Soft Tissue Therapy Complementing Training

by Rebecca Roberts - 07.08.09

It is not only the hours that athletes put into their training which is important for performance but the hours they also put into supporting recovery strategies to ensure sustainable success on the world stage.

Alongside sports medicine and sports physiotherapy, the English Institute of Sport (EIS) also offers soft tissue therapy services to complement athletes’ training programmes before, during and after events. Eis2win.co.uk talks to athletes and practitioners about Soft Tissue Therapy.

“There are many factors which are important to an effective training programme and soft tissue therapy complements athletes’ overall recovery strategies” says EIS Soft Tissue Therapist Paula Clayton.

“We work closely with the doctors and physiotherapists involved with the athlete to ensure the types of treatment available are appropriate to each situation. The treatment can be used before, during and after events and for maintenance as well as injury and there are many uses for the treatment, such as to lengthen and improve extensibility of tight muscles for example” she adds.

Numerous sports and their athletes utilise the service to work with their training programme, including heptathlete Kelly Sotherton, who is no stranger to a tough training programme. The Athens bronze medallist accesses EIS soft tissue therapy with Paula Clayton at her training base in Birmingham. 

“As an athlete, I am always looking for the edge” says Sotherton, who trains with her coach and EIS support staff in Birmingham. “I am very aware of the things that work and the things that don’t work for me personally when it comes to interventions.

“One thing that I know does work for me, from a musculo-skeletal point of view that helps me make sure that I am as pain free as possible and my muscles are working efficiently and effectively, is soft tissue therapy. My therapists’ understanding and knowledge of anatomy has been outstanding and her ability to relate this to my being a heptathlete has been vital to accurate treatment” she adds.

Athletes competing in a variety of sports have found the services beneficial to their training, as EIS Soft Tissue Therapist Simon Morris explains;

“Working with a number of sports as a soft tissue therapist at the EIS, I see first hand how the service is able to combine with the various other training and support services accessed by athletes to deliver a comprehensive programme of support.

“Each individual athlete will have their own specific requirements and taking a multi-disciplinary approach as part of the medical team allows this to be effectively delivered in whichever sport its applied within”.

For more information about Soft Tissue Therapy please click here

Photography © SW Pix