Testimonials

Martin,
I just thought I would send you a quick email to say thanks for last week. I thought the diploma course was amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I have taken away so much from it and it can be incorporated immediately, whether it is with current clients or targeting a new direction. I now have a lot of changes and additions to make on my website, linkedin, twitter and Facebook pages haha amongst other things. Saying that….I really like the new layout on the iTS website, looks really smart!

All the best, 
Chris Wright, Personal Trainer  

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Coaches of the athletes who are part of my ‘On Camp with Kelly’ mentoring initiative have taken part in Intelligent Training Systems courses at a number of ‘On Camp with Kelly’ events. They have found the courses to be extremely useful in helping them to understand their athlete’s performance and to prevent injuries and we have received some very positive feedback.

 

As one of the coaches said: “I think it was clear that almost without exception the Intelligent Training Systems course was regarded as of great value as well as being enjoyable.” “The Intelligent Training Systems  courses are very practical which is ideal for coaches. We will definitely continue to offer the courses to our coaches in the future.” 
Dame Kelly Holmes.

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ITS have provided a training and consultancy service to support the Occupational Health Team deliver on its Health and Wellbeing Strategy. This strategy includes a focus on rehabilitation, injury prevention and maximising performance for employees in various job roles and capabilities.

We initially developed a programme using the techniques and principles of biomechanical screening to assess back and neck problems, these being a significant cause of absence. The Occupational Health Advisors (OHA) were trained and able to embed the biomechanic principles into the assessment framework for managing employees from self and managerial referrals into the department. The results identified a significant improvement for most clients with regard to the self-management of their symptoms with a decrease in the subsequent year’s absence and a prompt return to work to either the same or more active duties. Overall clients reported they felt they understood more about their condition, which enabled effective management, reduction or resolution in symptoms and an increase in confidence in their general health. The positive impact of the biomechanics intervention was seen at both the physical and psychological level.

Last year ITS provided further training to both the OHA team and members of the police physical training team who then successfully qualified with a diploma in the techniques and principles of biomechanics. We are now using the biomechanic assessment and techniques to assist employees with a wide range of musculoskeletal problems. The clients again report an improved confidence in their ability to self-manage, a significant reduction in symptoms, reoccurrence of the problem and a return to activity once considered problematic.

The training and on-going support we receive from ITS has greatly supported the OH team to embed the principles in many aspects of core OH work. The ITS training ensures practitioners develop a significant knowledge base through a practical evidence based model and therefore increased confidence for the OH practitioners to implement a proactive service, and importantly, deliver effective and measurable results.

ITS training in biomechanical screening was enjoyable, practical and very professionally delivered. It has become an invaluable aspect of the assessment, health promotion and health screening work we undertake. The professional scope of the OH service has improved, as are the benefits to our clients.

Sharon Whitehouse - Occupational Health Manager
South Yorkshire Police

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We are multi-disciplinary group of health care practitioners working in professional golf, delivering a full medical service to golf professionals on the European Tour.

In November 2009, we underwent education as an organization via Intelligent Training Systems’ Diploma in Biomechanics Coaching. The intention was to bring practitioners to a common level of biomechanical knowledge, which was achieved through excellent delivery of course content and ample hands-on experience. The education of delegates on the course has enabled them to screen, interpret data and prescribe relevant exercises.

In addition, I can confirm that I am fully aware of the content of the Level 4 Biomechanical Assessment and Management of Low Back Pain course that has been designed by Intelligent Training Systems. The biomechanical analysis used has been proven to improve low back pain in clinical studies and is a combination of the latest research in to low back pain management and exercise prescription.

I would have no hesitation in recommending training with ITS and we look forward to putting the education into practice during the 2010 season.

Rob Hillman - PGAET Physio Unit Director

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"So many potential Elite athletes are lost in the world of endurance running and never reach the top due to injuries, injuries and more injuries. Martin Haines and the theories used within the Intelligent training courses have quite simply been life changing to a very dedicated endurance runner i work with. From being yet another injury prone athlete who is unable to reach her potential to an athlete who is now able to train consistently and is well on her way to coping with the training loads and demands required to make it to the Elite level. This athlete is now very close to not only her goals, but her dreams beyond those goals to."

Paul Jones – Head Coach of RunEvolve

The Sports Therapy Club

Interested in Biomechanics? read their blog.

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“Having had 13 operations during my career, I Know the importance of injury prevention programmes! I believe every coach should attend these courses, I have no doubt that they will help coaches produce excellent injury prevention and high performance programmes
for their athletes”. 

Derek Redmond, former Commonwealth British,
European and World Champion. Now Senior
Coordinator for Sprints and Hurdles for UKA

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“Of the many courses I have attended this has been the most productive and enjoyable. I wish more of the courses I have attended were like this”.
Gregory Copp, PGA Golf Teaching Professional 

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“I have only been on 2 courses in the last 7 years which have the ‘WOW’ factor and this is one of them. The courses provide tangible and useful information that have dramatic effects on athletes”.
Scott Grace, Performance & Development Coordinator
(Athlete & Coach Development) England Athletics South East

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“A really great course, the collection of the three have expanded my knowledge and provided numerous considerations when coaching clients. I would be really interested in progressions in the course”.

Rob Numan, Personal Trainer 

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“I have found the tests and the exercise prescription taught on the courses very helpful towards my back treatment and rehabilitation outcomes for my personal training clients and my patients”.

Mark Nile MCSP, Army Primary Care Physiotherapist

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For 20 years I had been a Personal Trainer, working with general Joe Public and Olympic Athletes, with passion and professionalism throughout.

My charges for Personal Training started at £15 per hour (all those years ago) because at the time it was only the Rich and Famous who could afford the luxury.

I spent a lot of money training and educating myself to enable me to perform the role of Personal Trainer to the best of my ability. Somehow the PT Client fee’s never balanced to the cost of wearing the badge ‘Personal Trainer’.

Since then, I trained as a Biomechanical Coach with iTS and everything about my work life and personal life went into the ‘positive’.

I started charging £40 per hour for a Biomechanical Screen and as my confidence grew within the subject matter so did my hourly rate. The value for money each one of my clients gained from coming to see me with biomechanical problems was unbelievable, and this helped my realisation of how effective and efficient Biomechanical Training is.

To date I charge £100 per hour, I have more free time (something unheard of as a PT!!) and my body gets ‘time’ out too.

I have worked with clients who despair therapist and treatment, mainly due to broken promises. Clients who have lost trust in systems of analysis and clients who were days away from booking surgery to ‘fix’ the problem. Since working with these clients, using the simple but fundamental techniques and skills you will obtain from iTS training, all my clients are fully functional and enjoying the life they love. One of the clients who was seeking a hip replacement has now become a Triathlete at the age of 45 years young!

This is the ‘missing link’ within Peak Performance of your clients and Athletes, enjoy the Revolution! 

Jo Rainsley, Biomechanics Coach (ITS)

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"Ten years ago I began teaching Pilates after doing my initial training with Michael King in London. Following onto that I completed my Diploma in Pilates again with Michael, which then expanded into Machine based, Remedial, Special populations, Back care etc. I continued to teach mainly 1 to 1 and four or five big classes per week which gave me good knowledge/experience of the technique and various conditions etc. I thought I could learn no more and that this was as far as I could take my career without retraining as a physio or osteo. 

Then I attended a lecture by Martin Haines on Biomechanics in Loughborough at a Fitpro convention. I was instantly interested, so much so that I booked up for the individual day courses straight away. Then the Diploma course came around so I cancelled the day courses to attend the 5 day course. This course goes deeper than what I have learnt through Pilates. It makes you link the body together to achieve an overall view of your patient/client. The body doesn't lie in the screening process, allowing you to see pathway's you may have seen before but not really knowing why or more importantly how to treat them. My Pilates training has definitely helped but this is more powerful ! With regards to the delivery of the course it is well presented and put over with a big emphasis on practical ability, allowing you to leave the course feeling confident enough to start straight away on your already existing client base.

I do feel that if this course hadn't come along then I would have seriously considered a career change or going back to teaching only PT in a gym environment. I now have more knowledge and confidence to take my Clients further but knowing that I will still be able to progress them with their Pilates, the two can definitely be linked together.

Nigel McHollan (Biomechanics Coach L5)

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"F.I.T is a personal training health club chain in South London. We have been established for 6 years and operate a full capacity membership. Our attrition rate is less than 10% per annum, versus about a 30% average in the industry. One major factor in this is the work we’ve been doing Martin and his team. Our Trainers are now fully trained in the Biomechanics programming that martin and his Tutors teach on the I.T.S. courses and that has had a major impact on our business. Our members now get even more attention and are regularly screened using the I.T.S. biomechanical screening methods. Our members rarely get injured, their compliance with their exercise programming is excellent and their results are even better than before. Our members do not leave F.I.T. unless they move house!"

