Flywheel Rehabilitation

What is Flywheel rehabilitation? Muscle and tendon injuries are common among athletes. Eccentric muscle training has become the predominant conservative management strategy for these conditions. Numerous studies have shown that the key to success is exposing the tendon to heavy eccentric resistance to improve tendon metabolism and reduce pain.

The isoinertial devices utilized in Flywheel rehabilitation are perfect for introducing this type of high eccentric loading, which stimulates tissue remodeling. These devices, commonly known as flywheels, were originally designed to be used by astronauts and have being utilized for footballers training and rehabilitation in teams like Barcelona F.C, Real Madrid F.C or Juventus over the last 10 years. At present, many elite sports teams, such as All Blacks and Tottenham Hotspurs among others, have also integrated this type of equipment in their sports science and rehabilitation services obtaining excellent results.

When do we use Flywheel rehabilitation? At PSMC this type of rehabilitation is offered for the treatment of soft tissues and sports injuries, such as muscle and/or tendon tears and tendinopathies (e.g rotator cuff, hamstrings, patella and/or quadriceps). Athletes are required to respond to the force imposed on their body whilst moving. High eccentrics Rehabilitation devices allow physiotherapists to replicate athletic movements and skills, challenging athletes on functional loading situations.