Building a rehab running framework to maximise performance and minimise re-injury with Simon Harries

This week’s guest on the Pacey Performance Podcast is Simon Harries. Simon is a leading Strength and Conditioning coach and sports scientist, having worked for 14 years across all four contact codes in Australia (Rugby League, Rugby Union, Rugby Sevens and AFL). For half that time, he’s also been a rehab coordinator before moving to a new role as Head of Strength and Conditioning at the New South Wales Institute of Sport.

Recently, Simon’s article on his rehab running framework was published on Sportsmith. Here, he talks about how that framework came into being and the process he went through to develop it. One problem he found as an S&C coach was the gap between learning how to coach athletes to push themselves, and the practicalities of helping an athlete return from injury. In his rehab running framework, he’s provided structure for coaches to follow to bridge this gap.

Simon speaks with Rob about the different facets of his framework, including its basic structure, with examples of how it can be used for hamstring and calf injuries. He explains some easy drills to use during rehab, plus how to assess athlete process and when to change the level of training required when an athlete gets to a certain condition. There’s technical information too, such as the regression progression continuum of exercise, resistance training, and isometrics. For all this and more, hit the play button now.

This week’s topics:

• How Simon designed the rehab running framework
• The gap between S&C education and practical rehab
• The basic structure of the rehab running framework
• An example of how the framework works with hamstring injuries
• Early drills to use during hamstring rehab
• Assessment methods to use
• The differences in rehab for different muscle groups
• Regression progression continuum of exercise, and resistance training
• Where isometrics fit in