To help reduce athlete injury and improve and maintain athletic performance, muscular balance and range of motion, over the past decade Paul Collins has been researching, compiling and developing body posture assessments, trigger point release and stretching techniques used in managing athletes in a vast array of sports such as track and field and gymnastics, both practically and theoretically - to develop the revolutionary Posturefit® Flow Down Method™.

After suffering a chronic low back injury - 30-percent loss of use in his back - Paul has dedicated himself to improving the lives of others. His educational approach focuses on bridging the educational gap between the athlete, coach, trainer and health and medical professional - and this goal is becoming a reality.

As a professional strength and conditioning coach working at the grass roots level right through to the elite level in multiple sports has enabled Paul to identify various educational gaps and develope a body management program that aims to assist athletes and coaches improve the knowledge and understanding of better managing their body on a daily for reducing injury and maintaining optimal performance.

Too often athletes wait until pain, stress or injury arises before doing something about it - which is often all too late. Through the new concept of 'Athlete Intervention' inspired by Collins the Posturefit® Flow Down Method™ including its 4-Step Method enables athletes to better understand their body posture and mechanics for improving performance whilst reducing the risk of injury. Collins says you need to think of yourself and your body like a race car. "The harder you run (train, compete, perform) the more body management and maintenance one requires, otherwise you're more likely to eventually break down and for some this means never being able to return."

Having worked with male and female athletes of all age groups including Olympic and Paralympic swimmers, elite squash, karate and rugby players to name just a few, Collins is aware of the many barriers such as the costs involved in being an athlete and relying on a coach to be jack of all trades. In order to bride this gap Collins' focus is educating both the athlete and coach whilst also linking the vital physical components of training (ie. fitness, strength, speed, power, flexibility etc) with the Posturefit Method. This is important to understand as athletes in various sports each require their own distinct range of motion to perform their chosen sport. It's the efficiency of movement without restriction (ie. muscular or postural imbalance or compensation) that we are aiming to avoid. Posturefit helps identify an athletes postural balance and range of motion requirements. You see, the range of motion and flexibility requirements are not the same for a marathon runner compared to a sprinter or a dancer. One thing is for sure though - muscular imbalance, limited range of motion and overuse need to be dealt with on a regular basis to ensure balance and movement efficiency. And, this may come in the way of trigger points even if your are super flexible.

Posturefit deals with this through its 4-Step Method so you get to know your body better, says Collins. This approach alone will spark a further interest in your body and taking better care of it on a regular basis by knowing what to do to ensure muscular balance is maintained. Posturefit goes beyond just being a trigger point release technique it will help towards how one warm-up as well as the way one stretches and performs specific strength, speed and power training. Too often people forget it's only the elite 0.01 percent of athletes and teams who have professional coaches, a sports science team including health and medical professionals available to them (like a formula 1 racing team). But even within Australia Collins' has experienced elite level sport who have limitations (staff and money) in this area resulting in sub-par performance and higher levels of injury and for longer. As a result, Posturefit has also been developed with a long term focus in mind to assist athletes, coaches, sporting teams and associations to understand how they can better manage their body in training and competition, especially when costs are a factor. By being able to educate the athlete better by working on and with them enables them to better understand their body and their requirements. This is Posturefit is not just a way to realign ones posture or muscular framework that allows them to perform at their optimal level, its a method that provides them with the knowledge and understanding of managing their body themselves, by knowing what to do, when and how often...through ATHLETE INTERVENTION which aims to change the future of sport forever.

Most importantly, Collins says, is that Posturefit is a certified and accredited method with the industry governing body Fitness Australia. It is specific to sport and physical activity with specific elements of the method also used in OH&S in the workplace for safe practices - as it too helps educate employees about managing their body too to reduce injury and live stress free.

If you are interested in completing a workshop or accredited course or undertaking a personal session with Paul Collins - go to contact us link http://www.thebodycoach.com/contact.asp