Here at Hammer, we get sports – we live them, we breathe them, we debate them and we like to think we are (were) good at them. So just like you, we can remember a time when that agile and seemingly unbreakable body of yours took to the field in pursuit of competition without any regard to your body ‘breaking down’. You were taking that ‘contact’ call like a beast while rocking the bib with the ‘C’ on it at netball; you were running flat chat into the opposition prop, second row and halfback on the 4^th tackle, 20m out with 5 minutes to go. You then bounced back up and took the next hit just the same; you finished your 2^nd division game and sat bench for 1^st division, itching to get amongst it all over again. You lived for the weekend hit out because you, like us, loved the competition.

However, we know that things change and that unbreakable aura you thought surrounded your body has waned. Those hamstrings aren’t up to the sprints anymore; the shoulders can’t throw that bullet pass like they used to; milk turns quicker than you do. Before you know it, you are watching and not playing, reduced to manning the BBQ or the bar dealing with that ‘bung knee’ of yours. Your quest for fleeting sporting glory is halted before its prime and its messing with your life. You know that you need to get back on the field and no amount of nightly ice packs are going to get you there.

That’s where we step in – we know it hurts to watch and we want you to get back in the game.

Injury Management and the Return to Sport Program

The Return to Sport program is a 6-week long, structured return-to-sport program designed to cost-effectively address an individual’s acute or long term injuries, with the aim of allowing them to safely return to sport/recreational play. This program is designed in order for participants to receive individualised rehabilitation and strength programming with ongoing access to an exercise physiologist  to provide constant support and ensure adherence to the prescribed methods throughout its implementation.

While this sounds similar to the type of service a client may get from a physiotherapist, there are some nuanced differences. While physiotherapy still maintains its importance in the initial treatment of injuries phase (with management of the symptoms and some activation exercise), their ongoing interaction with the client usually does not extend beyond this point. However, the Return to Sport Program progresses the initial treatment phase, focussing on mobilising or stabilising injured sites and integrating them into actual movement patterns in order to strengthen your body as a complete unit, essentially making it ‘Return to Sport’ (figuratively, not literally).

The program itself is designed to be self-directed to promote long-term self-management of an individual’s injury; however, throughout the program you will receive consultation and ongoing access to an accredited exercise physiologist (AEP). Our in house exercise physiologist has completed his Masters in Clinical Exercise Physiology and has a passion for transitioning patients from the rehabilitation phase into a complete strength and conditioning phase in order to reduce injury recurrence and to increase overall performance.

The Return to Sport program involves the following:

– A cumulative 75 minutes of consultation time with an accredited exercise physiologist, broken into the following consultations:

– 1 x 30min initial pre-screening, to determine your current stage of return to sport and to assist with program design;

– 1 x 30min consultation to run through the program and exercises, with scope for progression; and

– 1 x 15min post-program testing, to objectively measure changes as against previous measures and to determine how that affects injury risk or performance.

– A 6-week individualised return-to-sport program with access to ‘Trainerize’, our online coaching service which allows access to video tutorials and tracking. The return-to-sport program is focussed on addressing the cause of injury and re-conditioning to pre-injury levels of performance;

– Ongoing, twice weekly communications from our AEP to assess program adherence and scope for progression, including access to email and phone communication with our AEP to address questions;

– Re-testing after the program to assess its effectiveness and any scope for further progression; this assessment will include advice on the next steps for the participant with respect to training or options for further rehabilitation programming; and

– 6 weeks of free membership to Hammer Athletic open gym periods in order to perform your individualised program.

Inclusive of the above features, the 6 week program will be offered for $150, with in-house private health rebates available to participating individuals.

To get started get in touch using the form below: