Athletic Rehabilitation
for the Young Athlete
We are specialists in athletic rehabilitation as well as in pediatrics musculoskeletal care. Combining these specialities we can cater for the needs of young athletes. This is one of our favorite areas to work in. We love getting young people back to their sport at an enhanced level of performance.
Athletic Screenings
We offer young athlete screenings. This allows us to foresee any potential injury risks an individual may be susceptible to. Either due to the sport they have chosen or due to imbalances they may have in their own body. If we identify any issues we can create an exercise based programme to help counteract any potential risk. The screenings can also help us identify any potential sports an individual may excel at. We can help guide you with sport specific goals that will help you to achieve success in your chosen sport while remaining injury free.
Exercise Programmes
At McGowan Physio we provide guidance to children and adolescents on how to best select and organise resistance training exercises into an effective program. We encourage you to ask us any questions if you have a child or teenager needing this as part of their rehab or if they are simply wanting to incorporate such activities into their routine.
There was a long-held belief that resistance training such as weight machines, free weights etc was only suitable for adults and should be avoided by children and adolescents. We now know for fact that this is untrue. Strength training exercises in the youth are perfectly safe, provided they have the correct technique and training loads just as would be recommended in adults. We pride ourselves in teaching safe and effective techniques.
The latest research proposed recommendations for children and adolescents to perform some form of strength training exercises a minimum of three times weekly. This does not have to be in a formal gym setting. Strength training is often incorporated into training sessions for various sports or as part of the exercise performed during physical education in school. Even for kids not enrolled in sports, resistance training exercises on their own will provide lots of benefits.
We provide very clear and concise programmes that are goal oriented. Once a goal is achieved the individual can move to the next level. If the athlete is at risk of an injury we may remove them from sport until they reach the level of goals necessary to no longer be at injury risk. We also understand the need to rehab through sport in certain circumstances.
Garett helped me manage a long standing lower back problem. Most importantly he got me to understand exactly what was going wrong in my posture and exercise form and that has been the key in improving my condition.
Olivie
The Benefits of Athletic Rehab
The benefits of athletic rehab and strength training are endless. We particularly notice a huge elevation in the individual's confidence. There are other more obvious benefits. It improves certain aspects of performance in children such as speed, jump height, agility and motor skill.
In the research we see that strength training has also reduced the risk of injury in many child and adolescent soccer studies. We also see that girls and boys equally become stronger within 8-12 weeks of commencing strength based exercises.
Of course strength training is not just for young athletes. It also helps to encourage exercise for kids not enrolled in sports. We also know that strength training is one exercise option that can be used to address obesity and it is a great form of exercise to encourage lifelong engagement in exercise as it is accessible to everyone.
