Tim Rowland Athletic Performance

Find the opening! - a TRUE agility drill
This is an awesome agility drill as it not only includes multiple changes of direction and decelerations, but it also develops reaction time, processing speed, and decision-making.
These cognitive elements are CRUCIAL for true agility development, which will carry over to game situations far better than non-reactive, closed change of direction drills e.g. ladder drills.
... It’s a lot of fun for the athletes too!
Credit for this drill - The U of Strength, LLC
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Here’s a nice little video of the ACL return to play assessment I run out of Athletes Authority!
Know anyone coming back from an ACL/knee injury who I could help? Tell them to get in touch 😀

Great exercise to overload the deceleration pattern.
Focus on an aggressive ‘push’ into the ground while keeping trunk upright and sinking the hips - crucial movement strategies for optimal deceleration.
Great one for any field sport athletes!
... Demonstrated here by one of my Gordon boys.
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New beginnings!
Very excited to announce that I have taken on a role as a return to play/late stage rehab specialist at Athletes Authority.
Chasing my passion has always been very important to me, and so finding a role that combined my love for Physio and strength and conditioning is a dream come true.
... It’s my goal to bridge the hugely prevalent gap that exists between rehab and performance, and ensure that when people return to sport they both have a low risk of re-injury, and are ready to PERFORM, not just take part.
If you know someone I might be able to help, please shoot me a message. Would love to help 😀
Can’t wait to get stuck in!
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It’s messages like this that make all the long hours worthwhile 😀
For the last 9 months I have worked very closely with a young rugby player who’s determination to return to the field despite setback after setback has been nothing short of unbelievable.
This athlete has had FIVE surgeries on the same leg in the last few years, including 2 ACL reconstructions, one meniscal repair, and a surgery where one of his groin muscles had to be taken out to plug a hole in his ankle aft...er a crush injury in a motor vehicle accident.
Safe to say he’s been the most challenging rehab case I’ve worked with! But by a long way, also the most rewarding.
Yesterday he returned to the field for the first time in 2 years, and scored a try in his first game back.
So happy to be part of his journey 👊
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Great tips to maximise muscle growth from a passionate exercise physiologist!

MED BALL SCOOP THROW!
The most important joint action in team sports is triple extension of the hips, knees and ankles. This is what happens during several fundamental activities such as sprinting, jumping, leaping etc.
While it is important to train this action against high loads (e.g. heavy squats and deadlifts), it is essential for speed and power development to train this action explosively.
... While the Olympic lifts are one way to do this, they are not the only way. One great way to do this is the med ball scoop throw, as seen in the video.
Exercises like this are sometimes even superior to Olympic lifts as they are simple to execute, so the athlete can focus on giving a maximal effort and not have to worry about technique.
Check out the intent for aggressive triple extension here!!
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Great week away with the St Aloysius College Opens Rugby Team on their Queensland Rugby Tour 🏉
This week I had both my Physio and S+C hats on, doing the Physio for the boys as well as running their warm-ups, conditioning and recovery.
Had a great full body weights session in the Novotel’s outdoor gym, where both the Broncos and Brumbies have trained before as well!
... Great little facility!
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RECOVERY POINTS SYSTEM
Here is a recovery points system I use with my athletes. A points system like this is great because: 1. It improves adherence as it makes recovery more fun than just being told to do a list of things, and scores can also be documented. 2. It educates athletes about the relative importance of each recovery method.
... For example, many people major in the minors and think recovery is all about compression, ice baths, etc. When in reality, nutrition and sleep are FAR more important for recovery than these things, hence they are worth more points.
Times to emphasise recovery: -in-season - for the 48hrs after games and also in the 24hrs before games (to minimise any residual fatigue) -tournament style competitions -during VERY intense training blocks
Times to NOT over-do recovery: -after every semi-hard session pre-season
This is because some recovery methods can also hinder adaptations to training, e.g. routine use of ice baths post weight training has been shown to hinder hypertrophy and strength gains.
Recovery is a crucial element of physical preparation. Make sure you are aware of all the tools you can use and know when to use them 😉
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AUSTRALIA - ITS TIME TO LIFT OUR GAME!
Today it’s done the rounds in the media that Australia has the highest rates of ACL reconstructions in the world 😓
This is a topic I am very passionate about. Not only because I have done my ACL myself, but because more and more young athletes are doing them, the rehab is prolonged (9-12 months), 1/3 ACL athletes under 25 will rupture it again, it often means the athlete doesn’t return to the same level of performance post-injury, and t...hese injuries are LARGELY PREVENTABLE!
If we all ensured that our youth (and senior) athletes did the following, the incidence of ACL injuries would MASSIVELY reduce:
-don’t specialise in one sport too early. Athletes need to be exposed to a wide variety of motor skills. This also reduces their risk of overuse injuries too.
-encourage kids to be active and play, and not sit on their bums all the time! Remember the game ‘tip’? PERFECT game for ACL injury prevention.
-strength training - can be done by ALL. You don’t have to be a certain age. Start with bodyweight, learn good technique, and increase the external load slowly.
-teach basic motor skills in PE lessons or at sports training. The warm up is a GREAT time to do this. Warm-ups should include acceleration/deceleration, side to side shuffles, lunging, jumping, hopping, landing, etc
-don’t flog athletes over short periods of time generating so much fatigue that their risk of injury increases massively. An athlete can only tolerate slightly above what they are used to doing. Big spikes in training loads significantly increase the risk of injury.
Coaches in Australia - do our youth athletes a favour and start implementing these things with them.
I wonder how many great athletes we are losing to ACL injuries across all sports.
It’s time to make a change, NOW!
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Celebratory deadlifts in Gordon Rugby kit!
180kg x 6 at 85kg bodyweight
Pre-workout of choice - my 1sts and 2nds Colts teams both beating strong Easts sides on the bell!
... Stags up!!
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SPRINT OFTEN TO REDUCE INJURY RISK
An interesting new study found a ‘U-shape’ relationship b/w max speed exposure & non-contact injury risk in AFL athletes.
Takeaways:... -Speed must be trained year round -Expose your athletes to near max speeds 1-2 times per week to reduce their risk of injury -Make sure to build up to sprinting over at least a few weeks. Don’t launch straight into 100% efforts.
Thanks Rugby Strength Coach for the find and commentary.
Study here 👇 https://journals.humankinetics.com/…/10 .11…/ijspp.2017-0696…
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Love working with youth athletes. So much improvement can be made in even just one session!
These boys had never done anything like this before and picked it all up quite quickly!
Made the 42 degree heat on Sunday somewhat bearable watching these boys get the hang of things 🔥🔥
... https://www.facebook.com/kaizensp/videos/ 2076219349256371/
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PULL-UP DROP SET!
It’s easy to do drop sets with dumbbells or a barbell. But what about with pull-ups?
Try weighted > body weight > band assisted
... 5-6 reps for each, with each mini set close to failure, and little-no rest in between.
This creates a POTENT hypertrophy (muscle growth) stimulus due to prolonging the time under tension of high threshold motor units (being close to failure repeatedly).
Give it a go! Great finisher for upper body days.
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THE DIFFERENCE A CUE MAKES!
Here we see one of my Gordon athletes doing a med ball slam - great exercise for upper body power development, particularly for the lats.
First rep I didn’t say anything apart from to “be explosive”.
... Second rep I told him to “break the floor”.
At the end of the day, I wanted the same outcome from both cues. But the second one worked way better for this athlete. You can see how much more INTENT there is by the fact that he goes into a lot more trunk flexion at the end of the second slam.
