Fixing The Machine
by
Neil Parsley
-
23/05/2012
I’ve been working with GB Taekwondo for three years now and over the past Olympic cycle we’ve seen some amazing development in the programme. In 2009 the squad didn’t pick up a medal at the World Championships but by 2011 we picked up four – and at the European Champs in Manchester earlier this month we picked up seven, which just shows how focused the squad are on success.
Earlier this year our World No 1 Sarah Stevenson tore her anterior cruciate ligament at a training camp in Mexico, so we’re all working hard alongside Sarah to get her in fighting shape as she aims to qualify for the Games.
My nickname for Sarah is “The Machine”. She really is astounding and is like a physical machine her physical abilities are as good as most males plus she works so hard in training. Because she’s got a solid training history and has fought back from injury before, it’s been fast paced progress on her intensive rehab.
EIS Physio Leigh Halfteck is another key member of the support team, along with the sport’s doctor and sports psychologist at GB Taekwondo. Leigh has work extremely hard over the last 12 weeks and in conjunction with another EIS physio- Lee Herrington who specialises in ACL injuries- they have developed a bespoke programme for her rehab. We started work in the gym 7 days after her operation, which to some may seem very early, but we all knew the sooner Sarah could get back in the gym to do some form of training, the better she would feel not only physically but also psychologically. The areas I focused on early on in her rehab were her upper body strength and an introduction to metabolic conditioning.
We’ve tried to keep things interesting as she’s almost a resident at our EIS base at Sportcity, Manchester at the moment! We’ve done everything from seated boxing, work in the pool, hand bikes as well as regular training in the gym as well as the progressive rehab on her knee.
Sarah’s injury is the same one suffered by her team mate Bianca Walden almost exactly a year previously so we’ve had this expert team work closely on a fast paced rehab before - being able to draw in expertise from within the sport as well as across our EIS network is key.
Keeping on top of the latest research, I’ve also brought in expertise from EIS Head of Strength & Conditioning, Raph Brandon, who’s been advising on occlusion training, where blood flow is restricted to the injured limb when exercising to enable specific muscle function adaptation.
I’m fortunate to be working with a great technical coaching set-up at the sport too. Since we work through various phases of training, it is imperative that I work very closely with the coaches as we need collaborate to ensure that we control the volume and intensity in our respective sessions to maximize the potential of the athletes.
Everyone is now looking ahead to the Olympics now that the Europeans have finished and Sarah ‘The Machine’ is no different – she is focused on what she needs to do and is working hard to achieve it.
Author profile
Neil Parsley
Neil Parsley is a Senior Strength and Conditioning coach at the English Institute of Sport, working with Taekwondo.
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