Liverpool Echo - Greg O'Keeffe

Running: Stay injury free and run smoothly

2013-02-22T12:11:13Z

IT'S a time of the year when many people start thinking like Forrest Gump and feel the need to start running.

]]> In this latest guest blog, Liverpool city-centre based biomechanics specialist and strength and conditioning expert Darren Thomas advises how to get the best out of pounding the pavement.

'It is however, also the time when our biomechanics specialists and therapists at Synergy Health Studios are inundated with a variety of running based injuries.

'Over the next few months we will be treating ankle, shin, knee, lower back and hip injuries as a result of people either significantly lifting the intensity of their running program or starting from scratch when their bodies are not quite ready.

'Now I have nothing but admiration and respect for all you guys and girls who want to make a positive change to your lifestyles by improving your fitness and shedding those unwanted pounds.

'What I and the rest of the staff here at Synergy would like to do however is give you a little help to make sure you stay injury free and can continue your progress well into 2013 and beyond.

'Trust me; there is nothing like an injury to derail your training and put a stop to all of your hard earned progress!

Unfortunately, aspects of our lifestyles such as inactivity, sitting for long periods, inappropriate footwear and our diet and stress levels do not lend themselves well to the process of pain free running.

'Being sat at a desk and driving for long hours as well as a plethora of modern technology doing things for us means that we have become de-conditioned and more susceptible to injury.

'Our lifestyles mean that we are developing more and more postural issues. Our shoulders hunch forward into kyphosis, the muscles around our hips such as our gluteal muscles, adductors, hip flexors and hamstrings become tight and weak and our feet and ankles become ill equipped to absorb the ground impacts associated with running.

'What I have found over the years as a fitness professional, is that even the most hardened runners neglect a good flexibility, conditioning and nutrition program that will not only allow them to stay injury free, but also vastly improve their running performance and give them a lean and strong physique.

'So as a great treat to start the year off with a bang, I would now love to share with you some of the amazing secrets that myself and the other guys at Synergy prescribe to our clients on a daily basis.

The Principles of Running Better

1.Flexibility program

Simply the most neglected area in fitness and definitely the most misunderstood!
When thinking about flexibility we think of lengthening our muscles and holding them there for long periods (10-30 seconds). If we think about the act of running there is no point where our muscles need to be held anywhere for that length of time. As a result, static stretching may actually be de-conditioning your muscles for running and may lead to injury.

Running is very dynamic, and as such so should your flexibility program. Your warm up is the most important part of your training session as you will prepare your body for work so it understands what is required of it during your run.
Make sure you are performing a dynamic stretching program based around the movements involved in running.

Remember! If it doesn't look like running then it probably isn't going to be that much help to you.

2.Running Conditioning Program

The aim of this would be to compliment your running by addressing postural and biomechanical issues that may be a potential source of injury when running. A good conditioning program will include the flexibility aspects described above as well as strengthening exercises designed at improving running function.
Lunges and jump lunges are great for this and based on your mechanics can be tweaked and adapted in literally thousands of different ways to positively enhance running function.

3.Nutrition

Simply the most important part of any fitness and weight loss program!
Now I am certainly not a fan of Gillian Mckeith in any way but when she says "You are what you eat" she is absolutely right. Not only will poor nutrition make it really difficult to maintain or achieve levels of low body fat, it may also be a major cause of injury.

I am sorry to tell you this but pasta is not a good diet or running food. As a general tip, we should look to avoid wheat. Wheat and gluten are a massive source of inflammation in not only out muscles and joints but also in our blood vessels.

As a runner we definitely need a source of carbs but we would be much better off focussing on non-gluten carbs like brown or wild rice, quinoa, buck wheat and rye products as these provide you with a great source of energy without the inflammatory side effects.

4.Stress

How many times have you heard some of the elder folks among us say "It's not like the old days" And do you know what? They are absolutely right. It certainly isn't.

I am however talking about the really old days when the human race lived in caves and hunted mammoths and giant sloths.

Our stress response system is still the same however and was designed to get us out of danger if we were being pursued by a bear or sabre tooth tiger or something. It is not designed to cope with the continual stresses we have created for ourselves, like long working hours and money worries etc. This has made our stress response system work much differently and is a big cause of health concerns such as heart disease and strokes.

Exercise has been put up as the answer and in most cases it is. We need to be concerned however with quality and not quantity. Long, slow running will in some cases heap even more stress onto an already stressed system.

So if you are stressed because of work or home life the best type of exercise is short, sharp and intense with a lot of your time dedicated to rest and relaxation. Interval training is great for this. Now I am not talking about flat out sprints but working at higher intensities with short rest periods has not only been shown to be even more beneficial for weight loss but will also illicit a faster fitness improvement.

5.Sleep

Real simple one this and a continuation of the stress factors we talked about. We must ensure we aim for 8 hours of sleep per night and absolutely ensure that we get at least 7 hours.

During sleep is when the body carries out its essential repairs to our muscles, bones, joints and cells. It is also the time when we are able to get rid of the mental clutter that messes with your head and makes you feel like you can't cope.

6.Get a Proper Running Assessment

It has been found recently that our gait is even more unique than our finger prints which proves that absolutely no one person is the same. This means that all generic exercise programs will not be suitable for everyone. A good running assessment will identify your own individual strengths and weaknesses and come up with a bespoke training regime to suit your needs as an individual.

So, thanks for reading this guys and sticking with me. As a reward, I have created a great video showing you some of the flexibility techniques and approaches we use with our clients to help improve their running function.

