To whom it may concern:

I would like to wholeheartedly endorse Rowan Ellis and the Rowan Ellis Method.

I have competed in endurance events for most of my life. From track racing in my teens to Ironman Triathlon racing in my 20's and 30's (6th overall in the Professional World Triathlon series in 1991, numerous wins and placing around the world from 1989 to 1994) along with road and mountain bike racing in this period as well before more recently concentrating on Adventure racing in New Zealand, Australia, Brazil and USA with a no. of team wins and placings here as well.

The end result of all this moving forward in a straight line over the years has been a body with very strong quadriceps and calf muscles but very weak gluteus and hamstring muscles, very strong pectorals but very weak deltoid muscles. In other words, I was very strong anteriorly in my body but very weak posteriorly. This has meant over the years continual Achilles and calf problems, a stride length in running that has been getting shorter and shorter along with no explosive power when jumping over fences, etc. Basically, as Arthur Lydiard used to say, for the last few years I have been "running with my ass in a bucket" and hadn't been able to do anything about it.

For the last 6 months Rowan Ellis has had me on the Rowan Ellis Method programme. The end result of Rowan's programme is that I now have a strength ratio of approximately 1: 0.7 between my Quads and Hamstrings but more importantly I am able to run well balanced again at speed and have not been injured at all in the last two months. I now don't have any back problems and am swimming technically better than I have for years.

Hello again, it's now June 2010 and I wrote the above reference for Rowan in the early 2000's. I'm pleased to say that at 50 years young my actual body is still going strong with no significant injuries at all in the previous 8 or 9 years. I would have averaged a minimum of 10 -20 hours a week of off road running, road & mountain biking, swimming and kayaking and gym work over this period. The main constant over these years as been my adherence to Rowans programme along with regular "rehab" massages from Rowan.

Recently Body Synergy has purchased a 16 channel Electromyography (EMG) machine and Rowan put me through my paces on this. The fascinating thing about this machine is that you are able to build up a profile of the best exercises for you to improve your body for your chosen sport. In a nutshell the Body Synergy team are able to to look at your body's response to various exercises and see what works and what doesn't for you. You may well find that exercises that you've done for years (in my case press ups) are totally useless for you (they still make me feel good even if my  deltoids are already overdeveloped!).

Finally, I should also mention that I'm now 6 months into recovery from major open heart surgery (to fix a leaking mitral valve (> 50% leakage). Again I have to thank Rowan for helping me get back towards being able to breathe normally during exercise. He has worked regularly on my ribcage, spine, shoulders and neck to the point where my lung capacity is probably back to 60-70% of what it was pre-operation. Note that the "iron cage" that surrounded my lungs was NOT something that my heart surgeon warned me about. The standard heart patient is often over weight and has been a smoker and typically will have lived a fairly sedentary lifestyle.  They most definitely aren't trying to run uphills, tumble turn in the pool or skin uphill at Coronet Peak!

Thanks again Rowan for all that you and Kylie have done for me and as well as for being such great people as well as great friends. I can honestly say that the two of you do more towards helping people to make the most out of their lives than just about any one else that I know.

Regards

John Knight

BSc (Hons) Chemistry, PhD (Physical Chemistry), ME (Electronic & Electrical) Canterbury

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