Simon Cook 
Managing Director 
F.I.T

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 Having completed all three biomechanics workshops with Martin himself, I found the information to be extraordinary. I have been a Personal Trainer for 12 years and in that time many things come and go and so often do not stand the test of time, but I can tell you that the information you receive on these courses is not only first class but makes perfect sense. In a way it makes it a very simple tool for you to use. This is the only simplicity as the research and knowledge behind it is quite profound.

The information is fantastic and will help you gain and keep clients for years to come. (I am speaking from firsthand experience on this). I recommend you book the courses soon, as if you do not today, you will have to eventually if you want to stay in the industry. When it comes to the numbers I have made my money back with ease 10 times over for the courses, with increased retention and referrals from current clients, to give a few examples. I have increased the frequency of one of my clients sessions from once a week to four times per week due to the fact he would not do the exercises without me. I have saved a lot of money with marketing, as I don't need to with this kind of tool, it speaks for itself.

Chris Heron
Former Gym Manager Esporta Swiss Cottage
 
Chris Heron Personal Training
Personal trainer & Biomechanics Coach
www.chrisheron.com

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 Hi ITS, 
Just to let you guy's at intelligent training systems know that I very much enjoyed the diploma, it taught me a lot of valuable information and as a result I feel I'm a much better trainer. The course content was perfect and the teaching staff were very helpful and couldn't have been better. So I would like to thank everyone for delivering a great course. 
Gavin Frecklington 
(PT, L5 Biomechanics Coach)

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Hi Martin,

We had a client with severe arthritis in his left hip. He was diagnosed with Perthes disease when he was younger.

He has several issues with range of motion in both internal and external rotation of his hip joints. His Leg length discrepancy was 30mm! He had to have someone put his sock on for him as the was so much dysfunction, which he was convinced was down to shortening of the neck of the femur.

If you remember I had asked you about how to do the 4-sign exercise with him as he couldn't get his ankle past his shin. Well i plugged on with your advice and three weeks later he has actually passed all of the normalise tests. What is even better is he can now put his shoes and socks on.

Something that I find quite amazing is both the doctor and the physio said there was nothing they could do for him. He is over the moon! Actually quite tearful.

Thank for your help and advice

John Scriven MSc, BA (Hons), ASCC.
Biomechanics Coach
Strength and Conditioning Coach Hi Martin,
I am enjoying biomechanics so much its unbelievable, although doing downings and SLR on a 20 stone bodybuilder can be a challenge! I really think you have come up with something amazing here!
All the best
Anthony
Biomechanics Coach

 

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“It’s no exaggeration to say that meeting Jo Rainsley and embarking on her biomechanics programme has changed my life!

When I first arrived at Jo’s house I had been suffering the pain and limited mobility that comes with SPD (Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction) for 3 long years. To be frank, my life had become a misery. I could barely walk more than a few feet; unable to drive my car I had lost all my independence and was in pain nearly every day. My partner had been forced to give up work to look after our baby and after 3 years we were beginning to think I was never going to make a full recovery.

Numerous visits to both Chiropractors and Osteopaths offered only limited solutions and each month I would end up back where I had started.
All the practitioners I saw said that Pilates was the solution...so I duly did regular Pilates sessions. Every few weeks I would, without fail, injure myself. My frustration was immense and I fought off feelings of despair and anxiety on a daily basis.
Now, barely two months after I first limped down to Jo’s studio for my initial appointment, I am no longer in pain! I have started driving again, can actively play with my young daughter in the garden, walk around the local park and go to the shops! Wow!
I can heartily recommend Biomechanics-it is in a totally different league to any of the other treatments I’ve tried for SPD and I’ve tried them all!
The other brilliant thing about Jo is that she is like a one- stop- shop of healing! Let me explain...instead of having to go and see lots of different practitioners Jo can also offer deep tissue massage (vital to get my muscles working properly again) and muscle release techniques (ditto) and explain how diet and subtle lifestyle changes can aid healing.

Using her profound, in-depth knowledge of the subtle interplay of muscle, bone and nerve tissue Jo can identify exactly how to fix your individual problems and at the same time explain it all in layman’s terms-so you can go away with a deeper understanding of your condition. This is very empowering, if like me you had begun to think that somehow it’s your fault that you are still poorly.