This should help quite a lot of you improve your running function and help you stay injury free, as I mentioned earlier however it will not help everyone, especially those with more acute problems.

Special Offer

66% Discount

Full bio-mechanical running assessment £20 (Usual Price £60)

If you would like to book in for a bespoke running assessment then drop me an email to darren@synergyhealthstudios.co.uk and quote the title of this article.

Make sure you include times you are available to come in for your assessment and please feel free to include any other questions in your email that you think I can help you with. Until then, try to add some of these principles and exercises into your own running programmes to help you achieve the best results possible.

Guest Blog: Hate sit-ups? Read This

2012-10-11T17:30:25Z

WHETHER you're trying to get fit for footy, running, boxing or just shift a few pounds around the gut - the chances are you've forced yourself to do sit-ups or crunches at some point.

The simple yet straining task of laying down and sitting-up again has been perceived as the best way to shape up stomach muscles and sculpt a six-pack since time immemorial. You do them, your dad did them, and cavemen probably did them to bag a wife during the summer when battering potential spouses over the head with a club had become frowned upon.

But Guest Blogger Darren Thomas is having none of it. In fact - the biomechanics expert, and recently qualified Ricky Hatton Academy boxing coach reckons you're wasting your time.

Here's why.

]]> "Hello again," writes Darren. "This time we are moving up from the hips and my Soccer Butts article to look at possibly the most talked about area of the fitness industry for the last 20-30 years: The core and the abdominal muscles.

Before we start, we need to talk about the muscles that make up our core and more importantly what their functions in the vast majority of sports and everyday life are.

The muscles of the core are the rectus abdominis, internal and external obliques, transverses abdominis and the deeper core muscles such as the lumbar multifidi etc.

When training our core, the theory of the moment seems to be all about stability. Now I am in absolutely no doubt that we need a stable core I just think we are taking the whole stability and core training down the wrong path.

We spend the vast majority of our awake time (over 95%) either standing or sitting and definitely not lying on our backs. When we train our abdominals however we spend ages lying down on the floor, swiss balls or whatever other crazy abs training inventions we have come up with doing the only movement our abdominals do not need to do in upright function.

Sit ups, crunches, leg raises etc work on strengthening your abs by flexing your trunk and taking either taking your ribs closer to your pelvis or your pelvis closer to your ribs to contract the abs and shorten the muscle.

When we are sitting or standing, our abs do not do this at all. Gravity flexes our trunk and not our abs. Turning off our core muscles and letting gravity do the work makes us slump forward and do the movement we would do in a sit up.

So because we have gravity, ground reaction and momentum working on our bodies all of the time, why on earth are we training our abdominals to be more susceptible to these forces, i.e. helping create kyphosis (hunched posture) in our upper trunk by shortening the muscles of our abs and pulling our ribs permanently into a forward flexed position.

This contributes to a load of potential injury risks, especially back and shoulder problems and now we know about how gravity works on our body, this seems like a really dumb thing to do right?

1.So the first point of the article is: STOP LYING DOWN TO TRAIN YOUR ABS!!!!! You are not helping yourself. Lying down means you are burning far less calories so in essence you are wasting your fat burning gym time by doing this and as we mentioned you are tightening and shortening your abdominals and hip flexors putting you at a mechanical disadvantage.
Especially for sports such as running, football and boxing and basically any other upright sport.

So then, my guess is you have two questions:

Question 1: What about other abs exercises such as planks and rollouts. Surely these are good abs exercises?

Question 2: So if training the abs to bring the ribs closer to the pelvis and vice versa is not the way to go, then what do our abs do and how is best to train them?

To try and answer these questions we need to go into the role of the abs during upright function.

One of the principles of function is that our bodies move in all three planes of motion at all times. The second principle we need to understand is that during upright function our muscles do not drive our bones. Rather our skeleton is acted upon by gravity, momentum and ground reaction force and our muscles load or react to produce movement (the Load to Explode Principle). Don't believe me try jumping in the air without sinking down first.

So then based on these and other principles how do our abs work? During running, walking or any other upright sport we are constantly moving and our core is being driven by our hands, feet, eyes and any other body part that might initiate a movement.

This driver will produce movement through the core, twisting, leaning back, side flexing, bending forward and often a combination of all of the above, all at once.

A functional core will allow this movement to take place while grabbing hold of the rib cage, spine and pelvis and slowing the movement down to stop them drifting too far apart before contracting to bring your posture back to neutral. So instead of an exercise where we contract to bring the ribs closer to the pelvis or vice versa, maybe we should focus on driving a variety of motion where we are taking these two structures further apart and making the abs slow these motions down and load to explode.

Basically the term "Moststability" sums this up perfectly. We need to teach the abdominals to provide stability through a full range of motion in every direction and not only through a small range as we do in sit ups, planks or artificial balance exercises.

2.So to the second point of the article. It is not your sit ups that give you a six pack. In fact press ups, squats, lunges and squat thrusts are far better abdominal exercises than a sit up.

So focus on changing and adapting these exercises by tweaking the plane of motion, range, speed and height.

Have a look at these videos where you will get a great whole body workout with a focus on your abdominals

My top 5 Abs exercises

3D Abdominal Training

3.To the Third and final point of the article. Although the videos above offer some great exercises to help load your abs more functionally, if you want a six pack you must understand that: A six pack is made in the kitchen.

If you do not put the right foods into your body, the chances of you getting your body fat low enough for your abs to be seen are slim.

I am also happy to help you with this so if you drop me an email, I will send you through a great fat burning nutrition pack that will get you shedding fat and showing of those wash board abs absolutely free.

