SPRINGFIELD - The Healthplex® Sports Club, 194 W. Sproul Rd., has introduced a Sports Performance Program designed to maximize performance and give athletes a competitive edge by improving speed, agility and strength, and avoiding preventable injuries. The program combines the expertise available at the club with the services of the Healthplexâ Sports Medicine Institute and the Springfield Hospital Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation department.
The Sports Performance Program aims to improve the way an athlete moves and to help them improve their game-day performance. This is done through off-season and in-season training that addresses strength, speed, mobility, flexibility, endurance, reaction time, mental stamina and confidence. The program helps athletes achieve efficient movement and proper training of the nervous system to improve these areas while reducing chances of being injured.
Each athlete is assigned an experienced Healthplexâ personal trainer — a “coach” — to oversee his/her participation. The personal trainers provide individualized guidance and motivation while helping athletes meet their physical aspirations.
Carla DeWald, administrative director of the Healthplex®, emphasizes the features of this unique, individualized training program that enhances performance.
“Our personal trainers, who are certified in conditioning, exercise and sports sciences, also pay special attention to the prevention of injuries so that nothing stands in each athlete’s ay of obtaining their goals,” DeWald says.
A 176,000-square-foot facility that boasts comprehensive fitness equipment, an indoor track, 10 tennis courts, three regulation-size basketball courts, two swimming pools, private personal training and aerobics studios and more, the Healthplex® provides all the physical amenities athletes could ever need to maximize their potential.
The club also offers technological resources that many other sports performance programs do not have. For example, Healthplex® trainers recently started using Dartfish, an advanced sports-training software program. Using Dartfish, trainers can analyze video footage of athletes in motion. The software allows the footage to be replayed, slowed down, sped up, paused and analyzed statistically through direct export to Microsoft Excel. Trainers can scrutinize body mechanics through the use of angles and measurements, or look at an athlete’s gait or swing to find areas that need improvement or positions that might cause injury. Among many other capabilities, Dartfish allows trainers and coaches to simultaneously view up to four videos in a split-screen mode for in-depth study.
Ed Winfield, fitness director at the Healthplexâ, says, “Dartfish bridges the gap between trainers and sports medicine physicians. It enables trainers to pinpoint potential injuries in order to prevent them. Dartfish also allows physical therapists and physicians to discover the source of the injury and plan the fastest, most comprehensive rehabilitation plan.”
He adds, “Through the utilization of Dartfish and our excellent performance training, our athletes become faster, stronger, and more aware of their body mechanics. When you understand how to prevent injuries, you’re less prone to getting injured.”
Its strong link to the county’s largest health system also sets the Healthplex® Sports Performance Program apart from similar programs. This link includes the participation of the Healthplexâ Sports Medicine Institute.
Fellowship-trained and board-certified sports medicine physicians Steven Collina, M.D., and David Webner, M.D. provide skilled care for medical and orthopaedic issues. The Healthplexâ Sports Medicine Institute provides non-operative care to those who experience any injury, pain or medical condition that prevents them from attaining goals with sports, recreational or occupational activities. The physicians have experience working with athletes of all ages and skill levels. They have served as medical directors of the Keystone State Games, the City of Philadelphia Triathlon, have helped to train Olympic athletes in several sports, and serve as the team physicians for several local schools. In addition, they oversee the Crozer-Keystone Sports Medicine Fellowship Program.
Collina and Webner aim to help each athlete reach his/her full potential by treating stress fractures and musculoskeletal pain and injuries. They also specialize in marathon and cycling medicine, video gait analysis and performance testing, among other procedures.
The Healthplex’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation department consists of a team of physical and occupational therapists who are certified in injury prevention and sports rehabilitation. Working alongside the Healthplex’s trainers and the sports medicine physicians, they provide athletes with specialized care.
“Our goal is to enable athletes to recover from injuries in a healthy, safe manner so they can compete again as soon as possible. We help athletes maintain wellness and increase fitness while repairing their bodies,” Collina says.
To learn more about the Healthplex Sports Club’s sports performance program, call 610-328-8888 or visit www.healthplex.net.