Sports Medicine
Here at Beacon Hospital, we’ve invested a lot into diversifying our own Sports Medicine department, in order to cater to all your needs.
Modern Medicine for Maximum Performance
We understand the importance of treating high performance athlete injuries, as well as regular occurring injuries. Beacon Hospital provides performance management, sharing expertise to help all athletes, amateur and professional, reach their potential.
The philosophy of Beacon Hospital’s Sports Lab is to assess and treat the underlying cause of the problem, not merely your symptoms. Our new state-of-the-art, high performance sports Lab with VO2 Max and Isokinetic Strength Testing, provides athletes with the ideal environment to optimise performance.
We believe in our comprehensive, team-based approach in Sports Medicine, Orthopedics, Musculoskeletal Radiology and Sports Rehabilitation. Our team is led by Dr Alan Byrne, the internationally renowned Consultant in Sports and Exercise Medicine and Team Doctor to the Irish Soccer Team.
Gift Vouchers now available as the perfect present for the fitness fanatic in your life. For more information or to purchase a Sports Lab gift voucher, contact [email protected]
Appointments and Referrals
To make an appointment with our Sports Medicine Department, please contact us and outline the area of our Sports Medicine service that interests you.
What we do
-
Body Composition Analysis
Body composition is made up of a complex number of things, but the basics of this being that weight, for everyone, is dependent on the number of calories you consumer verses the number of calories you burn. This Body Composition Analysis includes a multitude of tests including your total body weight, Muscle-Fat Analysis, Extracellular Water Ratio Analysis, Body Composition History, Visceral Fat Area and much more.
-
Cardio-pulmonary Exercise test (Vo2 Max)
Cardio pulmonary exercise testing adds important additional information to that provided by the standard exercise test. In particular, cardiopulmonary exercise testing provides precise determination of aerobic capacity, the causes of dyspnea with exertion, and prognosis in patients with systolic heart failure. This review provides basic, practical information about cardiopulmonary exercise testing for clinician. The test can be conducted on a treadmill, cycle ergometer or Wattbike. The exercise intensity will begin at a low level, progressing to the required intensity i.e. sub max or maximal effort.
-
Functional Threshold Power Test
A lot of athletes and cyclists like to incorporate power meters into their training, in order to identify strengths and weaknesses in the athlete’s performance. This form of testing can be used to specifically design personalised training programmes, to ensure the athlete continues to progress. And then this can be monitored by carrying out a standardised retest. The data that’ll be produced from this test with show average and peak power, average and peak cadence, left to right leg balance, pedal stroke efficiency, heart rate data, speed and distance, to name but a few.
-
Isokinetic Strength Testing
Isokinetic Strength Testing is an extremely accurate way of measuring the power and strength variables of any given area of the body. At Beacon Hospital, we use the biodex system, which involves using a state-of-the-art machine, which highlight the strength of that area of the body. This can be used to assess rehabilitation needs, rate of progression and identify particular weaknesses which predispose the athlete to injury. In the Sports Medicine field, this method is used extensively, in both research and rehabilitation. We also conduct tests for functional exams for injured athletes or those looking to enhance performance.
-
Physiological Performance Testing
This is an important test for anyone interested in their health and especially, their performance in relation to their sport. We focus on implementing this test to patients who are returning to exercise and need that extra bit of reassurance that they are on the right track to recovery.
Our trained specialists perform physiological tests on patients to ensure that whatever goals you have can be met with time and training. Our experts can tailor your training plans based on your individual physiological performance. Therefore, its not just for professional/high performance athletes, but anyone who wants to achieve their sporting goals.
The tests are standardized, accurate, reliable and reproducible. This ensures that as the patient progresses, the client can be retested and the degree of improvement can be accurately measured.
-
Wattbike Analysis
Not only for cyclists and triathletes, but for complete beginners too, a Wattbike analysis can be a very useful method to measure and improve cycling efficiency and performance. The data revealed during this will be the likes of:
- Average and peak cadence
- Average and peck power
- Left to right leg balance
- Pedal stroke efficiency
- Heart rate
- Speed
- Distance
-
Resting Metabolic Rate Test
This test involves the client fasting for a period of 4 hours, then lying on a couch while connected to a face mask. This face mask will be connected to a gas analyzer for 15 minutes. The data produced throughout this test includes the number of calories an individual burns before lifestyle and training are accounted for. RMR or metabolism can account for 65- 80% of calories burned by an individual each day. For anyone looking to lose weight, this is essential to know.
Beacon Hospital Sports Lab
Chris Simpson
Chris holds a BSc (Hons) in Sport and Exercise Science from the University of Leeds.
He is an Ironman Certified Coach and is currently studying an MSc in exercise and nutrition science at the University of Chester.
Chris is a member of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Scientists and an Associate Member of the British Association of Sports and Exercise Medicine.
Over the last 20 years Chris has developed his experience in cardio-pulmonary exercise testing, both in sports and exercise and well as the clinical setting. This includes studying in the UK with the Royal College of Anaesthetists and University of California Los Angeles.
Chris grew up playing Rugby League and basketball to representative level before making the switch to endurance sports. Over the next 30 years he competed in multiple Ironman, 70.3, Etape du Tour and marathons in addition to many other endurance events.
Over the last 20 years Chris has been actively been involved in coaching other endurance athletes, these include complete novice athletes, to professional sportsmen and women.