As always it would be great to get some feedback on this article. I know it's a bit controversial so I'm sure there will be a lot of people with a lot to say on the subject so please drop me an email at: darren@synergyhealthstudios.co.uk

Darren's client before scrapping sit-ups

Darren's client after scrapping sit-ups and standing up to get in shape

If you want that nutrition pack to help you show off those abs then drop me an email and I will make sure there is one winging it's way to you ASAP

Guest Blog: Benefits of Boxing Training

2012-08-31T17:37:15Z

THERE'S a reason why boxers are commonly dubbed the fittest of all athletes - they train hard. Uncompromisingly hard.
But if you want the fitness benefits of boxing without having to quite follow the extreme Spartan routine of a fighter, there's plenty you can do.

]]>
Everton FC's Finch Farm training ground is the regular scene of scouse boxer Tony Bellew's conditioning sessions with first team fitness coach Dave Billows, as Bellew gets in shape for his next fight against Edison Miranda on Saturday September 8.

And with another scouser, David Price, tipped as the UK'S next great heavyweight hope, set to fight in the ECHO arena on October 13 against Audley Harrison, the sport is set to dominate headlines this autumn.

City centre based biomechanics expert and personal trainer Darren Thomas has recently qualified from Ricky Hatton's new boxing trainer academy, and is already being inundated with requests from men and women interested in getting boxer-fit.

He writes, 'People's opinions on boxing tend to be split one of two ways. You either see it as barbaric, focusing on the negative aspects of the sport or, if you are anything like me you love everything about it and have a huge appreciation for the amount of skill, dedication and mental and physical toughness it takes to become or even achieve the fitness levels of an amateur or professional boxer.

'Whatever your view on the sport, the one thing most people agree on is that boxers are some of the fittest, and well-conditioned athletes on the planet. For many years now, the fitness industry has recognised this fact and boxing is fast becoming one of the most popular forms of exercise and fitness available.

'Boxing is no longer a sport or form of training dominated by men; more and more females are now using it as their first choice for developing their health and fitness and often outnumber the men in boxing for fitness classes.

'Boxing training is a mixture of both cardiovascular and resistance training that will get you dropping body fat and get you on the road to that leaner and stronger you fast.

'It is also a great and fun way for you to learn new self defence techniques that may well come in handy when caught up in an unfortunate situation.
As well as the physical benefits, it can also assist with developing certain mental attributes, including the development of confidence, determination, patience and focus.

'Boxing training brings on certain physical changes to the body. It tones, builds muscle, and changes its shape without you even realising. Many people want to look good, and if you look good, you will feel good as a result, which in turn increases confidence.

'Boxing training is also very effective in reducing work-based stress. How often have you felt so frustrated you just want to hit something as hard as you can? By channelling that energy into a boxing based workout, you can get rid of those frustrations and help improve that work/life balance that will not only improve your functional capacity at work but also allow you to be a much calmer and more relaxed person all round.

Synergy's Pound for Pound Box Fit Personal Training Packages

Synergy Box Fit is a revolutionary new boxing training system combining Synergy's cutting edge bio-mechanics and training principles with the latest in boxing training and coaching techniques from the world famous Hatton Academy.

By blending our unique exercise knowledge with the boxing skills and work ethic of the Hatton Academy we have been able to create the most unique, fun and enjoyable boxing workout experience anywhere in the world.

Our boxing training packages will guarantee you meet all of your health and fitness goals, and to ensure we achieve this we have decided to take a holistic approach looking at all aspects of your lifestyle. Not only will you get 8-9 fun packed and very diverse training sessions per month our Pound for Pound Package also includes all this:

*Private life style and goal setting session
*2 Box Fit PT sessions per week for a whole calender month (minimum 8 sessions)
*Full Nutrition Action Plan: Designed to ensure you reach your own specific goals
*Boxing specific home workout program each month
*Free Pair of Hatton Academy gloves and hand wraps
*25% off all Nature Sunshine supplements to aid your nutritonal program

Lots of personal attention in very small group (maximum 4 people in each group)
This is a great way to get all the benefits of personal training for much less than half the cost.

There are only 8 spaces available so please hurry to secure your place today!

To book a place or to find out more info, simply contact me (Darren Thomas) using the details below:

Tel: 07834616197 or contact me at the studio on: 0151 2272892
Email:darren@synergyhealthstudios.co.uk

Guest Blog: Soccer Butts - why the glutes are vital to a footballer

2012-06-15T13:24:17Z

YOU'D PERHAPS be surprised to learn the identity of the body's most powerful muscle group, which drives good function on the footy pitch.

In his latest guest blog, sports injury expert and rehab specialist Darren Thomas from Synergy Health Studios, talks glutes or, if you like, back sides...

]]> 'I know the title of this article is a little tongue in cheek (excuse the pun) but I thought: What better time is there to talk about the most powerful muscle groups in the body and the powerhouses that drive good function and football performance.

'As you probably have guessed, the term "soccer butts" refers to the large and powerful muscles that make up the glutes (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, piriformis and the hamstrings) or as we like to call them"The Back Butt".

'The Back Butt I hear you say? Surely we only have one butt. Right? Well maybe not. As a very general rule if we can think of the muscles in the back butt as the ones that control hip flexion, it would make sense to also have a "Front Butt" made up of the muscles that look after hip extension(hip flexors, hip adductors, TFL, quads).

'I think I have mentioned this in some of my previous articles, but when we look at the function of the human body it is made up of bullies and the bullied.

