I am delighted to be officially onboard and part of the fantastic Blizard team, as the clinic's Sports & Remedial Massage Therapist!

A few of you may just be able to remember my name from the cycling world way back in the 90's, where I made many friends along the way before heading off to the inevitable land of normal employment, latterly within the IT industry. I was lucky enough to pick up decent results along the way, and to represent Great Britain, including at a World Championships in the Team Time Trial.

I always have had major interest in sport, physiotherapy, biomechanics, injury prevention and sports physiology, so when I had the chance to return to studying in Sports Massage Therapy I jumped at the opportunity, along with the chance to join the team at Blizard.

Running has taken over where I left off with cycling, and, with immense amounts of help from Dave and Jenny, I'm making progress all the time. I am pretty much obsessed with it, and somehow I seem to keep entering marathons!

As a running fanatic, I'm naturally a lover of all things 'sports massage' too.

I have always been a big believer in the massive benefits of taking a regular massage as part of a sports training programme, to help in preparation, recovery and also injury prevention.

Injuries are something we all have to deal with, but can often be avoided with with some sound conditioning. Having had the majority of running 'niggles', this has also helped me understand why they happened, and how best to overcome them too, by using soft tissue massage techniques in many cases.

So what actually is a sports massage to those who have never experienced one?

Sports massage is defined as "the application of soft tissue techniques with the aim of managing, manipulating and rehabilitating muscles, tendons and ligaments”. This essentially means all the soft tissue in the musculoskeletal form, be it in the back, shoulders, torso, legs, feet or arms.

The preconception of a sports massage is that they can be painful. I'll be honest - they can be, particularly if you have any scar tissue build up, knots or tight muscles - but, with some very temporary discomfort, there are some big, big rewards in terms of better circulation and blood flow, better range of motion, reduced muscle tension, and a better overall feeling of wellbeing, leading to hopefully better performance for you!

I have already had the pleasure of meeting many existing Blizard clients, but look forward to meeting and helping many more of you in the very near future, for either a 30, 45 or 60 minute treatment!