SkiFit classes return to Chamonix

November 7, 2016 by Jackie Maclean-Martin
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For those of you who don’t already know, our SkiFit online programme and mobile app started out as a way of me helping many of my local patients in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. Running a busy sports injury clinic where I was regularly treating snowsport instructors, mountain guides and elite snowsport athletes, I quickly realised that many of the injuries I saw in the early weeks of the winter season could have been prevented. That’s why I developed an eight week fitness programme that placed emphasis on screening Continue reading →

5 ways to become a stronger skier

November 1, 2016 by Rachael Lowe
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Getting fit for skiing is one of the most common pieces of advice that we physiotherapists give to anyone that we know is going skiing.  To avoid injury and elevate your enjoyment preparation is more than just fitness training…. Do some training If you do one thing this winter to prepare for your ski trip, do some training!  It doesn’t really matter what you do but make sure that you start it early and include a variety of strength, endurance and balance exercises.  Being fir Continue reading →

How Duct Tape saved my adventure

October 26, 2016 by Jackie Maclean-Martin
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When he’s working in Chamonix filming our fitness programmes, Keith Partridge, the World renowned cameraman is travelling the World making adventure films and getting into a few difficult situations! However, for anyone that knows Keith, he never travels without a large roll of duct-tape in the bottom of his bag. Many a time during filming we’ve heard him say “I’ll get the duct-tape” so it doesn’t surprise us that in a remote part of Venezuela, when things went very wrong, by having one specific essential item Continue reading →

Thinking about your knees when choosing a tech binding

October 14, 2016 by Tony Lowe
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How thinking about the safety of my knees has influenced my choice of a tech binding this winter… Now that I have a few years experience of the exciting world of ski touring using a “beginner’s” alpine “frame” binding (in my case Fritschi Freeride), this year feels like the right time to finally take the step up into the domain of more serious touring tech (or pin) bindings. Why? Because I have been listening for years to my more experienced friends extolling their benefits at Continue reading →

Lessons from my first Etape du Tour

August 9, 2016 by Tony Lowe
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9 pieces of advice for Etape du Tour riders learned the hard way! Well it certainly was an experience! Having now ridden a number of European cyclo sportives and Gran Fondos I thought I would be prepared for anything… but just as they say about the Tour de France, the Etape du Tour really does take the amateur cycle event experience to a whole new level. The enormous numbers of participants, the wide range in abilities, the mix of abilities on the road, the level Continue reading →

My ‘Charity Miles’ challenge

July 19, 2016 by Jackie Maclean-Martin
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  The saying goes ‘charity begins at home’ well why can’t charity begin whenever we walk the dog, run, bike or swim, etc? I came across this interesting App called ‘Charity Miles’ which rewards you for each mile travelled. The App allows you to earn sponsorship on behalf of certain charities whilst walking, running, biking and participating in other activities, using your iPhone, Android phone. Major organisations become partners, for example ‘Johnson & Johnson’ and it’s those partners that donate the actual funds.  After downloading the App, and Continue reading →

Our Top five tips for an effective warm up at the start of a day’s skiing

July 18, 2016 by Jackie Maclean-Martin
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You’ve arrived, read the snow reports and settled into your accommodation, perhaps already been to the equipment hire shop and now you’re ready to hit the Snow! However are you muscles ready? Winter sports use your muscles very differently compared to sports during the rest of the year. So send a message to your body and activate the muscles you’re going to be using, straining and feeling throughout your holiday. Try to reduce those sore legs in between days and prevent some of the most common injuries caused on Continue reading →

Improve your cycling performance by knowing the science

July 18, 2016 by Rachael Lowe
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Nothing beats a bit of science for making those marginal gains to performance.  We can often easily get this information from the media that summarise scientific findings into methods that we can easily apply at home to our bike and activity.  Sometimes however it’s fun to have a read of the research and find the science that relates to our own specific performance requirements.  So if you like delving into the research in search of performance improvement you might be interested in a few of these. Continue reading →

Our top 10 gifts for a ‘Le Tour de France’ super fan

July 13, 2016 by Jackie Maclean-Martin
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As avid supporters of Le Tour de France we’ve all been very lucky to experience first hand stage starts, time trials, climbs and stage finishes. We love it, the atmosphere, meeting fellow supporters, awaiting the arrival of La Caravane du Tour to catch some free samples to then waiting a few further hours to hear the sound of media helicopters as they follow the leader overhead. We’ve seen some great merchandise over the years, so we’ve put together a list of our top 10 gifts for a Le Tour de France super fan! Continue reading →

Taking your cycling strength and conditioning seriously

June 8, 2016 by Neil Maclean-Martin
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muscle strength
It’s biking season here in the Alps and with the Tour De France spending four days in our locality we’re getting ready to sample those epic stages and put down our times on Strava before the pros get there! There are many ways to improve your cycling performance, some more widely appreciated than others. The much debated prohibited options that include the use of hidden motors, drugs and blood transfusions continue to grab all the attention. In the meantime under the radar, the elite level Continue reading →