BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – LOCAL athletes, especially those who compete in track and field events, will soon be benefitting from the knowledge acquired by a recently certified Fitness Coach.
He is Alister James, a physiotherapist who recently returned to the Federation after successfully completing a four-month St. Kitts-Nevis Amateur Athletics Association-sponsored training course in Budapest, Hungary.
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, James said the course was insightful, vastly edifying and it is time for him to reach out and train local coaches and athletes in the areas of fitness and nutrition.
He explained that the programme was one which catered for coaches from various parts of the globe focusing on individual sports coaching and general conditioning, but his focus was on the latter and that he could now work with any association that is affiliated with the International Olympic Committee.
“I did not do the coaching aspect of it but rather the scientific nature. I did Scientific Analysis, which speaks to Conditioning, Movement Analysis and Nutrition. I can now work with any association that falls under the Olympic umbrella.”
James added that local coaches, trainers and physiotherapists need more extensive training in the areas of injury and how they should be dealt with.
He noted that as a physiotherapist, injured athletes are normally sent to him for treatment, but the system used in the Federation for diagnosing injuries should be reversed.
“What I know is that a lot of stuff that we used to do, we do them backward because of a lack of equipment. In terms of if athletes were injured, especially in their joints, knee, ankle and back areas, the best way to have a proper idea of the injury is to have an MRI done. But we don’t do MRIs but rather X-rays and then the person would go to rehab. And after the person ain’t getting better then they send them abroad to do an MRI.”
He declared that the MRI should first be done because it gives the physiotherapist and the treating doctor a general idea of the extent of the athlete’s injury.
“I will be working closely with the Triple A [Amateur Athletic Association] and any sporting association that falls under the Olympic Association. With the certificate that I have I can work with any sport…don’t matter which one you play. I have the skills to rehab anybody to make them stronger and for them to be able to maintain their fitness levels,”
James explained.
“With Movement Analysis you can be able to breakdown their movements, don’t matter what sport they play. And we can work on their fitness,” he added.
On the subject of knowledge sharing, James said he would be working in conjunction with the SKNAAA and any sporting body that falls under that entity.
James expressed his gratitude to the SKNAAA for selecting him to participate in the Olympic training course and noted that “a lot of the things I have learnt out there, I will put in place in St. Kitts in the way in which athletes eat, nutrition, their body muscles and have them understand the human body”.