In addition to this...Jo is an all- round wonderful human being; kind, thoughtful and empathetic! You certainly need a good sense of humour when dealing with people with limited mobility-let’s face it being in pain is no fun...but I have found myself laughing merrily during my appointments-happy in the knowledge that each session took me closer to independence and pain free living. “

Di Spurden – April 2010

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Hi Rachel and Jo,

My apologies for filling your inbox. Just wanted to say thank you for Saturday you said it would be awesome and it was, oh and mind blowing.

Your teaching skill is absolutely spot on. I look forward to crossing paths with you soon.
Yours in health
Andrew Kailou

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I have known Jo for a couple of years, since she has been working with my daughter Katie.
Katie had fallen off her bike a couple of years ago and had then been suffering with severe back pain.
So severe that during Katie’s last year at school she was only able to attend a total two months out of the usual ten.
Having been to a chiropractic, to have Katie’s bones pulled and pushed and muscles deeply massaged, that worked for all of five minutes and then Katie felt worse than before.
Painkillers had no effect, other than now she is intolerant to paracetemol.
I then tried Hypnotherapy, thinking that if Katie learnt to relax then maybe that would help. Unfortunately Katie was in so much pain that did not work.
The doctors decided that perhaps a blood test would show something. What I have no idea. So after 3 blood tests still nothing. The doctors then decided to have Katie do a body scan, giving me the fear of Cancer.

Nothing showed up thank God. So it was decided that Katie was either putting it all on, or it was something she would have to live with.
It was after all this I was introduced to Jo. There is a God in heaven.

Just with Katie walling towards Jo, there was a look on Jo’s face that had me know we had found the right person who could help Katie.
To start with Katie and Jo worked together once a week, there were no deep massages, no pulling and pushing of bones, the exercises were so slight you would not think they would work.

But after 3 months Katie was seeing Jo once a fortnight sometimes once every three weeks.
Katie, with over exuberance of a teenager had corrected her hip alignment within six weeks instead of the normal twelve weeks.
After six months of seeing Jo, and doing the exercises JO had given Katie, Jo was now teaching Katie the art of Kick boxing.
So all I can say is a big thank you to Jo, I would highly recommend Jo to anyone, and everyone (which I do all the time).
The time spent with Jo is more than money well spent, it is always fun, and made to your needs , and you come away with the feeling that you have achieved something great.

So for any pains niggles, or aches I would HIGHLY recommend you make time to go and see JO.

Annette & Katie Hawksworth – June 2010

 

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Hi Jo,
Let me first apologize for not e-mailing you earlier! I should have been in touch ages ago. In this case, no news is good news, the exercises you gave me have been brilliant!!!!!!!!
When I came to you I was so uncomfortable, but within about two weeks I was actually able to stand and do the washing up, without having any discomfort.(no getting out of it now, Ha ha, my partner Alan is always singing your praises).

 

The next revelation came a couple of weeks later, when I was pushing a wheelbarrow I looked down at my feet and realized my feet were straight. I think I had always presumed I was pigeon toed (from riding a lot), but it was obviously my imbalance....amazing!!

You probably get many tales like this from people you help, but I wanted you to know what a difference it has made to my life, Thankyou.
One question I have is about the first exercise you gave me, the one when I'm on my back with my right foot on my bent left leg, pushing for x4 reps of 20secs. When I do this(although no probs with doing the other leg) I get pain right into the joint, which sometimes makes it too sore to continue. I wondered if I should continue, or have a different exercise or just do it less etc etc. I know I should have been for a follow-up appointment with you, and if you think this is necessary I will, of course, take your advise.
Many Thanks
Jackie Mudd

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The Saga of Kat Mason’s Back

2006 was a summer of playing lots of tennis tournaments, many matches back-to-back. Kat’s serve was poor as her tennis coach had radically changed it but left suddenly to work abroad leaving her without the finished product. He kept promising to return, but never did. So we kept waiting for the next instalment of her serve that never arrived. Consequently Kat’s back started aching.

 It first started during a tournament in the September, so we rested it, but it kept recurring.
Eventually we heeded the advice of her new tennis coach and went to see a tennis-specialist physio.
She diagnosed it was Kat’s quadratus lumborum and Kat needed to do some stretching.
So Kat did her stretches and we went religiously to see (and pay) the physio – taking Kat out of school to accommodate the physio’s part-time work hours.
The back still kept playing up, sometimes worse than others. We never knew when it was going to go, but always during tennis. We would rest it until it felt better each time.
Kat’s school tennis team had made the national finals of a tennis competition and she was desperate to be fit to play, so we heeded the physio’s advice and turned down other important tennis commitments. We still kept up with the exercises and physio appointments.