External cues like “break the floor” where the athlete focuses on something outside of their body often work better than internal cues such as “squeeze your lats” for increasing power production.
And that’s the main aim of the game for exercises like this!
Experiment with different cues with your athletes to see what helps them produce the outcome you’re after.
Other external cues I’ve found work well: -imagine ‘hot coals’ on the ground (for reducing ground contact time during depth jumps or plyometrics) -push the ground away (during squats) -stay tall through your hips (for hip lock during sprinting drills)
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Mirror drill - TRUE agility training.
None of this fancy pre-determined footwork bullshit!
Nominate a leader and a chaser - players ❤️ it.
... https://www.facebook.com/PhysioDigest1/vi deos/2012335895448679/
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EXPLOSIVE LANDMINE PRESS!
The landmine press is a real favourite of mine - it’s a mix of a horizontal and vertical push, so it’s a great exercise for anyone with shoulder issues who can’t press directly overhead.
There is also a stability element as the bar can move freely in space, so it helps develop both strong and stable shoulders. And finally, because one arm is performed at a time, it shows up any imbalances between shoulder strength on the left and right side.
... While this exercise is usually performed in a controlled fashion to enhance strength or muscle growth, it can also be performed as in the video in a reactive way to improve power.
A great exercise to improve the ‘fend’ for rugby players!
Give it a try - Just make sure you have a partner you can trust 😉
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LANDMINE SINGLE-LEG DEADLIFT
The single leg deadlift is a great exercise that challenges stability and neuromuscular control. But it is a tough one to load up heavily!
I have found the best way to do this is with a landmine set up, like in the video.
... Stand on the outside leg and hold with the opposite hand.
Most important cue is to keep the pelvis and chest both pointing straight ahead as there is a large anti-rotation element to this exercise, so you’ll often find people rotating during the exercise.
Here is one of my high school rugby players demonstrating some good technique with it!
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CHANGE OF DIRECTION VS AGILITY!!
Change of direction is NOT the same as agility. Ladder drills and most cone drills are change of direction drills, as the movements are pre-planned, i.e. the athlete knows what they have to do.
On the other hand, agility involves a reaction to an external stimulus, and therefore has a large cognitive component to it (reaction time and decision-making processing). THIS is what transfers best to the field. Because in team sports you have to reac...t to what the opposition player does, and can’t pre-plan much!
While change of direction drills are important initially to establish good mechanics, these should be progressed quickly to agility drills, where the athlete has to react to a cue you give them.
In these two videos of my Gordon Colts boys we see:
1. A basic agility drill involving a reaction to a verbal cue (left or right called out)
2. A change of direction race game (in dewy conditions!). Where the athletes start facing perpendicular to a cone, turn and sprint to pick up a cone, and race back to the starting line.
Agility vs change of direction - know the difference, and know when to train each quality!
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NORDIC HAMSTRING CURLS AND HAMSTRING STRAINS - AN INTERESTING CASE STUDY
Everyone knows the Nordic hamstring curl is the best exercise for hamstring injury prevention. I mean, there's a TONNE of research on them right? So if someone can control Nordics all the way down to the floor they've got no chance of a hamstring strain yeh?
Well, enter the story of one of my high school athletes - a winger in the college's best rugby team. Best at Nordics in the school by far, barely ...had to use his hands to get back up! Anyway, one game he's a bit behind the play so has to maximally accelerate to catch up, and just as he nears top speed he gets thrown a pass at his knees and hinges forward to catch it.
BOOM... hammie tear.
But how did that happen?! He CRUSHES Nordics!!
Here's why:
While Nordics are certainly effective in reducing hamstring injury rates (as per the research), there are three important factors to consider:
1. Pretty much all the research on Nordics to date has compared their effectiveness against NO OTHER EXERCISE (i.e. the control group did nothing on top of usual training, and the experimental group did Nordics). So who's to say a different hamstring exercise won't be just as if not MORE effective?
2. Nordics (being a knee dominant hamstring exercise) primarily stress the DISTAL hamstring region, and not the proximal region as much.
3. Because Nordics are performed in a knee flexed and relatively hip extended position they don't stress the hamstrings at long muscle lengths, which is often when hamstring strains occur (during the swing phase of sprinting). And this was certainly the case for my rugby player.
Perhaps Romanian deadlifts which being a hip dominant hamstring exercise stress the proximal hamstrings more, and also stress the hamstrings at long muscle lengths, would have better prepared my athlete for this type of hamstring stress.
How about a combination of Nordics and Romanians in the same program to bullet proof both regions of the hamstrings? Maybe 2 sets of each? Or what about a mesocycle of each of them? This is where the art of programming comes in. And it's hard to know which way to periodise it is best, and the answer may vary depending on many factors such as the individual strengths and weaknesses of the athlete, injury history, time of season, what's in the rest of the strength program, etc.
But here's the takeaway:
The stresses placed on the body in sport are highly variable. Prepare the body to handle as many of these stresses as you can, and NO ONE EXERCISE CAN DO THIS ON ITS OWN!!
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Great knowledge on all things strength and conditioning and rehab. Top practitioner and a top work colleague

Great knowledge on all things strength and conditioning and rehab. Top practitioner and a top work colleague

Great knowledge on all things strength and conditioning and rehab. Top practitioner and a top work colleague