Interview with Rafael Gomez Aragon: Physiotherapist in Professional Motorcycling
Question: What challenges do we encounter in elite sports in general, in this case in motorcycling?
Would like to specify that the Superbike World Championship in which we find ourselves and with which we are working with Adrián and in collaboration with Fisiowarm, is different from MotoGP. We do fewer weekends during the year, but they are much more demanding because we do two races with the same number of training sessions. To give you an idea, in the end, the rider has between six and seven very demanding training sessions during the weekend where we introduce both free practice, qualifying, races, in addition to the previous training that the rider does. The rider gets up early in the morning to do a more cardio workout in the early hours and that’s where our work begins. So between each session we need to achieve a quick recovery. In the end, I always say that the difference between an elite sports patient, as in Adrián’s case, and a patient we can find in a clinic, is that everyone comes to you to recover, to accelerate recovery, but for the elite athlete it must be instantaneous. That is, Adrián can have a fall in the warm-up in the morning at 10:00 and at three he is racing, so I have very few hours to make the pain disappear, to make the inflammation disappear if there is a hematoma. So being able to count on the latest technology in this case, like having Fisiowarm TECAR THERAPY, gives us formidable tools, helps us accelerate this process much more and make the process more lasting over time.
Collaboration with FISIOWARM: Benefits in Motorcycling
The collaboration with FISIOWARM is providing us with tools that we obviously didn’t have before. It’s true that with Adrián I’ve always tried to work with the latest technology, but in the end it’s complicated to always be able to transport everything from a clinic to every circuit around the world. We try to bring the best possible technology, but sometimes it’s complicated because we have to go to Australia, Indonesia, in short, they are long trips. Being able to count on a machine like FISIOWARM already installed in the truck gives us formidable tools.
To give a clear example, the UNIPOINTER: when Adrián has a fall, as happened in Australia, being able to work on the pain he had in the myofascial point of the hand with the precision with which it works, you don’t get this with any other tool. You can get close with invasive physiotherapy through the needle and so on, but that type of treatment has a thousand negative points that you eliminate with FISIOWARM. So the improvement in recovery and also in preparation before each session we do with Adrián, for example with myofascial devices to ensure that the myofascial chains and joint mobility limitations are as minimal as possible so that Adrián feels much more comfortable on the bike, is giving us a plus that is proving very useful to us. It is seen and demonstrated in the progression that Adrián has been having since we started working with FISIOWARM: his performance has improved considerably.
Cases of Use of FISIOWARM in Motorcycling
As I was saying in the previous answer, if we managed to work after the fall in Australia, let’s say we always use FISIOWARM in all cases, but it’s true that there have been two moments this year that have given us a plus:
1. The fall at Philip Island in Australia, where Adrián had a lot of pain in his hand. As I said, with FISIOWARM we managed to eliminate much of that pain that remained for him for the race.
2. Another key moment that helped us a lot was the fall during qualifying at Misano. Adrián managed to finish qualifying, but it’s true that the next day he still had pain.
We worked a lot, especially because it was a “high side” type fall, where he impacted on the hip. We managed to prevent a lot of hematoma from forming on the same day of the fall and the next day we continued to work.
He started the day very well, but it’s true that in the warm-up he started to feel discomfort. As I said before, with the little time we have available, we have to do a super fast and super powerful recovery.
For example, having FISIOWARM’s UNIQ Electrode that manages to combine capacitive and resistive treatment, which I think is a key point, allows us to shorten treatment times and introduce more treatment. That is, instead of taking 20 minutes, we can take 10.
Misano fall with the high side: when there is a high side, there is usually always an impact to the hip, buttock or leg that produces considerable inflammation, a rather large edema. A fall can even produce an edema in the knee.
So, working with the UNIQ electrode that day, I have already saved that protocol. When another fall occurs, I will already have a saved protocol, so it won’t be necessary for me to start configuring the machine from scratch. Already having that protocol saved makes us gain more time. In short, in high competition, in this case in motorcycling, counting on the latest technology is fundamental to reduce these periods of time.
Those 10 minutes we gain give us time to work with another therapy or another procedure. So the variety especially that FISIOWARM gives us depending on the needs we have, is a breadth that we didn’t have before. Before we were much more limited and this is where Adrián is noticing the biggest differences.
Advantages of Using FISIOWARM with IPAD in Motorcycling
In the end, being able to work with FISIOWARM through IPAD, besides giving you versatility and speed to configure the machine, gives us a brutal increase in the quality of treatment time. It may seem
repetitive, but in high competition, time is fundamental, especially during the race weekend when working times are very tight. Also, there is an aspect that I find excellent and that has also been fundamental: the tablet allows you to save treatment protocols. Each fall and each injury is different, but it’s true that in motorcycling there are certain injuries that tend to be very repetitive. For example, as we discussed earlier, the Misano fall with the high side: when there is a high side, there is usually always an impact to the hip, buttock or leg that produces considerable inflammation, a rather large edema. A fall can even produce an edema in the knee.
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