Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA or DEXA) is a type of low dose x-ray scan that provides precise and detailed measurements of bone density and body composition.

We offer two types of scans:

1) Bone Density Scan – DXA is the gold standard for measuring bone mineral density (BMD), making the diagnosis of osteoporosis, and for monitoring changes in BMD over time.

2) Body Composition Scan – DXA provides precise and accurate data on fat tissue mass, lean tissue mass, and on bone mineral density. The report will show a regional breakdown of results (trunk, arms, legs, pelvis and android/gynoid regions).

We recommend booking a nutrition consultation to accompany your body composition assessment.

Body composition assessments are an essential tool to track long-term changes in recovery, energy balance and nutritional interventions. Skinfold assessments are a cost-effective, quick and accurate measure to track changes in body composition over time.

Skinfold assessment is a quick and easy way to assess your body composition using callipers to measure the fat beneath your skin. They are a great way to assess changes in body fat and lean mass related to recovery, energy balance and nutritional intervention.

Skinfold assessments are performed by International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK) accredited anthropometrists. This provides quality assurance that the anthropometrists are providing an accurate and reliable service.

This service provides two comprehensive assessments of your body mass, stature, waist girth, hip girths, skinfold thickness (8 sites are assessed) bone breaths (3 breaths are assessed). The report will confirm body type, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, body fat percentage and estimated muscle and bone mass. The two measures allow changes to be tracked over time.

We recommend booking a nutrition consultation to accompany your body composition assessment.

Good nutrition is essential to optimise health and performance so that you can get the most out of your training and competition day.

Check and fine-tune your diet with one of our Performance Nutritionists, accredited by the Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register, who offer two services:

1) A Full Dietary Analysis

2) A Diet MOT

The full dietary analysis, our gold standard service, provides up to 3 consultations with an in-depth analysis of your diet. Your energy, carbohydrate, protein, fat and fluid intakes are assessed in line with health, sport and exercise nutrition guidelines. It can help identify where to improve your current dietary intake to maximise the impact of your training and competition by develop fuelling and recovery strategies that work for you. Creating plans and setting goals will help you to achieve your performance ambitions and any challenges you are currently facing - for example improving body composition, fuelling and recovering from training or if considering supplements.

In contrast, our diet MOT service is a single consultation, which assesses your diet quality (in line with health, sport & exercise nutrition guidelines). It can help identify where to improve your current dietary intake to achieve your goals and any challenges you are currently facing - for example feeling tired, improving body composition, snack ideas, or generally wanting to improve your diet.

We offer a range of assessments and tests to help you understand your physical abilities, identify thresholds, and set training intensities. If you need to optimise or fine tune your training this is for you.

The physiological profiling test allows runners to assess their physical ability and identify thresholds to optimise training for their specific event. The test will identify the lactate threshold, which is one of the best predictors of running performance. This can be used to monitor training adaptation and helps plan your training. In fact, it allows an accurate prescription of training zones to maximise your race performance. The test will also establish maximal aerobic capacity, which is the body’s upper limit of endurance performance. Lastly, it establishes running economy, another key variable of running performance, and represents the oxygen cost of running at a specific speed. So, if you want to track and optimise your endurance performance, this test is for you.

A cycling fitness test will provide specific, individualised training advice to optimise or fine tune training and enhance performance for a particular sport or event. This will help you understand your physical abilities, identify thresholds, and set training intensities. If you need to optimise or fine tune your training, this is for you. This is suitable for athletes from recreational to elite who are trying to improve their preparation and performance. Endurance coaches often use this test to prescribe training intensity throughout a programme and track changes in key physiological parameters

A precise assessment and quantification of muscle strength across the selected joint with the possibility of comparison with the opposite limb or antagonist muscle groups. This assessment will evaluate strength, endurance, power and range of motion on the tested joint under various contraction types and/or velocities e.g., muscle shortening/lengthening. This type of profiling allows you to see the force-velocity relationship of different muscle groups and compare the muscular strength (im)balance between the right and left limbs or injured and non-injured limbs. Anyone seeking to correct and restore muscular imbalance and avoid—or, at least, minimise the chances of future injuries, the muscle strength test a suitable diagnostic option for you. The diagnosis helps developing intervention plans specifically designed to focus on the affected (injured) limb with the aim of returning to the highest level of functioning within the shortest period possible. You can benefit from this joint-specific muscle function analysis, regardless of gender, age, or level of functioning.

Our high-quality, advanced analysis of your running gait allows us to identify opportunities to improve aspects of your style.

Each individual runner has their own unique running style, a combination of innate characteristics refined through training. Each running technique has its strengths and weaknesses that can be measured and understood using biomechanical processes and principles.

Our package of biomechanical tests use advanced scientific methods to ascertain those aspects of a runner’s gait that work well for them, and those where potential improvements can be highlighted. Examples of areas where we have helped runners with their running techniques include:

• Generating objective data that could be used to complement physiotherapy assessments

• Asymmetry between the right and left legs that can lead to over-working one side

• Identifying spontaneous running style, which helps show what kind of training might suit a particular target race distance

• Footstrike patterns and their relationship with the repeated impacts on the body

• Comparisons between running shoes frequently used by the runner in training and racing

If the body is exposed to hot conditions that causes the core temperature to increase to a high enough level for long enough periods and often enough, the body will start to adapt and adjust various physiological mechanisms and processes to be able to function more effectively in the heat. This process is called heat acclimatisation

Our heat acclimation package is well controlled and executed with planned ‘heat exposures’. This will allow your body to adapt and lose heat more effectively, helping you to perform well even when hot, for long periods. Depending on the training programme you undertake we can help you achieve the following outcomes:

• A high level of heat acclimatisation

• Experience of running in the expected conditions of the event

• Decreased perception of the heat

• Understanding how your body reacts to the heat

• Know your sweat rate and how to hydrate effectively

• Learning strategies to minimise the chances of heat stroke

• Establishing a safe race pace / running intensity

• Gaining confidence in your ability to run in the heat

Preventive cardiac screening is recommended for all competitive sportspersons and those involved in regular training/intense activity to reduce the (extremely small) risk of sudden cardiac death during exercise. For certain international events this screening is mandatory. We offer a streamlined specific service to provide the required sign-off and documentation.

The International Olympic Committee, the European Society of Cardiology, and the European Association of Preventive Cardiology recommend that a preventive cardiac screening is performed periodically (e.g. every 1-2 years) for all “athletes” (persons involved in competitive sport or simply training regularly at higher intensities). This screening must include medical history (personal and family), a medical examination and a resting ECG assessment for athletes up to the age of 35yrs. For over 35s the addition of an assessment of cardiovascular disease risk factors, and in some cases a maximal exercise test, are also recommended. This assessment is mandatory for entering some international events, but it is strongly recommended for any athlete, even if it is not mandated by your sport. We offer a streamlined service to provide the required assessment, sign-off and documentation.

The team will discuss with you various blood tests and what they can bring to you and your training programme.

The AlterG anti-gravity treadmill is a specialist rehabilitation tool that uses air pressure to support a patient’s body weight and reduce the mechanical load going through their joints while walking or running. It can improve mobility and help to maintain or improve fitness. Under the guidance of your physiotherapy, the anti-gravity treadmill during your recovery period can help you walk/run farther with less stress on the lower body joints and muscles. This over time helps improve your neuromuscular control and get you back to your normal training.