MyoQuip medals at Henley

The 2011 Henley Royal Regatta concluded with outstanding performances by rowers who had extensively used MyoQuip machines in their training.

Nick Hudson of the Sydney University Boat Club reached the final of the prestigious Diamond Challenge Sculls, while London Rowing Club had two crews competing on the final day. Their top coxless four won the Wyfold Challenge Cup while their top coxed four were runners-up in the Britannia Challenge Cup. The picture at left shows the Wyfold winning crew exhibiting typical English constraint after crossing the finish line.

The link between all of these rowers is Phil Bourguignon, senior coach at London Rowing Club and previously Director of Rowing at the University of Sydney. Bourguignon has pioneered the use of MyoQuip apparatus in strength training for rowers.

Both the London Rowing Club and the Sydney University Boat Club have the MyoTruk and MyoThrusta machines in their gyms, and Phil Bourguignon is an enthusiastic proponent of their use:

"With rowing heavily involving the legs and core muscles, squatting alone provide many problematic issues such as an athlete not being able to support heavy weights through their core muscles. MyoQuip systems can do the extra weights without worrying about the core muscles, which provides more strength gain without the worries of injuries to the back.
 
"When athletes get too strong for their skeletal frame and core stability in squatting, they can use the MyoThrusta and the MyoTruk to increase strength safely where they can add far more weight than they are able to squat without the risk of injuring their back.

"After a long session on the water, backs are fatigued. Therefore, squatting after rowing is very dangerous. With the use of the MyoThrusta and the MyoTruk systems, athletes can still do their heavy weights after a long and hard session on the water.

"From my use with the MyoThrusta and the MyoTruk systems, I employ them heavily in my training programmes with athletes rowing at elite levels. I have not had one back injury to my athletes in 2 years of heavy training."

The picture at right shows the spectacularly colour-coordinated Phil Bourguignon with Ed Noel, part of the Sydney University contingent at Henley. Phil has teamed a London Rowing Club blazer and cap with a Sydney University Boat Club tie.

MyoQuip makes its first sale of the MyoTruk in France

Top 14 rugby club Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (BOPS) has ordered a MyoTruk through MyoQuip's French distributor, Paul Dearlove (pictured). Paul is also captain of Section Paloise (Pau Rugby Club) which plays in the Pro D2 French League. The machine is being supplied through the MyoQuip  manufacturing distributor for Europe, Gen3 Kinematics.

Todd Louden endorses MyoQuip technology

Todd Louden is a young professional rugby coach with the extraordinary record of having dramatically improved the performance of his team in every year he has coached.

As a player he represented Australia at Schoolboy and Under 21 levels. He then taught and coached rugby at Waverley College and Trinity Grammar School in Sydney for over ten years before becoming a professional coach.

In 2004, as Director of Rugby at Sydney University, he implemented their EDS (Elite Development Squad) program which is still operating and is the foundation for their status as the leading club in Australia. In that year, Uni won the Sydney Club Championship with all nine grades contesting the finals.

In the 2004-2005 season, he was Head Coach of Meiji University, which participates in Japan’s 120 Collegiate Rugby Program. Louden took them from 68th to the top eight.

In 2006, he returned to Sydney as Head Coach of the Randwick Club. Their First XV advanced from ninth to Minor Premiers. They were narrowly beaten in the Grand Final and Louden was named Sydney Premiership Coach of the Year.

The next season he moved to South Africa as attack coach with Heineke Meyer’s Blue Bulls, who went from fifth to winning the Super 14. They were the first South African team to win a Super title, with their success attributed to their new attacking style.

In 2008, he was appointed attack coach of the NSW Waratahs under Ewen McKenzie. The ‘Tahs went from thirteenth in 2007 to second before being beaten in the Grand Final.

In the 2008-2009 season he went back to Japan as Head Coach of the Ricoh Black Rams, who had been relegated to Second Division status. Under Louden’s guidance, Ricoh were undefeated in the Top East League and then beat the winners of the other two second level leagues to achieve reinstatement to the Top League. In their first season back Ricoh finished 12th, and then in 2010-2011 achieved 7th placing, the team’s highest ever ranking in the Top League.

Todd Louden has the extraordinary record that in each of the past seven years the teams he coached have greatly improved their ranking. He has now returned to Sydney University to take on the role of Head Coach.

His views on MyoQuip technology:

"I have utilised the MyoQuip machines to accelerate the players' strength and power development in both professional and amateur environments."

"Whilst the MyoQuip machines operating principles are scientifically advanced, the functionality of all machines is simple, safe and can be utilised across an array of athlete specific exercises to accelerate athletic development."

"The athletic development and injury rehabilitation that we have been able to achieve safely and within a short period of time has been phenomenal. The MyoQuip machines are a must in any holistic development program. I cannot endorse them strongly enough."

Preview of a new machine in the MyoQuip range

This is the first image of the MyoLifta, a revolutionary new machine specifically developed for the sport of rugby football. It is designed to improve the lifting ability of players lifting and supporting jumpers in the lineout. It can be operated singly or by two players working together.

More details and images will be available very shortly.

Gen3 Kinematics land deal with Irish Rugby Union

The introduction by Gen3 Kinematics of their MyoQuip strength training systems has been further strengthened by the announcement that they have agreed a deal with the Irish Rugby Union to supply them with their MyoTruk strength training systems.

With the deal meaning Ulster Rugby, Munster Rugby and Leinster Rugby will receive the benefits of the unique MyoTruk, Gen3 Kinematics are delighted that they will be associated with three of the strongest teams in European rugby.

The MyoTruk represents a completely unique piece of equipment that is the most significant change in strength training in 40 years providing increased muscle activation throughout a full range of movement from extreme flexion to full extension.

The development of rugby wingers

Wingers are the cast-offs from a process of natural selection.

The process starts at the most junior age levels. Boys end up on the wings because they are the last ones chosen, basically because they are weedy and frightened of body contact. Usually they are safely out of the way there because the Under-8s play angry ant rugby where all the players swarm around the ball except for the wingers who sense there is danger there. They stand close to the sidelines where they can keep eye contact with their mummies who wave encouragement to them from time to time. By contrast their fathers either pretend they don't know them or yell abuse at them for their refusal to tackle. Tiny wingers also like to kick grass.

As they progress through the age ranks they occasionally receive the ball. Here the primeval "fight or flight" instinct kicks in. Wingers being congenitally under-endowed at the "fight" end of the spectrum are compensated by having a heightened aptitude for "flight". So they run. They run like gazelles away from a hungry lion. They can cover enormous distances laterally often traversing from sideline to sideline with no loss of momentum until someone stops chasing them.

When they mature they are expected to do just two things on the rugby field. The first is to catch the ball. But they have been programmed to associate having the ball with being chased. So their natural reaction is to drop it.

They are also expected to chase kicks. But they have not grasped the concept of running towards something, only to run from something. With nobody chasing them they see no reason to hurry.

It is off the field where they perform their most useful service. Late at night, primped and perfumed, they lure groupies away from serious rugby players who are engaged in the necessary business of re-analysing scrums and mauls and sinking piss.

One should never confuse the rat cunning of the winger with intelligence.