can take a battering on this sort of terrain. When muscles are tired this can easily lead...
by rocktapeuk | Apr 28, 2017 | Uncategorised
When it comes to skateboarders is always been hard to show the positives of sports therapy and performance recovery. Skaters have predominantly viewed treatment as ‘uncool’ or ‘jock’. If you are getting taped up or seen doing pre skate stretches then it was likely that someone would start giving you some grief for it. I am one of the few individuals that is deeply emerged in the skate world, but also educated in sports science and sports therapy. I have worked at several international skateboard events and worked with some of the biggest names in action sports, from Tony Hawk to Mat Hoffman. The funny things, the more elite the athlete the better the understanding of the benefits sports and physical therapy can have. I also find the older the athlete the better the understanding, and increased need for treatment. So I have set out to try and educate the ‘new school’ skater, the up and coming skaters and the professionals who are in the prime of their career and really wanting to push their ability into new levels. Over the last few years I have worked with these guys and this year is the first time that I have been non stop at an event. Vert Attack is the worlds largest vertical skateboard contest outside of the X-Games. Vert skating is where the guys are skating on 10ft plus half pipes and performing huge Arial tricks. The event is held in Malmo, (Sweden) and attracts the biggest international names in skateboarding. The beauty of this event is that nobody is competing for money, they are simply competing for...
by rocktapeuk | Apr 18, 2017 | Rocktape Kinesiology Tape, Running
Sunday 9th April was an exceptionally sunny and warm day for the runners of the Brighton Marathon which included 80 NSPCC fund raisers who raised over £50,000 for the charity. A major part of the NSPCC fundraisers post-race reception is the very welcome sight of the row of massage tables with soft tissue therapists waiting to soothe the aching limbs of the runners and for the past 4 years Rocktape have been donating rolls of tape to help support the NSPCC runners after this and a number of other events which include the London Marathon and the Gherkin Challenge. I have been using RockTape in my private clinic since working at the London Olympics, and even though I have not found a better tape, this year RockTape donated rolls of their H2O tape which has twice as much adhesive on it. Last Sunday we found it invaluable when treating runners who have just spent 3-7 hours in the sun, coming in with aching and very sweaty legs! The day consisted of runners hobbling in with sore ankles where we used RockTape to help support the lateral stabilisers of the ankles, as well as plantar fascia and for achilles pain where treatment this soon post event would not have been advisable. However, the support from the H2O tape made it invaluable to assist the runner in getting mobile again. Knee pain was the other main area where RockTape came into its own. As the Brighton Marathon was quite hilly, their knees took quite a load especially for some runners who were running their first marathon. Applying the H2O tape to...
by rocktapeuk | Apr 7, 2017 | Rocktape Kinesiology Tape
Keith Gladstone set up Athletic Health; A company that provides sports injury and performance management for TV / media and professional sports teams. Most recently Keith Gladstone has been in Austria on set for channel 4’s TV show The Jump. With his team of therapists, Keith Gladstone worked to help the celebrity contestants get through the intense and physically challenging training and performing schedule for the show. What is your back ground and how did you end up working on The Jump? I’m an osteopath and sport scientist with special interest in sports injuries. I worked at Lord’s cricket ground with Middlesex CCC and the MCC for 7 seasons. Cricket was full time during the summer months but over the winter in 2011 I was asked to work on a television show looking after the celebrity contestants who were taking part in physically challenging and potentially risky activities in a show called Famous and Fearless. With more and more reality shows being produced with contestants taking part in physically challenging tasks, I found myself working on ever more shows. Tell us about the Jump, for those that don’t already know? The jump is a celebrity reality TV show in which contestants compete in various winter sports, including slalom skiing, skeleton, ski-cross and ultimately ski jumping. We spend 8 weeks in a ski resort in Austria while the contestants train and compete. It’s fun gig. What sorts of injuries did you and your team have to deal with? With 16 people skiing 4 hours a day for 8 weeks you are bound to pick up knocks. We had to deal...
by rocktapeuk | Mar 24, 2017 | Uncategorised
How did you decide to pursue a career as a physical therapist and athletic trainer? I played sports growing up before tearing my ACL twice in high school. I loved the work my physical therapists did with me and just started hanging around the clinic during my free time after school. When I got to the University of Miami, I started in their Student Athletic Training program and loved it. What is your athletic background? In high school, I played soccer and baseball. After tearing my ACL snow skiing (and later, playing soccer), I gave those up. I was on the rowing team at the University of Miami. Tell us about your practice. Where, and what sport do you specialize in? I’m part of the PGA Tour Sports Medicine staff. We see professional golfers all day, everyday. At every event, we have a staff of 2 physical therapists, 2 athletic trainers, and a chiropractor. We practice out of two trailers that get towed from tournament to tournament. One is basically an outpatient clinic with most of the equipment you would find in any PT/chiropractic office. The other is a miniature gym where our athletes perform their workouts. What do you watch for during competitions? Are the injuries in golf ever predictable? Professional golf is generally a predictable sport in terms of the patterns of injuries that we see. For example, we know that about 2/3 of the PGA Tour pros that come in for treatment will have some kind of spine pathology. Of those, about half are lumbar spine while the other half is split between the cervical and thoracic...
by rocktapeuk | Mar 1, 2017 | Uncategorised
On the 25th of August 2016, Lowri Morgan…a TV Presenter and Ultra Marathon Runner embarked on a three day challenge to run from North to South Wales to raise awareness of Cerebra, a charity for children with Neurological problems. Over the 3 days she would summit 3 mountains and run 3 ultra marathons covering a distance of 150 miles. The challenge was hence called 3/3/3. The challenge started from the village of Llanberis located at the foot of Snowdon. On the first day Lowri summited Snowdon, Wales’s tallest mountain at 1085m, and then set off on a 45 mile run to the overnight stop located at Dolgellau. On the morning of the second day Lowri summited Cader Idris at 893m, she then headed off down south again, eventually stopping 65 miles down the road at Rhayader for an overnight stay. On the third and final day Lowri ran a third and final 50 mile ultra marathon down to Brecon, finishing the day by summiting Pen y Fan at 886m. This amazing endeavour took only 60hrs! This was obviously a huge physical and psychological effort, my job was to keep the legs as fresh as possible. Each morning I would spend 20 mins with Lowri massaging the legs and lower back before applying Rocktape where she felt she needed the support. Through experience I have found Rockrub to be an excellent massage wax. It is easy to use, gives me just the right amount of friction without being slippery, but most of all it is easily cleaned off afterward so that I can apply the Rocktape. Having worked with Lowri...