'What I mean by this is that there are areas of the body that commonly display poor functional movement but rarely get injured themselves or display pain symptoms as a result.

'We call these the bully areas or bullies and predominantly they are the feet, the hips and the thoracic spine. Many of you reading this are probably thinking I know loads of people who have hip pain or foot pain, but I bet you know way more people that have or have experienced lower back pain (lumbar pain), shoulder pain, knee pain or shin splints.

'These are the bullied areas of the body that often pick up the slack and develop pain symptoms because of the poor function of one or more of the bully zones.

'When we take a look at the muscles around the hips, the front butt and the back butt work together to control and power the movements of the body in all 3 planes of motion.

'They yield a massive amount of power and directly influence how effective your abdominal muscles are, what goes on at the knee joint, and even what happens in the shoulder.

'The relationship between the muscles of the front and back butts and the rest of the body is a very complex one. Maybe a little too complex to go into here, but rest assured that training your butts in the correct way for football will not only improve your speed, power, balance, agility and strength, but also vastly limit the amount of injuries you will pick up during a football season.

'For fans of Adam Sandler movies like me, you will probably be familiar the film Happy Gilmore and the favourite saying of his golf coach in the movie Chubbs (Apollo Creed) "It's all in the hips".

'In terms of human movement, no truer word has ever been spoken, so I thought I would share with you part 1 of my functional hip training for football video so you can all adopt these techniques to prepare yourselves for the new football season to come and help ease off some of the knocks, aches and pains picked up during the previous season.

Take a look at the video below and enjoy trying out the exercises. Hopefully you can persuade your coaches and trainers to include them in your pre-season fitness regimes and warm ups.

Look out for part two in the Football Butts series where I will share some of the more intense techniques that will help you become faster fitter and stronger for next season. You never know, it could help you win the league next year.

As usual, please direct any questions to me by email:
darren@synergyhealthstudios.co.uk

I am as always looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Guest Blog: Preventing Football Injuries - The Hamstrings

2012-05-09T13:34:21Z

EVERTON FC have suffered more than their fair share of hamstring injuries, and two key performers in Leighton Baines and Jack Rodwell have been the most recent victims.

In his latest guest blog, sports injury expert and rehab specialist Darren Thomas from Synergy Health Stdios, discusses the ways all footballers, from professionals to amateurs, can avoid that dreaded pain in the back of their leg...

]]> As a natural progression up the body from the knee, the focus of this article will be firmly on the hamstrings.

Recently the young Everton players Leighton Baines and Jack Rodwell have both picked up hamstring injuries causing them to miss out on 1st team games.

The injury sustained by Jack Rodwell, is the latest in a long line of recurring hamstring injuries that are seemingly bamboozling the Everton Physio and Strength and conditioning staff.

From recent press interviews, the rehab and conditioning staff at Everton FC seem to think it is a nervous system problem due to the injuries not always being in the same parts of the muscles.

In fact, the staff at Everton are so concerned about why this injury has developed they are about ship him off to Germany to see rehab specialist Dr Müller-Wohlfahrt.

So with these injuries fresh in the minds of all football fans on Merseyside, maybe this is an ideal time to share some of the thoughts and ideas on how we might look and aim to treat a hamstring injury here at Synergy Health Studios and ultimately prevent it from reoccurring.

In order for us to prevent or treat a hamstring injury, we need to know what the muscle does. Throughout my university degree and personal training and sports injury therapy courses I was taught that the main job of the hamstrings is to flex the knee joint.

Although this is true when sitting or lying down, when walking, running or playing football THE HAMSTRING DO NOT FLEX THE KNEE! In fact, they do the exact opposite and act as knee extensor; it's actually gravity that flexes the knee and not our hamstrings.

In the video below Gary Gray mentions that the hamstrings are probably the most important muscle in human locomotion, they are responsible for decelerating motion in every plane, during every step, twist or turn.

As I have mentioned in the last article in the series, just like the knee, the hamstring are also an area that gets bullied and has to pick up the slack to help out other muscles and joints around them that are not functioning the way they should.

So with this in mind then, in the case of Jack Rodwell it would be a good idea to start looking at other areas of the body that may be working sub-optimally and putting the hamstrings under greater stress to increase injury risk in this area.

During the video Gary mentions, problems with foot, hip or thoracic spine function will put extra pressure on the hamstrings and possibly make a player more venerable and increase the risk of hamstring injuries.

I apologise for the complex answer, but while researching this article I came across this amazing video by a highly qualified Physiotherapist and "The God Father of Function" Gary Gray, who explains this a lot more eloquently than I ever could:

So now we have a slightly better understanding of what the hamstrings actually do and what could potentially cause a hamstring injury, below are my top tips on what you should and should not be doing to help rehab and condition your hamstrings and prevent injuries:

* The hamstrings DO NOT flex the knee so get off those leg curl machines; they will only make the muscle shorter and tighter, actually de-conditioning the muscle for football.

* Avoid static or PNF stretching. There are no scenarios on a football field where you have to hold your muscles in an extended state for any length of time. In fact, recent evidence suggests that stretching your muscles in this way might de-train the nervous system and limit the ability of your muscles to load effectively and pull you out of a dangerous situation.
Dynamic stretching is much more effective: Moving your muscles into a lengthened state and coming straight back out of the movement prepares them much better for the demands of football.

* Train as specific as possible to football. Come away from machines or any device that puts artificial loads on the body. As a basic rule free weights are better as they will load your muscles more closely to how they work on the field.

