17 September 2011
Blog moved
Our blogs are now posted on the Fit for Purpose main site http://www.fit-for-purpose.co.uk/index.php/blog/page
23 April 2011
Holisticity!?
It's funny how some mornings you wake up and an idea hits you in the face. Well, yesterday was one of those days; not a new idea but perhaps more a change of thinking.
Life at fit for purpose is getting more and more interesting, our massage work is building nicely and we are starting to work in a more holistic way, as we had always intended. Not holistic in the herbal medicine way but in the way that we address a challenge.
Our objective quickly crystallised to that of providing a service to those who are 'at the end of their tether'; for want of a better phrase. What does that mean? Well, people who are struggling to find a solution, have seen lots of people, spent loads of money and are just down right frustrated - maybe at the point of giving up.
This approach isn't easy, it means there is a chance of failure but it is rewarding and we work hard to develop integrated skills and knowledge that allows us to discuss everything; physiology and psychology, at a detailed level, referring where necessary but mostly able to work within the Fit for Purpose environment.
What of the idea that hit me in the face (first paragraph)? Well, our marketing and pricing is a list of items whereas our product is an integrated service - massage stands alone in it's own right but other things like physiological testing, nutrition, nlp/hypnotherapy are more tools to form part of a solution. This realisation brings clarity to our marketing strategy and perhaps more importantly we know what to say when we are in the pub and someone says "so what is fit for purpose?", "... it's a place where people come for a solution, to get back on track and progress to a higher level by using an integrated range of techniques that work holistically, not disparately... that makes fit for purpose unique".
Life at fit for purpose is getting more and more interesting, our massage work is building nicely and we are starting to work in a more holistic way, as we had always intended. Not holistic in the herbal medicine way but in the way that we address a challenge.
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| Biomechanical Analysis |
Our objective quickly crystallised to that of providing a service to those who are 'at the end of their tether'; for want of a better phrase. What does that mean? Well, people who are struggling to find a solution, have seen lots of people, spent loads of money and are just down right frustrated - maybe at the point of giving up.
This approach isn't easy, it means there is a chance of failure but it is rewarding and we work hard to develop integrated skills and knowledge that allows us to discuss everything; physiology and psychology, at a detailed level, referring where necessary but mostly able to work within the Fit for Purpose environment.
What of the idea that hit me in the face (first paragraph)? Well, our marketing and pricing is a list of items whereas our product is an integrated service - massage stands alone in it's own right but other things like physiological testing, nutrition, nlp/hypnotherapy are more tools to form part of a solution. This realisation brings clarity to our marketing strategy and perhaps more importantly we know what to say when we are in the pub and someone says "so what is fit for purpose?", "... it's a place where people come for a solution, to get back on track and progress to a higher level by using an integrated range of techniques that work holistically, not disparately... that makes fit for purpose unique".
1 March 2011
Elite or just one of the guys?
It has been an interesting few weeks, Christine has passed her advanced remedial massage exams and now tells me she can adjust various body parts to get the same effect as an osteopath but without the cracking phase. This is a slightly slower process but reduces the muscle trauma sometimes associated with the more vigorous dynamic movements, all things have good and bad points.
I have also been pondering what makes good, great and mediocre athletes and if I were pinned down to say what one thing the best athletes have in common, I would say it is the willingness to have a go. I went to see a talk by Alistair and Jonny Brownlee a couple of weeks ago and the striking thing was their willingness to keep trying in the face of uncertainty; just trying to stay in the group or maintain the lead until the next corner, taking everything one step at a time. An attitude, 'have a go', that was perhaps put into more direct terms by the climber and personal friend, Andy Kirkpatrick, in one of his talks "...if you do something stupid, you will achieve something amazing or die... " in his case the die bit is quite literal but for most of us, it is just metaphorical and the consequences of failure are only short term disappointment, a chance to rethink and hopefully come back stronger.
My first exposure to the real elite was training with a chap called John Graham, he once related a story of running the New York Marathon, going through 10 miles in 48 minutes or something and thinking that it was only 5 seconds slower than his best '10', he was prepared to give it a go, sometimes he succeeded and sometimes not but he was a great athlete and friend who ran 2 hours 9 minutes 28 seconds to win the 1981 Rotterdam marathon, breaking the Scottish record, that time has still only been bettered by one Scot and only by two seconds when Alistair Hutton won the London Marathon in 2:9:26. Aside from athletics John was always just a down to earth chap who had time for everyone and never stopped talking.