The national finals were in December and Kat’s back went really badly during the warm-up of her second match. She had to retire from a match she could have easily won.
She was in so much pain I had to help her undress and shower that evening. The next day it had improved enough for her to play tentatively and serve underarm.

On our next pyhsio’s appointment, she said she couldn’t help and to see our GP for an x-ray referral.

So, Kat saw someone at the hospital who took some notes and told her to continue playing sports.
Which she did, but the pain kept coming and going. In February we gave up and stopped the tennis.

She eventually had an x-ray which was ‘inconclusive’. She was then referred for an MRI scan and had that, but we were desperate for an answer and made a private appointment to get the results before going on holiday. Just before this appointment, I received a phone call to say the MRI was also ‘inconclusive’ and Kat should have a CT scan. They squeezed her in before our holiday and the consultant telephoned me later (after my begging) to tell me Kat had a Pars Defect (stress fracture) on her spine. It was at L5 and the other side was showing signs of stress. If that went also she would be in big trouble. She must rest it completely and go for a follow-up appointment after our holiday.

I did some research and found that this Pars Defect was not uncommon in growing children doing certain sports – including tennis. I was very annoyed at the physio for not picking this up as tennis was her speciality and she had pictures of her at Grand Slams, treating the very top female players.
You would have expected her to have ‘a lightbulb moment’ at some point!
What a waste of time and money and we had been further endangering Kat’s back.

We were now six month’s down the line from the first occurrence of back pain.

So, at our follow-up appointment we saw a junior of some sort who didn’t have a clue!
‘Do nothing’, we were told. No sports, not even cycling. She couldn’t tell me how long it would take or advise on any rehabilitation. We would have to guess when it would be repaired enough to play sports again. I had to drag any answers out of her – and they were pretty useless. Absolutely no help at all! Also we were informed that we would not be having any more appointments as they wouldn’t do another scan on Kat because of the dangers. How did we stop this happening again?

For a while Kat had been seeing a Pilates teacher privately, but she refused to help any more as Kat had been advised to do nothing. She was more worried about being sued by us if anything went wrong than trying to help Kat.

We rested Kat’s back for about 3 months, but knew that at some point she would need professional help again, but we didn’t know what type of help or how to find it. We were certainly not going back to the same physio.

I already knew Jo Rainsley through exercise classes at the West Hants Club and was aware that she had a comprehensive knowledge of the human body and its workings, so I asked her for advice as to where I might find help. Jo offered to look at Kat and did a lot of her own investigations into Kat’s injury.
Jo sent us to another physio to get Kat checked over first. She liaised with Jo about the way forward with Kat and advised us to get Kat moving (especially cycling!)
Jo then took Kat on board and set her exercises on a weekly basis and we finally made progress.
We now realise that if she had just rested her back as advised by the hospital, it would have fractured again eventually, and possibly worse.

Then Jo went on a course about biomechanics and the world changed. She came back so eager to review Kat’s biomechanics, giving her a thorough examination, making lots of notes and filling in charts. It was definitely a ‘Eureka’ moment for Jo. She gave Kat a lot of exercises to do, some as often as three times a day. We would get up early (not easy for Kat) and she would do them before school, after school and before bedtime. I would supervise, making sure she was doing then correctly, count repetitions and time her. She also had to finish PE at school early each time to do her stretches. But it paid off. We never doubted Jo – she was so sure and confident in what she was doing.

Over the months Jo re-assessed Kat regularly, monitoring progress and tailoring the exercises accordingly. The improvements in Kat’s mobility were amazing.

Kat went back to tennis and still sees Jo. Kat is still growing and Jo keeps an eye on her, regularly checking that everything is working as it should be. Often there are things that need tweaking, sometimes more severe than others. Sometimes it is bad enough to warrant a ban on specific sports until it improves. Kat still has varying exercises to do.

Without Jo we would have been floundering in the dark, desperate for help.
Kat’s back could have ended up with a permanent injury or needing major surgery. What a legacy that would have been, all for the want of an accurate appraisal and correct advice and help.
I would urge everyone to have a biomechanical check-up.
It is frightening how much can go badly wrong without you knowing that you simply need to do a few uncomplicated exercises.

Penny and Kat Mason
June 2010

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