Mark Richardson, Editor of Melbourne Media discovered the benefits of Kieser Training and explains how he managed to improve his quality of life in twelve short weeks of professional back strengthening treatment.

Late last year, I realised the level of my fitness was far from being in good shape when I couldn’t find a pair of sports shorts to wear to my first Kieser appointment. As an editor for magazines, I spend the most part of any working day in front of my computer and exercise less on a regular basis. I was once an active tennis player, fit and strong, but a severe back injury limited my agility and I soon gave up, opting to watch tennis on the couch. Go Lleyton…”Oh, come on!”

I knew it was time to buy some shorts and get serious about protecting my future health and well-being after discovering that I couldn’t keep up with my son playing backyard sports. Any activity induced lower back pain and by stumps I realised I was actually “getting old.” As it turned out, my initial Kieser examination revealed my body’s true age was comparative to that of sixty year old something. And that’s me at just thirty...”cough, something!”
Like most people, I first thought Kieser Training was a gym, but I was wrong. Usually, when I hear the word fitness, I panic, relating fitness to only cardio respiratory workouts. While keeping our heart and lungs in good working order is certainly important, there is growing scientific evidence that body and muscle strength training has a more important role in maintaining good health, improving spinal function and eliminating muscular pain.

Kieser occupies the Medical Fitness category. They specialise in musculoskeletal strengthening using slow movement, science based strength training to help reverse the ageing process. I was in for that! They have a specific emphasis on back strengthening and are best described as a crossover between a physiotherapy clinic and a fitness centre.

During my easy back strength testing I learnt that it’s a scientifically proven fact that we naturally lose half a kilo of muscle mass and bone tissue every year after we pass 35 years of age. This causes our metabolism to slow, we become weaker, we naturally lack energy and we so easily accumulate fat. “Hmm, may explain a lot.” A vicious cycle of deconditioning sets in and that’s where the qualified team, including physiotherapists at Kieser Training perfectly blend medical rehabilitation with preventative strength training with their exclusive Swiss Medex based machines, that target specific muscles, without the use of free weights. “Phew!”

Kieser Training is based on the Swiss traits of being accurate, ethical and precise. Their success can also be measured by the increasing number of GP’s, osteopaths and allied health practitioners who are referring their patients, like me, to their South Melbourne clinic, but with all that said, I knew the real proof would be in the pudding of my rehabilitation after six weeks (12 sessions) of treatment and training. My aim was to improve my quality of life, hopefully pick up a tennis racket again, go the distance playing back-yard sports with my son and be more active and involved in life again, pain free.
After learning about my six week back strengthening program, I felt confident in the hands of Kieser Training, not so wearing a pair of shorts again…
“Oh, come on!”