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Thought Armo was going to be a star of the competition in 2016 after tearing apart 2015.
This article goes a long way to explaining his decline last season.
Great news that he feels good this pre-season.
This article goes a long way to explaining his decline last season.
Great news that he feels good this pre-season.
David Armitage reveals he barely trained in 2016 because of back pain
LAUREN WOOD, Herald Sun
March 12, 2017 9:00am
Subscriber only
DAVID Armitage endured almost two years of mystery.
It turns out he is double his 28 years on the inside, revealing he was recently told he had a back that was weaker than that of “a 50 to 70-year-old man”.
But the injury that has plagued the Saints star — and the various treatment methods that went with it — may now be a thing of the past, having thrown himself into a non-invasive treatment program that has him feeling better than ever.
The Saint traces the injury back to a Queenstown training camp at the end of 2014.
No, there was no bungee jumping or jet boats involved.
While he’s managed to lace up and play almost every game since, the battle behind the scenes was taking a toll.
“We just didn’t really know what was wrong or what the actual diagnosis was,” Armitage says.
“We tried a few things — facet joint injections (of anaesthetic), epidurals (and cortisone) to try to find the spot … it would work (in the short term) and then it would come back.
“I remember one training session — I was in really good nick in the pre-season before 2015 — and then all of a sudden it started playing up on me and I was getting spasms and I couldn’t walk for a couple of days. It wasn’t great.
“I got through the year — had a pretty good 2015 because I’d done the majority of work in the pre-season anyway — and then it came back in the pre-season the year after in early 2016. Literally the third day back it started spasming and stuff again.”
Last year’s pre-season was basically non-existent.
Out on the “back oval” at the club’s Seaford training base, Armitage endured months of solo training and periods where slow running was all he was allowed.
Away from the club, he couldn’t do much.
He played every game last season, but knew there had to be another option.
He saw a surgeon, who couldn’t find an issue. A few degenerative discs, typical of an elite athlete his age, but nothing else. Certainly no surgery required.
Enter the Kieser program — physiotherapy, rehabilitation and strength training — that has renewed Armitage’s faith in his body.
He is one of the more experienced players at Seaford with 150 games under his belt, but being told his body reflected veteran status was a whole other story.
“We had to explore other options and that’s when a few guys at the club hinted that there was a Kieser program that a lot of older people do to strengthen their joints,” the midfielder says.
“I started at the start of pre-season going three times a week and I was put in the bracket of ‘a very old man’.
“I was told that 50 to 70-year-olds have stronger backs than me. That was a little bit of an eye-opener.
“I’ve been doing (the program) since the start of October. Now, I’m a lot stronger and it’s been able to let me do every session this year. I still have my ups and downs where it still gets quite sore and stiff, but I’ve certainly built up my strength in my lower back to be able to do leg weights and do a full pre-season.
“It’s worked wonders for me so far. I obviously haven’t played a game yet for the official season, but it’s felt so much better.”
After Sunday night’s clash against Sydney in Albury, attention officially turns to the season proper.
The Saints have a new leadership group — led by new skipper Jarryn Geary — at the helm, including Armitage, and he says he has been impressed by the change in the group in the short time since it was appointed.
“It’s let (new leaders) Seb Ross, Dyl Roberton, Josh Bruce and even Jack Newnes and Jack Steven certainly have a lot more to say,” Armitage says.
It’s not just the young players who are champing at the bit to get cracking, with Armitage admitting that his new lease on life extends from his back to his brain.
“When you’re in a good head space, you generally play a lot better footy. Having that frustration of last year saw me not have the best year,” he explains.
“You hear it all the time that it’s a game 90 per cent above the head and you’ve certainly got to be in a good frame of mind to play good footy. This year I’m certainly just as enthused as the young boys are, for sure.”
