Richard Gallen

Since qualifying as a physiotherapist Richard has worked in a wide variety of physiotherapy roles both here and in the UK. He attained his Pilates Certification from Polestar Pilates in 2005 and also has a Master’s degree with 1st Class Honours and a Post Graduate Diploma in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy and Acupuncture.

Richard has worked as a personal trainer and it’s this experience, working in a gym, which made him realise that the best use of his knowledge as a physiotherapist would be to help prevent injury and keep his clients out of the clinic by providing safe and effective rehabilitation programmes.

For Richard the Pilates method fitted well with his approach to rehabilitation and he believes that optimal movement is essential for a healthy life. He works with his clients to ensure they maintain a supple, agile body with the strength and muscular control necessary to remain injury free.

He has a special interest in conditions related to postural muscle imbalance and has experience in managing sports injuries and occupational pain syndromes.

He also has over 10 years’ experience working with dancers and was part of the team at Dance Pilates, one of New Zealand’s first centres providing specialised health and fitness services for young dancers. He was involved in implementing injury prevention education and dance screening assessments, dance-specific rehabilitation and conditioning programmes. He is a member of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science and has attended the Harkness Institute of Dance Medicine in New York to complete their course on the Principles of Dance Medicine.

Richard has an extensive range of post-graduate training including:

• Training in the Connect Therapy approach to pain driven by thoracic and pelvic girdle impairments
• Dynamic stabilisation exercises of the hip and pelvis which are important for the treatment of such conditions and snapping hip tendons, gluteal tendinopathy and bursitis
• The Watson Headache Institute which is a powerful method to detect and treat headaches that are influenced by poor neck posture
• Kinetic Control, a comprehensive system of muscle balance analysis and treatment of movement dysfunction.
• He is also trained in the biomechanical assessment of running and cycling
• And continues to keep up to date with emerging research and current approaches to therapy

Richard has a background of martial arts, boxing and mountain biking. He values how it feels to move efficiently and how to protect yourself from injury and shares this passion with his clients and patients in the studio.

His current interests includes resistance training for muscle and bone health through your lifespan and cardiovascular conditioning for metabolic health.

Richard also supports the team at the studio by proving specific advice to clients and instructors about injury diagnosis and management options and can refer to a network of providers such as orthopaedic surgeons, sports and musculoskeletal physicians and other complementary therapists to achieve the best outcomes for studio clients when necessary.