Physio on the River Staff

Richard is a graduate in both sports science and physiotherapy and has also gained a masters degree in management of pain from Kings College, London.

Richard joined the practice with experience working in private and public sectors in both the UK and New Zealand and has special interests in back pain, sports rehabilitation and biomechanics. As well as having excellent manual therapy skills, Richard is also trained in the use of acupuncture for pain relief. The combination of sports science and physiotherapy degrees has given him real expertise in the area of sports rehabilitation.

Richard is married with three young sons who he describes as ‘my portable workout’! This, and his passion for rugby, keeps him busy in his spare time. With three children of his own Richard has a special talent for getting the best out of youngsters!

Dave studied Sports Science prior to training in Physiotherapy and specialised in Sports Biomechanics. He completed his Masters degree in Advanced Physiotherapy (MSc MACP) in 2013 and has over 12 years experience.

He previously worked in the NHS as an Orthopaedic Practitioner alongside Consultants in the diagnosis and management of musculoskeletal and orthopaedic conditions, and continues working as a Physiotherapy Practitioner in the NHS. Dave has excellent manual therapy skills and is acupuncture and Pilates trained.

He is passionate about rehabilitation of sports injuries and has a special interest in treating golfers and runners. He is a Titleist accredited Golf physiotherapist and offers High Speed Video running gait analysis as part of Physio on the River’s newly developing Running Clinic. He is keen on sports specific strength & conditioning and firmly believes in treating to prevent injuries rather than stopping at the short-term fix!

In his spare time he enjoys circuit training and when he’s not running around after his two little girls at home he tries to reduce his golf handicap!

Ruth started her career as a contemporary dancer for 15 years in the UK and abroad. She has always been fascinated with the human body and having had an injury which was helped by massage she started to explore this as a career.

Ruth is a qualified Sports and Hollistic Massage Therapist gaining her ITEC level 3 & 4 qualification from St Mary’s University College.

She is also a Yoga teacher and fitness instructor. Ruth has also volunteered as a Massage Therapist for the London Marathon.

In her spare time she enjoys practising Yoga and enjoying the Arts.

Ruth is available on Fridays from 8 am – 12 noon and Saturday mornings from 8.30 am – 12.30 pm.

Rachel has a BTEC Level 5 Diploma is Sports and Remedial Massage and is a member of the Association of Soft Tissue Therapists (SMA).

During her treatments Rachel uses advanced massage and remedial techniques to create a bespoke treatment plan designed for you and your body; she believes that sports massage can benefit everyone, not just the athletes amongst us.

Her aim for each session is to use massage for ongoing performance benefits through addressing the cause of any neuromuscular pain, correcting imbalances and removing any restrictions or adhesions.

She has volunteered to do charity post event massage at several large events, such as London and Brighton Marathons, London Triathlon and Prudential RideLondon.

Rachel’s passion for sports massage stems from her personal experience of receiving regular treatments as part of her own recovery plan when she was training for endurance events.  Her first-hand experience gives her valuable insight into the stresses and strains associated with training for sporting events.

She now advocates routine maintenance treatments forming an integral part of any training plan, or even to have a routine “MOT”.

Rachel enjoys challenging herself through endurance events and has cycled across America and completed LEJOG Lands End to John O’Groats!).  However more recently she has become more of a runner and is a bit of a self-confessed “have-a-go” triathlete.

Sharon graduated from Roehampton University with a first class honours degree in Nutrition and Health and is a registered Associate Nutritionist (ANutr) with the Association for Nutrition (AfN).

Her approach is to provide easy to understand nutritional advice following the latest scientific based evidence to help individuals meet their health and nutrition goals – no fuss, no fads.

She offers individual consultations and can provide advice on the following areas:

• Advice on healthy eating to optimise your diet
• Weight loss
• Gut health and digestive issues – supporting your gut microbiota
• Nutritional needs for the family – babies, teenagers, vegans, vegetarians
• Basic sports nutrition

Sharon also works as a Research Assistant at Roehampton University and also as an occasional Visiting Lecturer. She provides evidence-based writing and content for blogs, Instagram posts and magazine articles. Clients have included the Surrey Dietitian’s blog on topics such as ‘How to eat well for busy lives’, and ‘How to eat well with a chronic illness’.

Victoria has a background in ballet and Latin dance styles and has been practising Pilates herself for over 20 years. After her initial scepticism, the penny dropped and she became hooked on the method! Pilates has been her passion ever since and in 2004 she qualified as a Pilates instructor with the Body Control Pilates Association. She continues to develop her teaching skills and her own body awareness by regularly attending classes, training courses and workshops that progress her knowledge of movement theory and practice and keep her up to date with the latest industry developments. Victoria applies her teaching skills to reformer and matwork pilates classes both privately and in boutique studios around London. Pilates workouts with fresh variations are what you should expect from her classes.

Victoria finds the communication with the physiotherapists at Physio on the River is an added advantage to her Pilates teaching. She finds Pilates to be the very best way to find balance and strength in her own body and hopes to pass on to others her experience of the many benefits that Pilates can offer.

Kamila came from the Czech Republic to the UK in 2001. She was always very sporty but suffered a knee injury on a skiing holiday which meant she couldn’t play sport as she had previously enjoyed. So she joined a Pilates Class and was amazed at how much it helped her with her recovery.

She fell in love with the Pilates method of exercise and so explored the possibility of becoming an instructor herself. In 2010 I finally decided to join the BASI teacher training program with Amit Younger.

Kamila is passionate about teaching Pilates and believes it will change your body and mind. Her classes are mat based and designed to suit each individual and to accomodate any physical condition using appropriate modifications.

Kamila has also trained in pre and postnatal Pilates.

Sophie has been teaching for over 20 years – a variety of  ballet, dance fitness, Modern, Jazz and Tap dancing classes as well as being involved in Musical theatre and personal dance training for children and adults.

Sophie is qualified with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance. She is also qualified as an ETM Level 2 teacher for group fitness. Furthermore she undergoing her Level 3 personal training course and in Booty Barre.

So with this wide background she is perfectly suited to teach our new Dance, Tone and Stretch class. This is a fusion of classical ballet exercises with modern fitness concepts and Pilates exercise to improve posture, balance and core strength whilst lengthening and stretching the entire body! And what’s more it’s all set to music!

Maite is a Pilates teacher, Movement Educator and Birth Recovery Specialist.

All her classes focus on myofascial release work(releasing tension in the soft tissues), movement education alongside classical and evolved Pilates.

Maite danced and enjoyed a huge range of sports from a young age which led to a great interest in the human body and movement She studied biomechanics and ‘natural movement’ alongside her classical Pilates teacher training.

As well as teaching and running her own business she works as a Group Exercise Manager for the Riverside Club in Chiswick.

Maite loves teaching and always encourages her clients to feel confident to create more movement on and off the mat.