* Move in all three planes at a variety of speeds. Football is a multi-planer, dynamic game that is not played in straight lines. Your training should involve twisting, turning and side to side movements that stress the hamstring in ways it would be stressed during a match. Where possible try to make these movements as reactive and random as you can.

* Get yourself a full bio-mechanical analysis: As stated earlier in the article the hamstrings are prone to picking up injuries as a result of bio-mechanical deficiencies in other areas of the body.

If you would like to know more, please contact me by email: darren@synergyhealthstudios.co.uk, or Phone: 07834616197.

Also, if you contact me by Thursday 31st May 2012 quoting this article you will receive 75% of a full bio-mechanical assessment and rehab session.

Guest Blog - Preventing Football Injuries: Taking a look at the knee

2012-02-17T11:39:46Z

IN HIS latest guest blog, sport injury and rehab specialist Darren Thomas talks about knee injuries - the bane of many footballers, inlcuding Everton FC's influential defender Phil Jagielka.

]]> Darren says, 'Welcome back to our Preventing Football Injuries series. Our trip up the body from the foot and the ankle now takes us to the knee.

'There have been a number of quite high profile injuries to premiership football players over the Christmas and New Year period.

'The knee injuries sustained by Nemanja Vidic of Manchester United and Everton's Phil Jagielka are still fresh in the minds of all football fans so I thought, what better time to help you guys out with some information on how to reduce the risk and hopefully avoid knee injuries to help you extend your playing careers.

'When looking at the knee, we observe a simple yet complex joint. We look at the knee as an area that is constantly bullied by other structures.

'Our understanding of function tells us that during upright movement (anything stood upright), the actions of the knee are almost entirely governed by what is happening at the foot and the hip (and to a lesser extent the entire trunk and upper body).

'If one or a combination of these structures are not functioning correctly and are unable to control motion through the required range of motion for a particular activity, the knee joint is taken through movements that go against its optimal functioning. Potentially leading to increased injury risk.

'As we have said numerous times before, football is one of the most dynamic games on earth. Players have to cope with constant speed and direction changes, external impacts from other player as well as a variety of different movements such as running, jumping, heading and tackling, all putting a different strains on the knee.

'Ground and weather conditions also play a big role so if your body is not properly prepared then your likelihood of picking up a serious injury will be greatly increased.
Remember Michael Owen's ACL rupture during the 2006 World Cup?

'So with what we have just talked about and having just looked at the video, the question I wanted to raise in this article is this:

'Are we as therapists, trainers and coaches, properly applying the principles of football biomechanics to create the best possible treatment and training environment to help players recover from and ideally avoid future knee injuries?

'My answer to this is probably a controversial one but from what we saw in the video and the frequency of knee and muscle injuries in football at all levels, I would have to say a resounding NO! As in previous articles we need to ensure that our rehab and conditioning cover as many principles of movement specific to football as possible.

'With this in mind then, let us go through some of the principles or unarguable laws of nature that should be addressed when rehabilitating the knee and any other football injuries:

1.The body does not work in isolation. The movement at one joint or segment will have some sort of chain reaction effect on all other parts of the body. So train or treat your body as a whole machine. Get away from those resistance and Smith machines at the gym.

2.Every move we make is tri-planer. In other words, our body is always moving in all 3 planes all at the same time. So make sure you are not just training in the saggital plane like most traditional gym movements. Adapt your treatment and workouts to move in multiple directions at different, ranges, angles and speeds.

3.Get up off the treatment couch. Our muscles and joints move in a completely different way during upright function. We should not be using seated or supine assessment or treatment methods as our main form of diagnosis or treatment. They certainly have their uses but only to help you confirm what you have seen during upright movement.

4.External forces such as gravity, momentum, ground reaction and even other players and the ball drive movements through our body. This is a big one, but because of this our muscles do not drive our bones. They react to the movements of our bones to slow down the effects of gravity, momentum, ground reaction and other external forces by lengthening (loading)to slow things down before exploding to produce force and create movement. Don't believe me; try jumping without first sinking down towards the ground before takeoff.

5.Football is reactive. At least 99% of what you do on the field is completely subconscious. Making our training and treatment sessions as reactive as possible will help turn on your nervous system to automatically protect your muscles and joints from potentially dangerous situations (have another look at the Michael Owen video)

As you will probably all agree this is a bit longer and a little different to the previous articles, but don't worry a video giving you great tips and training methods will be on its way as a follow up to this article.

Also throughout February as a reward for following my articles you can receive 50% off a full bio-mechanical assessment and £5 off injury treatment sessions just by emailing or calling me and quoting the title of this article.

Please fire any questions you may have my way and I will be happy to answer them. You can contact me on 07834616197 or email: darren@synergyhealthstudios.co.uk

Twitter Challenge: Everton FC V Wigan FC match. Alternative report by Shaun Smith

2012-02-05T17:28:37Z

TWITTER is a wonderful tool for interacting with Everton supporters who read my copy in the ECHO.

Agree or disagree they're never shy to share their opinions, or tell me when they think I'm wrong.

Shaun Smith was particularly angry and vociferous after EFC's draw with Wigan on Saturday - his main gripe that I (along with the other local media) am too quick to deflect criticism of David Moyes. Shaun thinks the Everton manager is too negative with his tactics, and cost the Blues three points at the DW Stadium.

