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Steve Mion owner of Bulleen Health and Fitness welcoming Matteo Giofre down at the gym. Matteo is a strength and conditioning coach here at Melbourne Sport Science who will now be operating out of Bulleen Health and Fitness. Matteo is in the final year of his Exercise Science (Sports Practice) degree, is a level 1 Australian Strength and Conditioning Association coach, fully qualified personal trainer and has completed workshops with Australia's industry leaders in developing strength, power and speed. Contact the page if you are interested in getting coached by Matteo and developing in areas of strength, power, speed, mobility, body composition and injury prevention.

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These days a lot of athletes want to run before they can walk so to speak, what I mean by this is everyone is obsessed with jumping higher, running faster however no one is taught how to decelerate or land correctly. Athletes who are not taught to land often land on stiff legs which absorbs little of the forces into the musculature (where we want loading) and also land with their knees in valgus this creates a large amount of shear force through the knee joint and can cause a rupture of the ACL and other injuries. Instead it is much more beneficial for athletes to land softly and transfer their force to the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calf muscles. When coaching landing mechanics try to focusing on the following -Torso being slightly angled forward with the chest up -Flex the hips and stick out the glutes, this helps us stay balanced and absorb some of the landing through our posterior chain - There should be a slight degree of knee flexion, and ensure that the knees point in the same direction as the toes (same as a squat) - Attempt to land as softly as possible (a good coaching que is to get the athlete to "land quitely") - putting a mini band above the knee can help the athlete be more aware of pushing the knees out

Melbourne Sport Science