For anyone preparing for a marathon, long distance or endurance training there is always the thought in the back of your mind that an injury could derail your progress or even worse bring your goals and ambitions to a stop.

Gareth Cole, Head of Performance at Coach London has developed an approach to prevent and overcome injury and put you in the best physical place to achieve your objectives.

He calls his approach P-R-P, which stands for: prehab, rehab, performance. It bridges the gap between fitness and medical research.

• Prehab – the proactive preparation for pain-free recovery
• Rehab – the reactive response to pain or injury.
• Performance – preparing people for peak performance

The key benefits of P-R-P are to:

• Reduce pain
• Improve functional and athletic performance
• Reduce the risk of training and sports injuries
• Identify physical imbalances and weaknesses
• Increase strength and flexibility
• Improve posture
• Improve the activities of daily living
• Generate an overall sense of physical well-being

If you have your sights set on long distance or endurance training, this could be an advantageous first step towards achieving your goals safely and recovering swiftly. Using this approach, we would spend time observing and testing your range of motion while running as well as in more static poses, and hitting some nerve points too, as you undertake a series of movements and exercises.

This allows our experts to pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses, assess your abilities alongside your intentions, and form a personal action plan to improve your technique and develop your strength. This tailor-made mix of cardio and resistance training, is punctuated with check points along the way to ensure that you are just where you need to be.

This approach is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution. P-R-P is personal to your body and your goals. If you think you could benefit from your very own P-R-P programme, please talk to one of our personal trainers or to Gareth himself to find out more.