Shaun had started off informing me I was a 'sh*t bag' among other things, although he eventually mellowed but not before insisting he could write a better, fairer match report.
I challenged him to put his money where his mouth was, and good enough he delivered. Shaun - I said I'd post your match report on my blog - so here it is.
I've simply copied and pasted it onto the blog as it arrived on e-mail. (If you want to see the exchange on my time-line, follow me @gregok)

Mine will be in the paper and online tomorrow.

Thanks

]]> WIGAN 1 EVERTON FC 1
SHAUN SMITH'S MATCH REPORT

Well were to start after january the 31st all blues were on a high why because everton were heavely linked with players and comfirmed bids were being placed which we havent seen in over 6 years we sign jelovic then beat man city we could not of asked for a better night then when jim white from skysports news calms down from all the transfer activity he comes on skysports and says everton have sign steven pienaar and for the rest of the week all everton fans were all happy even the blueunion had nothing to say on twitter i think they were even happy about players coming in ok saha has left but you no what its not a big loss to everton hes not played well all season so maybe he needed a fresh start and so did everton billaleletnov has left will we miss him i dont think so but thats my opinion but january we seen donavan gibson jelovic peinaar all come in its give us blues a lift we havent had one in a while then we go to the wigan game away

Ok lets start with the team two changes from the team that beat man city distan came in for neville and hibbert pushed back to right back ok cant argue with that more experanced at the back and pienaar in for drenthe ok we all no why pienaar is back in to link up with baines i thought it was a good choice we have missed that link up for last six months and drenthe just don't like playing away games he only seems good at goodison park

The first 20 mins of the game once again fellaini was the main player in the midfeild he controlled everything again like he does most games there was some great passers with baines pienaar down the left same with donavan and hibbert gibson was playing some good little passers throught the middle of the park then look at the back two heitenga and distan were very comfortable playing simple balls to the wingers and then poor old denis stracqualuris running round like a headless chicken getting no support from the player tim cahill then the last 25 mins it was more wigan running at are full back are defence making a few panic clearences

Then lets look at the second half sub was made tim cahill went of with an injury and to be honest he did take a bad knock from vincent kompany on tuesday night so i was suprised he did play but what baffled me was the phil neville came on for him then we see fellaini getting pushed more forward to fit phil neville in the team why not push peinaar in middle bring magaye gueye or royston drenthe on the wing its pace down the wings but no he came and played out wide on the right for most of the time he was on the pitch and in my opinion he causes more problems for everton when he is on the pitch but when fellaini went upfront we lost are midfeild play gibson is not a quick player at all were fellaini will chase balls down thats the player he is plus hes a lost soul when he is pushed forward but thats my opinion after 20 mins of the sub being made i new and i belive all blues watching new that this is not working big denis who is not the best is hes chasing every ball what what was lumped forward the poor lad was nakerd again like he was from the city game the next sub came on jelavic come on for stracqualuris ok hes had a quiet second but we were still playing one upfront but he had immediate impact from hibberts cut-back and fellaini was waiting to pounce on it but wigan cleard the danger then wigan made a double change they brought another striker on and didnt take one of they thought the game was for the taking are manager never he never seen it but the 7 thousand traveling fans did and his counter part martinez did and for the next few moments wigan just passed the ball around while we just chased them then they made there final sub di santo came off for crusat he came on and was playing good balls out to beausejour then the goal well what can i say about that Beausejours cross just hit neville and took a horrible bounce and went in or was it a shocker from howard i believe it was a shocker but the next five minutes wigan wanted another moses at one point had all kinds of space he could of passed it to a team mate but he went for goal and thank god it was victor moses amd no one else at that point then ok everton were pushing forward in number then but we were leaving all kinds of space open and wigan again just counter attacked us then moyes made a sub tony hibbert came of and on come victor anichebe he came on and two minutes later we get a corner baines takes it poor corner came back out baines just whips it in and victor was there throw his head at it game was level did everton push for another no we just sat back again like always was moyes just happy for a draw at wigan i think he was then we got a late free kick baines hits it over then back defending always putting pressure on are selfs and at one point i seen david moyes shouting to fellaini to get back why get back why not get forward thats my problem with moyes he never sets his team out to win a game its a point and not to lose i dont see any other team set there teams out to draw or not to lose i belive moyes got his tactics wrong again today he set his game plan out different to the one against city why because thats david moyes and everton fans are getting sick of his negitivity now its been to long playing 4.5.1 now teams have worked everton out when we do go 4.4.2 it baffles team but as i say while phile neville and tim cahill are playing for everton he will play 4.5.1 cos thats the only way they can play i just wished moyes would sit down and watch everton after the game and realise neville is not good enought he cant pass a ball he cant cross a ball well sort of if you class them chips he puts in has a cross ok he shouts at players thats because hes a captain but id rather have a captain who dont shout but can play football when we have are player back osman rodwell jagielka coleman am sorry to say it we will still be the same old everton negitive cant create goals and thats all down to DAVID MOYES

these are my own opinions

FIVE TOP WARM-UPS TO AVOID WINTER FOOTY INJURIES

2012-01-10T20:33:42Z

WHILE Everton FC's Goodison Park pitch normally retains the same carpet-like lustre throughout the Premier League season, most amateur pitches in the city resemble rock-hard ice rinks or churned-up mud baths at some point.

]]> And while most of us must make-do with the uneven municipal surfaces, they can often cause frustrating injuries to amateur players.

In his latest guest blog aimed at keeping you fit and strain free on a Sunday morning this winter, Darren Thomas - of city-centre based fitness studio Synergy - shares his top warm-up exercises.

"Although the original plan was to move up through the body and focus on different types of injuries, I thought I would digress slightly and attempt to provide some info on general body conditioning that should help limit the amount of injuries a player might pick up during the winter months," he writes.

