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Alex Rainforth – Sports Therapist
My journey into the therapy world came nearly a decade ago now. After experiencing back pain for a number of months that was exacerbated by a stressful, office-based job, I sought out a local sports massage therapist. I thoroughly enjoyed the session! It led me down a path of discovery in the field of sports massage and musculoskeletal health as a whole!
I saw numerous therapists over a period of time, including multiple sessions with Donna, who I went on to work closely with!
The decision to actually begin my own journey into learning sports massage actually came in an unusual location! I had given up my stressful job, at 24, and decided to join a friend who was heading over to South East Asia for 6 months. It was actually whilst over there, in a beach hut on the Southern Islands of Thailand, that I made the proclamation (after a few bottles of Chang) that I was not going to work in an office anymore. When I returned from my travels, I would begin a career in Sports Massage Therapy!
Little did I know, I would work in an office for a further 4 years!
I did, however, start the journey. In June 2010, 4 months after returning from Asia I enrolled at the renowned London School of Sports Massage on a one-year Higher Diploma in Clinical Sports & Remedial Massage Therapy.
After graduating in summer 2011, I began the slow process of trying to build up a client base!
I began working from Jagos Salon in Melton Mowbray, where I started to develop a small number of clients. After a couple of years, I then began to work alongside Donna at Church Street Practice in Melton Mowbray, and Feet & Co in West Bridgford, Nottingham.
Nottingham Forest
I spent the next year slowly building my client base alongside my full-time job. The turning point for my career came when Donna, who had been working for some years with Nottingham Forest, advised me that a new physio had started with the club and he wanted to bring in a full-time therapist. The rest, as they say, is history. I met the physio, he offered me a job, and the office job was dropped faster than a politician’s promise!
Working with Nottingham Forest Football Club enabled me to learn a huge amount from a wealth of experienced sports science and medical professionals. I learnt a great deal about sports therapy and working in professional sport. I travelled around Europe with the team. It is also fair to say that travelling around the country with a professional football team is not a particularly bad way to spend your working days!
To date, I am still working in football. with a number of premier league and championship footballers using my services privately.
British Athletics
After a couple of seasons working in Football, I decided to leave in order to focus on building up my private practice, which is where I saw my long-term future. I didn’t want to leave sport altogether though, and I set myself the target of getting some freelance soft tissue therapy work within an Olympic Sport.
Not long after, I saw a job advert for British Athletics. I applied and was ecstatic to be selected to join their bank of therapists. This has proved to be a great opportunity for me. I have travelled representing Team GB to the European u21 Championships, to Cardiff as part of the British Athletics team competing in the International Combined Events Match 2019. Plus numerous athlete training camps. More often, I am called on to provide soft tissue therapy cover the National Performance Centre in Loughborough. I am lucky enough to have worked with Olympic, Paralympic, and World medallists here….and what a great bunch of people they all are too!
Boxing
During this same period, I reached out to local Nottingham boxer, Leigh Wood. I am a big fan of boxing. It is a sport that I was eager to get involved with in some capacity. I offered to sponsor Leigh for his therapy and began a good working relationship that is still going today. After a frustrating period for him, a change of management led him to claiming the Commonwealth & European Featherweight Titles. After reaching the semi finals of the Golden Contract competition earlier this year, covid-19 has quietened the scene at present. But I know he is eager to get back in the ring and I hope to experience some big fights and big wins for him over the next few years!
Masters Degree
In recent times, my thirst for development has led me to crave more than the usual 2-day CPD course that I often undertake. It has led me to embark on a master’s degree in Sports Therapy at the University of Lincoln. Currently I am halfway through the 2-year course and I’m thoroughly enjoying my stint back in education!
I am currently looking forward to pushing on with my newly named Central Therapy. I will now begin to roll out injury rehabilitation sessions, movement screens and running performance packages. All alongside my existing soft tissue therapy and sports massage sessions.
My client base today is a very varied mix of business people looking to ease day to day aches and pains, amateur & professional athletes, older clients who use sports massage to manage discomfort, people rehabbing sports injuries, and people looking to lose weight and get fit.
So, there you have it, a brief breakdown of my career to date. Hopefully, that may give you a bit of insight to get to know your therapist! It has been a great 10 years as a soft tissue therapist. I hope as I push forward with my Sports Therapy MSc that the next 10 years are just as fruitful!
If you would like to find out more about Central Therapy and whether we may be able to help you, please check out the website and get in touch !
