PhysioQinetics

In Part 1 of our blog series "Road to Tokyo Olympics", our physiotherapist and Team GB rower Tom Barras has told us how the COVID pandemic has affected him and how he adapted his rigorous training in the new era ahead of the re-scheduled Tokyo Olympics in Summer 2021. In this Part 2 of the blog series, Tom will tell us more on how his physiotherapy and Pilates training helps him improve his performance, as well as how the pandemic and interruption of normal training in fact allows him to be more flexible and creative in designing his own training regime.

"As a qualified physiotherapist who has specialised in musculoskeletal physiotherapy for the past five years, I sort to use my knowledge of anatomy, physiology and rehab protocols in order to improve the efficacy of my training. I had always wanted to create a few short sub-sessions specific to my needs and goals, and this extra time between sessions presented me with the opportunity to give the programme that little more personality.

Two key areas of weakness I had identified were balance and functional lower back stability. Balance was a simple area for me to progress, moving from less functional, easier to complete exercises (such as single leg stand with eyes closed), right the way through to the more functional, complex exercises (such as obliques whilst on a multidirectional wobble board). These sessions were short, but completing them on a regular basis meant the neurological pathways strengthened quickly and improvement was relatively speedy."
 

Credit: 

Tom Barras

"However, I decided against writing myself a lower back stability and pelvic mobility session straight away. Instead I saw lockdown as the perfect opportunity to further my professional development and expand my knowledge, with the hope that these extra skills would enable me to create an even better session. Training had previously inhibited me from attending weekend or evening physio courses, and thus this break from more regulated training provided me with the perfect opportunity to seek out courses of interest. One course that I had always been interested in, and which was particularly relevant to improving pelvic positioning and spinal stiffness, was the APPI Pilates Instructor course."
 

Credit: 

Tom Barras

"Though normally taught in person, APPI released an online version of the course early on during the first nationwide lockdown. This enabled me to complete all three of the matwork course levels without the need to leave my home. Whilst the course gave me the skills to teach this pilates repertoire, it also helped me to expand my own selection of exercises."
 

Credit: 

Tom Barras

"By the end of lockdown, these sub-sessions had become part of my daily routine. Not only were they crucial for me improving my areas of weakness, they also played a pivotal role in me staying injury free. Whilst training load remained relatively similar compared to pre-lockdown, access to physio had reduced. It meant that over this time I had greater responsibility for ensuring that I stayed healthy and a combination of these sub-sessions alongside my own self manual treatment helped me to achieve that."

In Part 3 of our blog series "Road to Tokyo Olympics", Tom will tell us more about the adaptation at the Team GB National Training Centres in COVID time. Stay tuned :)