"Football is a dynamic and explosive game where you move in every direction imaginable and through all three planes of motion all at once.

"By jumping, stretching for the ball, changing direction, kicking and tackling, we unconsciously put our body into all sorts of compromising situations where we depend, not only on our body's ability to get us into a certain position, but also to pull us out of those positions without sustaining injury or pain.

"This is made worse in the winter as we have to cope with all sorts of underfoot conditions, putting our bodies under more and more stress.

"To combat this increased injury risk, our conditioning and warm-ups should aim to mirror these forces to make sure that your nervous system is switched on and the proprioceptors in your muscles and joints can react to pull you out of potential injury situations.

"With this in mind then, the video below gives my top 5 tips and exercises to help avoid football injuries and keep you on the field this winter."

"*REMEMBER! We need to teach the muscles to load and explode effectively so static stretching will not help in this situation

I hope you enjoyed the article and video, I am happy to answer any questions.
You can contact me via Twitter: @darrensynergy or email: darren@synergyhealthstudios.co.uk

Guest Blog: Recovering from Winter footy ankle injury

2011-12-20T12:47:02Z

IN THE third of a series of guest blogs by sports injury specialist Darren Thomas, Darren discusses further tips for recovering from ankle injuries sustained on those unforgiving winter pitches.

Darren, from city centre health studio Synergy, has also filmed a video showing techniques any footballer can use to enhance their rehab.

]]> He says, 'Last time we talked about the importance of warming up the ankle and taking the muscles and bones around the ankle through motions that they might go through on the football field.

'We also talked about the speed you would do these movements at so we can get even closer to what goes on in the ankle during football.

'In this article, the video gives some examples of exercises or rehab techniques to implement a little later in the rehab phase if pain symptoms allow.

'These exercises, although have a focus on stabilising the ankle will also help you develop power, speed and reactivity while focussing on the energy systems you would use during football.

'These are great exercises to incorporate into your warm up/conditioning parts of your football training sessions or before a game.

'You may be able to incorporate these exercises any time during the rehab phase if pain symptoms allow. The exercises can also be done a slower rate, or if you feel you are ready at a much faster rate than on the video to help improve reaction times and changes of direction speed.

'It definitely helps if you can make these exercises reactive, but if you are trying them on your own just mixing up the speed and direction of the movements will still help you improve.

I hope you enjoyed the video and I am happy to answer any questions. You can contact me via Twitter: @darrensynergy or email: darren@synergyhealthstudios.co.uk

Why Everton FC makes perfect sense for Rory Donnelly

2011-12-20T12:03:35Z

IF RORY Donnelly has any long-term sense (or if advisors have any nous at least) they will guide the young striker to the blue half of Merseyside.

]]> The Cliftonville forward, 19, is wanted by both Blues and Reds - along with advanced interst from tomorrow's opponents Swansea.

And while a move to Liverpool would perhaps naturally appear the biggest prospect for him, it may also be the step that sets his progress back.

The Belfast lad has been playing and scoring for fun this season, and nothing beats playing for the senior first team of your club - something he would be unlikely to do at Anfield any time soon.

A switch to Everton, however, could see him follow in the footseps of Apostolos Vellios and Seamus Coleman - i.e. straight into Premier League action.

Everton have somepromising young forwards already - in Vellios, Conor McAleny and lower down, Chris Long and Anton Forrester.

The club's big draw for some time has been the genuine chance to feature for the first team regardless of age, and with Louis Saha and Tim Cahill struggling for goals lately, Donnelly could well serve his career best by plumping for a move to Goodison.

Here's the BBC story about the transfer pull-of-war and here's a video of Donnelly scoting in some considerable style.

Guest Blog: Bullet-proof your ankle for footy

2011-11-23T11:33:19Z

IN THE second of a series of guest blogs by sports injury specialist Darren Thomas, Darren discusses the plague of footballers from the Premier League to Business Houses - the dreaded ankle ligament injury.

]]> Darren, from top city centre health studio Synergy, has also filmed a video showing techniques any footballer can use to help prevent turning their ankle.

Having to contend with my own re-occuring ankle complaint over the last 18 months, and seeing several former team-mates also sidelined for months, I was interested in how to 'bullet-proof' my seemingly fragile pins.

Darren says, 'With Lateral ankle injuries common place among football players and in fact all sports people; this seems as good a place to start our series on preventing football injuries.

'Studies suggest that lateral ankle injuries make up around 15% of all recorded sports injuries, with around 70% of these people suffering a recurring injury within 6 weeks- 24 months.

'The video attached to this article gives you some examples of exercises and techniques we have utilised to successfully to treat and prevent future lateral ankle injuries here at Synergy.

'We would generally use these types of movements as conditioning exercises for the ankle quite early on in the rehab process and then again as warm up exercises during the later stages of rehab and conditioning sessions.

'Remember, there is no set rule when rehabbing an injury. Everyone is completely different and there is not set time for an injury to heal itself. These exercises might not be right for everyone but they should provide a decent starting point.

'On the video I go through the movements quite quickly, if this causes pain then the movements can be just as effective at a much slower and controlled pace with a smaller range of motion.

'If however you are using these exercises during your warm up start slow and build up to a fast and quite intense pace. As long as you can control the movement, the quicker the movement the better, as movements during a match or training will be quite fast and intense.

'I am happy to answer any questions. You can contact me via Twitter: @darrensynergy or email: darren@synergyhealthstudios.co.uk

'Look out for part two of this series where we will go through some techniques for the later stages of rehab focussing more on the whole body movements and the energy systems you would utilise during a football match'.

