Alter G offers an alternative to SFL clubs
Friday 23rd December 2011
Injured players at Scottish Football League clubs could be in line for a quicker spring in their step in 2012 thanks to the space age technology that has landed at the Core Fitness and Physiotherapy Centre that is based within Hamilton Academical's New Douglas Park.
The gym’s proprietor, Darren Cross, who also doubles up as the Goalkeeping Coach at Albion Rovers, has invested in only the third Alter G machine to hit Scotland, which speeds up the recovery time for a player by using technology that was designed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in America.
Cross explained the background to the Alter G saying: “This piece of equipment was originally designed for astronauts returning from a gravity free space environment to allow them an acclimatisation period as they head back to life with gravity on earth.
“From the work that was carried out to allow the progression back to an environment where weight is placed on a person’s joints, Surgeons, Doctors and Physiotherapists had a look to see how the technology could be utilised to help people back from injuries to full fitness.”
In very simple terms, the Alter G machine is a gravity free treadmill with Cross explaining: “The NASA technology was adapted around a treadmill to allow a person to bring their body weight back on to load bearing joints in stages. You are zipped into an air tight capsule that envelopes around the lower half of your body and blows air in to reduce your body weight as you walk or run.”
Cross was asked what the benefits of the Alter G are to players and clubs and he advised: “Previously, the only weight bearing equipment that would help someone build fitness without placing a strain on ankle, hip or knee injuries involved a harness. These tended to be very uncomfortable to wear and difficult to get the weight bearing ratios required correct.
“You could also look to do swimming with a player but at best that would be restricted to 50% of a person’s body weight. Physios cannot see the movement being carried out by an injured player unless they put goggles on and go underwater and that is not always practical.”
These practices left a void between an injured player working in a pool to running on hard surfaces usually outside to build themselves up after an injury until the Alter G came along.
Cross said: “This equipment negates the need for pool sessions and a player can go straight from an operation to walking/running on the machine and start strengthening the muscle straight away.
“It has proven to cut recovery time. Whilst everyone is a unique case and results depend on the intensity of the illness, studies have shown that players can be back from an injury such as an anterior cruciate ligament a month quicker than before which is quite substantial.”
Two SPL stars that were unfortunate to suffer knee injuries at a similar time earlier this season, St. Mirren’s Darren McGregor and Ryan O’Leary of Kilmarnock, are both already enrolled in a rehabilitation programme at Core Fitness involving work on the Alter G machine.
Cross said: “They are both doing really well and if you told Ryan back in August that he would be running by December, he would not have believed you. He is glad to be back doing some work, especially at a time of year where facilities are more difficult to find due to the weather.
“He has been visiting us for three weeks now and heading towards one hundred percent of his body weight at a time when clubs head indoors to work due to ice and frost. That often means training on astroturf or hard surfaces and it would be unlikely that Ryan would get as much done in that environment.”
O’Leary could be back in blue and white colours quicker than anyone anticipated with Cross adding: “The physios at Kilmarnock will be hoping to get him back into training in the next few weeks, which is fantastic when you consider it looked like the season was a write off for him four months ago when he was injured.”
SFL clubs as well as the remaining SPL sides are beginning to look into what the technology can bring to them at Hamilton with Cross adding: “Ayr United’s Martyn Campbell has been out for a wee while with a knee injury and he was struggling to make significant progress. We got him in and running a fortnight ago and he reacted well to the training.
“He went from running at zero gravity to 80 percent of his body weight with a bit of pace, which all helps the transition from not doing anything to running again. Players can often pick up other injuries as they go through this change and doing it with less weight on their bodies helps reduce that as well.”
One SFL player to already benefit from the Alter G is Albion Rovers defender Michael O’Byrne, who had sessions on the treadmill to help him recover from a combination of groin and hamstring injuries.
“Mick had been carrying these problems since leaving Livingston at the end of last season,” said Cross before adding, “He was working on the Alter G as part of his recovery programme both before he started playing in games and afterwards as he was playing in games when he was not one hundred percent fit as we were short of central defenders.
“He has turned into a bit of a goal machine recently with strikes from distance as well as headed goals so the Alter G may even be better than I think it is!”
Another SFL club that could look to see what benefit could come their way is Morton, who are looking to see what help can be given to speed up Stuart McCaffrey’s foot injury.
Cross said: “Morton had asked the St. Mirren physio to look at him and that is where the Alter G training thought came from as they already had Darren involved.”
The steps taken by these clubs are helping to turn Core Fitness into a Centre of Excellence for assisting the rehabilitation of players and a centre that is keen to help SFL clubs.
They are now only the third facility in Scotland to have invested in the kit with Cross adding: “We have been at New Douglas Park for almost 10 years now and have become more specialised in our approach over the last couple of years as the investment in the Alter G shows.
“The other Alter G machines in Scotland are at the Old Firm clubs and in England 18 of the 20 Premiership clubs have at least one. The outlay is significant and therefore that is why not every club can have one but we believe that the benefits can be shared around.”
There are other reasons why the sharing of resources is beneficial as Cross explained: “There could also be an issue with space and having someone available and trained to look after the player when he is working on it. I am sure all teams would want to have a machine but having one based in Hamilton gives a common place that teams can have access too.”
Cross envisages a complimentary service as opposed to assuming the rehabilitation of a player towards first team action and commented: “Every club has a physiotherapist or a sports therapist and the best way to approach this is to work in conjunction with them. These guys cannot devote all their time to one player and this approach allows them to use help from elsewhere for half an hour or an hour at a time if a warm up or a warm down is required.
“We have a bank of 10 physios that can come in and work on football injuries and pitch in other areas as well such as rehabilitation work at the gym. Having worked at a SFL club for the past three years, it is relatively easy for me to see the benefits that can be brought.”
A successful relationship with a player’s club is key with Cross saying: “The relationship I have with Albion Rovers' physio, John McMenemy, is a model for relations with other clubs and I believe that this equipment and working together is not a threat but an aid. The clubs decide what happens and we then work together, be it the club, the physio or the player, as everyone wants to have players back fit as soon as possible.”
Having worked at Cliftonhill, Cross is well placed to know the demands on players and clubs in the SFL and why a pooling of equipment would be welcomed as he explained: “I know my way around the SFL quite well as I played in goal at reserve team level at Morton and Raith Rovers but never got near the first team. I played at Junior level but I enjoyed coaching more than playing and I turned to that.
“Todd Lumsden, who is the Assistant Manager at the Rovers, got me involved there. We are a close knit bunch that can be seen in our results over the last couple of years. Thankfully, our squad is ticking over quite nicely at the moment and there is no-one needing to use the Alter G but the Manager, Paul Martin, knows where it is if it is ever required.”
Darren can be contacted at http://www.core-fitness.org/ or 01698 368667
