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Dear Reader,
An odd experience accompanies the international expansion of Kieser Training: In every new country we enter, the authorities, insurers and the medical community ask for studies; not international studies, but national studies.
I was always convinced that the postulates of science were internationally valid. But evidently they are not. What‘s the reason for that inconsistency? The fact that we all belong to the same species should lead to the conclusion that the musculoskeletal problems we have to face must be universal.
The insistence on national studies must have other reasons. Either they mistrust foreign scientists or they want to be the ones who figured out the truth. Or are they simply generating business for their own academics? None of this would be illegal – but it can hardly be seen as an efficient use of resources.
Werner Kieser
Kieser Training in Australia
Kieser Training South Melbourne, Cnr City Road and Cecil Street, 3205 Melbourne, Phone (03) 9696 3599
Kieser Training Camberwell, 357 Camberwell Road, 3124 Melbourne, Phone (03) 9882 9889
Melbourne back pain study supports international findings
Globalisation may have come a long way – but the health sector maintains a very national outlook and demands local confirmation of the effectiveness of treatments even if there are plenty of international studies confirming it.
Foto: © Kieser Training/Michael Ingenweyen
Kieser Training comes across this phenomenon in almost every new market it enters and the upside is that these studies invariably confirm the effectiveness of our approach. The latest such study was carried out in Melbourne.
Last year Dr John Carlson and Mr Geoffrey Mackay, Research Directors for Back & Beyond: Centre for Lower Back Pain Research, carried out a study with the help of patients at the South Melbourne Kieser Training facility. A total of 380 patients completed the 12-18 sessions of therapy, with their progress closely monitored by the researchers.
What the study showed was that Kieser Training’s Medical Strengthening Therapy (MST) significantly improved lower back strength and mobility, both for men and women, regardless of their varying degrees of back pain at the outset of the treatment. More importantly, the participants reported a significant decline in pain and disability following MST.
For the managing director of Kieser Training in Australia, Tony Smith, and physiotherapist and manager of the South Melbourne Kieser Training centre, Tim Dettman, the findings are a welcome validation. “Whilst there have been major studies done into the effectiveness of lumbar extension therapy in treating back pain before, they’ve been done in the US and Europe,” says Smith. “This is the first time there has been research of this kind in Australia and it’s further validation in an independent and separate part of the world that the earlier results are conclusive about the benefits of lumbar extension therapy. The fact that our results are consistent with those in Europe and the US is great.”
This is also good news for the South Melbourne Kieser Training franchise that prides itself on being a pioneer in bringing this approach to Australia. “We see 8 - 10 new customers per week and 90% will have back-related issues and we will treat them using the lumbar exercise machine and then encourage them to continue with Preventive Strength Training (PST) so that long-term issues are unlikely to arise again,” Dettman explains. He is also excited by the further research potential into back pain. “Our target is 500 new customers per year for MST in each franchise in Australia. When we have 10 franchises, this will translate into 5,000 new customers a year for our research data pool.”
Smith says the latest research is just the start to helping underline the value of Kieser Training methods. “The underlying message of our claim “Strength for Health” is starting to resonate with Australians as they become aware of the effectiveness of our treatment. As our presence grows and more and more health professionals learn about us, we foresee a time when our MST and PST programmes become fully endorsed and supported by insurers. Research such as that conducted by Back and Beyond is an important validation of the merits of Kieser Training, not only as therapy, but as an important preventive measure as well.”
39 – a powerful number
Even though it can be said that humans are all different, deep down we are all identical – at least in terms of warmth. The core body temperature for all of us is a cosy 37° Celsius. And that’s it! It does not matter how warm or cold it is around you, the body wants to keep internal organs in a good mood and working properly and so it maintains a temperature at which they feel comfortable.
However, there is an exception: The ideal core temperature for sport or exercise is about 39°, which is why the mantra for anyone about to begin a sporting activity is to warm up in order to achieve the efficient temperature of 39°. But there’s a snag as studies have shown: Neither jogging nor intensive interval training will raise core temperature by the crucial 2° Celsius and recreational athletes won’t even manage a 1° increase during their actual activity. In addition, an excessive level of warm-up will exhaust you before you even start training. Many people in fitness centres thrash about in vain trying to achieve that increase. Admittedly, they may well get their muscles up to the ideal state, but by the time they reach the last exercise in their circuit, the warm-up effect will be long gone.
So what is the solution to this dilemma? Once again, the answer lies in our muscles: When a muscle contracts, the blood supply is reduced and, with it, the supply of oxygen to the muscle tissue – this is what generates an increase in heat. What this means in practice is that Kieser Training heats up each muscle directly with the first few repetitions of each exercise. So when the muscle reaches the crucial period of fatigue, its temperature is at its ideal level. No need to pound the treadmill. It happens automatically with each exercise and it’s the same for everyone.