Great goal by Everton FC youngster George Green

2011-11-21T12:06:53Z

I WROTE a lot about the lengths Everton FC went to in order to convince Bradford youngster George Green to sign for our academy this summer.

Here's why.

]]>

Green scores a cheeky back-heel for the U-16s after making a determined run into the area and demanding the ball. Call the cliche cops - but that's the sort of ability you simply can't coach.

The word from behind the scenes at Alan Irvine's academy is that Green, who has made rapid progress, is living up to the hype already.

Clearly he still has a long way to go, but nobody is denying the lad is an audacious talent.

Guest Blog: How Premier League stars like Everton FC's Seamus Coleman can recover from ankle ligament injury

2011-11-14T18:52:14Z

SEAMUS Coleman admits he surprised even himself with his rapid recovery from a pre-season ankle injury - but how did the Everton midfielder do it?

]]> Clearly the expertise and dedication of Everton's renowned medical staff, epitomised by men like Danny Donachie, Richie Porter and fitness and conditioning coach Dave Billows, was fundamental.

In the first of a series of guest blogs based on football fitness and injury prevention, Darren Thomas, a specialist at Liverpool's Synergy health studios discusses what may have gone on behind the scenes at Finch Farm to get the Ireland star fighting fit.

And Darren believes there is more than one way to coax a player back to his best...

"Many of you may remember the recent ankle injury sustained by the young Everton player Seamus Coleman. The injury occurred as a result of a miss timed tackle during Everton's pre season game against Villarreal.

We have been asked to provide an explanation of the treatment methods, strategies and principles we may have used in order to create a healing environment for Seamus.

Although access to all of the medical notes from the injury are unavailable, due to the fact that no surgery was required it is quite probable to be a grade II or grade III ligament injury.

There is no doubt that Seamus had a good recovery from his injury. But it can be difficult for treatment teams to estimate recovery times, when every individual heals at different rates and each injury is different depending on the person's biomechanics.

A traditional approach to this type of injury would consist of an acute phase consisting of aggressive RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) treatment, soft tissue or friction massage and a variety of couch-based mobilisation and stretching exercises.]

This would be then, perhaps be followed by a strengthening/stability phase - consisting balance exercises on a Bosu or Power Plate machine, as well as other exercises to strengthen the posterior compartment of the lower leg.

Finally the last traditional rehab phase would consist of more sports specific training, culminating in a return to full training and a return to playing.

There may have been some considerations however, that might not have been taken into account that could be utilised in future treatments to create an even more efficient healing environment.

Our experiences working with a variety of people and athletes at Synergy has shown us that for this type of injury there is a need to see how the ankle reacts as part of the whole body system, even during the acute phase of rehab (1st week).

Alongside icing, mobility and massage Seamus could have been doing weight bearing exercises at a lower intensity, but as close as possible, to the movements he would go through on a football pitch.

Our focus should be on strengthening and improving the range of motion of the muscles around the ankle joint to work hard while they are lengthening under force. In short, we'd need to teach Seamus's nervous system and muscular system to be able to pull him out of a dangerous situation before it results in injury.

To do this, our treatment should be made reactive and sub-conscious as soon as possible. It should also encompass principles and considerations such as gravity, momentum, the forces that occur from your foot hitting the ground in a number of different ways, plus the fact that all muscles need to be able to load (lengthen) before they can explode and produce force.

We'll post again with a video of some of the sample exercises that may be used to help recovery from an injury like Seamus', and get players back to top flight football as quickly as possible."

Surprised by angst at James McFadden's Everton FC return

2011-10-19T09:09:43Z

DON'T worry, this blog isn't going to exclusively reveal that Everton have re-signed Gary Naysmith - although after the return of James McFadden and Duncan Ferguson who'd be truly surprised?

]]> It is, however, a brief note to express my puzzlement at the almost universal negativity I've met with in the wake of McFadden's Goodison come-back.

It's not that I don't understand the sentiment - in some ways it could feel like a backwards step - but in the rush to get all morose I reckon many have lost a bit of perspective.

By all accounts it was a footballing decision taken purely by David Moyes, to add a 28-year-old ex Scotland international forward to his ranks for free in October - two and a half months before the January window opens.

The former Motherwell boy has passed a medical, and while he didn't convince everyone first time around, he can add another option attacking element from the bench.

We all know Everton need more attacking options, and I can't see McFadden's return - which is only until the end of the season - harming the prospects of Ross Barkley (as some have claimed) or preventing Moyes from trying to buy a striker in the New Year.

If this was January 31 and McFadden had been rolled out as the only arrival of the window, it would clearly be a different story. But with Everton insisting the £12m they received for Mikel Arteta did not go to Barclays Bank, I'd expect to see some of that spent on another centre-forward.

Five Everton FC Saturday Things

2011-10-17T07:51:06Z

IN A tribute to the gone but not forogtten When Skies Are Grey forum, here's five EFC Saturday things.

]]>

* Who kidnapped Marouane Fellaini and sent out a clone dosed on megadon?

* Seeing Wyclef Jean and Sean Paul (yeah, him) hanging out in the tunnel afterwards waiting for Florent Malouda.

* Jan Mucha and Petr Cech embracing like brothers outside the Chelsea dressing room. Touching.

* The inevitability of Juan Mata being pretty good.

* Seeing Bill Kewnright and his partenr Jenny Seagrove wandering back into the Kensington night looking fed-up.