| Bio: |
I was a personal trainer some 17 years ago now. Then I went into GP exercise referral, which was very rewarding indeed. However I became disillusioned with the fitness industry. Too many egos (like mine, haha) and not enough quality care or compassion for those who really need it most, like the injured, the obese, the mis-informed.
So I decided (after encouragement from my chiropractic mentor and friend) to go back to uni as a mature student, studying the (now mainstream) 'complementary' therapy of chiropractic.
I learnt SO MUCH about the body (and a bit about the mind) during my 4 years there, that I realised just how pathetic my own level of knowledge had been as a personal trainer. I began to see that the more one learns about the body, from the biochemical level to the holistic level, the more there is to learn. Life should be about a never ending journey to self-awareness and wisdom, and I can never see myself stopping learning about the human organism.
After graduation, I opened my own small clinic and continued to diversify my skills with various courses all chosen to augment my developing clinical skills. From talking with practitioners from other professions, it became apparent that there is no single 'best' profession for getting people well or healthy or at their optimum performance level.
Every single profession has holes in their philosophy or approach and there seems to be little crosstalk across the professions, sadly. This sometimes results in patients who don't achieve the level of health that they are entitled to as human beings, living in modern society.
So my 'philosophy' is to assimilate and utilise the best aspects of as many different professions and therapies as I can, for the ultimate benefit of my patients.
I work from the inside out, starting with nutrition (preferably an elimination-type diet to cut out irritants), supplementation, biomechanical assessment and correction, spinal adjustment and any specific points or areas of injury or weakness.
I am very aware of the effects of our naturally occuring hormones on health and body composition and seek to normalise the patient back towards homeostasis. Cortisol can ruin a physique in short order and in the long term, can cause a multitude of different health sequelae. Insulin over-secretion or chronic elevation can lead us down the path of insulin resistance, again resulting in some pretty nasty health issues. Fortunately, these two hormones are relatively easy to modulate and control, through use of nutrient timing and/or supplementation.
I do all this because I love it. I'm lucky enough to never do a days' 'work' because to me it is not work, but an interesting way to meet and help different people from all sorts of backgrounds.
Yours in health and performance,
Alex Hilton |