Finally, we went out for a run in the hills yesterday - and it really came home to me what sort of environment we are living and working in. I am certainly not the runner I used to be but a 1 hour run saw me overtaken by a couple of runners who breezed past me chatting away, I kept up for a few minutes but had to let them go, a bit depressing, these two athletes were Mary Wilkinson and Alan Buckley, both GB internationals or maybe a personal friend and my brother-in-law. At the cafe we bumped into Alistair and Jonny Brownlee eating cakes in the middle of their bike ride with friends or one could say elite development squad - just normal guys shooting the breeze about their 'theories' on nutrition. I overheard one of the crowd state the best source of antioxidants to be a Mars bar and another that the best source of fish oils is fish and chips. It would be easy to get over awed and think how can we associate with people like this but why - may as well give it a go and see where we get.
Fit for Purpose is already doing amazing things and it can only get better.... these people are just normal guys who are willing to give it a go, stick at it and see what happens - anyone can do that, can't they?
Why not you - you might do something amazing! I bet you won't die...
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| John Graham winning the Rotterdam Marathon |
I have done some sports psychology and it has been rewarding how a chat with a friend in a cafe resulted in my suggestions for prerace routines having a significant impact. I hope to do more with this athlete to help them realise what the coach and others think is a tremendous potential.
I had a day at British Cycling with Karen Darke, I was privileged enough to be invited to some meetings to discuss an aspect of technical strategy for London 2012 - it was a very interesting day and I hope to be involved as detailed plans and options are developed into the future.
I have also been pondering what makes good, great and mediocre athletes and if I were pinned down to say what one thing the best athletes have in common, I would say it is the willingness to have a go. I went to see a talk by Alistair and Jonny Brownlee a couple of weeks ago and the striking thing was their willingness to keep trying in the face of uncertainty; just trying to stay in the group or maintain the lead until the next corner, taking everything one step at a time. An attitude, 'have a go', that was perhaps put into more direct terms by the climber and personal friend, Andy Kirkpatrick, in one of his talks "...if you do something stupid, you will achieve something amazing or die... " in his case the die bit is quite literal but for most of us, it is just metaphorical and the consequences of failure are only short term disappointment, a chance to rethink and hopefully come back stronger.
My first exposure to the real elite was training with a chap called John Graham, he once related a story of running the New York Marathon, going through 10 miles in 48 minutes or something and thinking that it was only 5 seconds slower than his best '10', he was prepared to give it a go, sometimes he succeeded and sometimes not but he was a great athlete and friend who ran 2 hours 9 minutes 28 seconds to win the 1981 Rotterdam marathon, breaking the Scottish record, that time has still only been bettered by one Scot and only by two seconds when Alistair Hutton won the London Marathon in 2:9:26. Aside from athletics John was always just a down to earth chap who had time for everyone and never stopped talking.
Finally, we went out for a run in the hills yesterday - and it really came home to me what sort of environment we are living and working in. I am certainly not the runner I used to be but a 1 hour run saw me overtaken by a couple of runners who breezed past me chatting away, I kept up for a few minutes but had to let them go, a bit depressing, these two athletes were Mary Wilkinson and Alan Buckley, both GB internationals or maybe a personal friend and my brother-in-law. At the cafe we bumped into Alistair and Jonny Brownlee eating cakes in the middle of their bike ride with friends or one could say elite development squad - just normal guys shooting the breeze about their 'theories' on nutrition. I overheard one of the crowd state the best source of antioxidants to be a Mars bar and another that the best source of fish oils is fish and chips. It would be easy to get over awed and think how can we associate with people like this but why - may as well give it a go and see where we get.
Fit for Purpose is already doing amazing things and it can only get better.... these people are just normal guys who are willing to give it a go, stick at it and see what happens - anyone can do that, can't they?
Why not you - you might do something amazing! I bet you won't die...
13 February 2011
Fit for Purpose? Why that name? It's the philosophy...
Why fit for purpose? Well, it all started with massage therapy and then a realisation that we could do something special; provide a service that makes a real difference to people’s lives. It is hard to believe that massaging someone can help them change from a person with crippling pain and restriction to someone able to enjoy activity and exercise once again but it can and does. We experience transformations of varying degrees every day. Not miracles but skillful application of therapeutic techniques to relieve stress and tension to restore freedom of movement.
‘fit for purpose’: we decided that we would try to help people become fit for their particular purpose, whether that be to walk along Skipton high street or compete in the Olympic games.Massage helps provide freedom of movement and freedom from pain, so then what else might someone need? Freedom from anxiety or restrictions of the mind? Mind and body are united in each of us so we learnt how to help people see things differently to overcome life’s difficulties. So that’s it - we want to help people become fit for their purpose, we enjoy what we do and take great pleasure in seeing others enjoy their lives.
Finally - a quote from Karen Darke’s blog that we like:
“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
….. ‘Life is Good’ goes… “Do what you love, love what you do”
Please come and see us, phone or e-mail for a chat.
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