What does a sports therapist do during social distancing? Start a blog of course! Welcome! :-)

Hi and thank you for taking the time to read my first blog. Or at least the first line of my first blog! My name is Stuart and although I seem to get called a growing array of nicknames these days most people still call me Stu. For those of you who don’t know me I’m usually fairly easy to pick out of a crowd as I have hair that should be on the side of shampoo bottles and a foot size that belongs to someone twice my height… “How have I never noticed how big your feet are before Stu?” Probably because you were distracted by the Hollywood hair. ;-).

I run for the East Hull harriers so know quite a few people on the running circuit and a few from the triathlon circuit, but sports therapy isn’t about running or triathlons; it’s about your body feeling good and you performing whatever physical tasks you do, as well as you can. More importantly pain free! This blog will be about my experiences and hopefully some advisory pieces on my experiences working as a sports therapist.

I’ve decided to start blogging as a better way of communicating. I used to be in a band called Copenhagen and the worst part of being in the band was the marketing; trying to get people interested in your music, your gigs, your merch and I feel a little bit like I’m back there now. The big difference is I feel like I (hopefully) have useful information for people, and I’m certainly a better sports therapist than I ever was a drummer. Go check out our video called How does it feel? on YouTube and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. The plan is to do a couple of blogs every month but that will depend on time and whether I’ve done anything interesting or have information to share. With the world currently on lockdown due to the Corona Virus pandemic I like many others have been committed to slowing the spread by practicing social distancing; of course unless I implement some Ross Geller-esqe long handles wooden spoons that makes massaging quite difficult so it seemed like a good time to kick off the blog.

When it comes to my treatment sessions I try and aim for them to be light hearted and fun so I’ll be treating the blog much the same way. I like to build a rapport with patients who come to see me and I think that’s often an underappreciated part of treatments. So if you’re coming with pain in your lower back the primary aim is always to stop the pain. But if we enjoy the session, talk, laugh and work together I just feel like the session can become about more than just your physical wellbeing. I sometimes feel more like a hairdresser or a taxi driver because as soon as people are on the slab and they feel comfortable we’re just two people talking and listening and how often do you get that in modern life? I’d love for the blog to become an extension of the vibe I try to create while doing treatments so here’s to hoping. Hopefully people will understand what I’m trying to do and get on board with the idea as I think this could become a really good way to instigate conversations and for people to also share their ideas and opinions; and especially now with everything going on it’s more important than ever to talk.

Like the rest of the world the health and fitness industry is trying to find new ways to work around the limitations set upon us by Covid-19. Everything has moved online and although it would possibly have ended up that way anyway the virus really has accelerated us into the future. I’ve seen a lot of therapists doing online sessions which again is not a new concept but the amount of people doing it now has greatly increased. I think my next blog will possibly be around where I believe things are heading and the pros and cons of following online fitness programs such as Joe Wicks or pokemon yoga… yes that is a thing. Yes I’ve done it. Yes I have children. No they didn’t do it with me.

So with that all said and done please check out my website www.hu1sportstherapy.com which is where I will be keeping my blogs and all my vital stats. Always open to constructive feedback so please do let me know what you think of the blog and website good or bad.

Peace and love

Stu

Or do I have to finish it with Stay safe? Seems to be the go to conversation finisher these days…