Webinar title:

Merging Pain Science and Exercise Rehab in an athlete with persisting pain. Looking at the same patient with two lenses. 

Outline:

The pain lens: Graded sensorimotor retraining has been demonstrated to produce long-lasting and clinically meaningful improvements in pain and disability when compared to a credible sham in a cohort of people with persistent low back pain. However, resources that guide clinicians in the delivery of this highly promising treatment are scarce. Furthermore, there are no examples in the literature demonstrating its application for other pain conditions. In this engaging webinar, Dr Merv Travers PhD This webinar will outline the integration of graded sensorimotor retraining as part of a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for an elite football player with persistent Achilles tendinopathy.

This interactive session will use videos of a real patient to illustrate the key practical skills in both assessment and treatment. There will be a particular focus on region-specific modifications of graded sensorimotor retraining for patients with Achilles tendinopathy. The case-study will open discussion of clinical reasoning and real-world clinical decisions and give participants an insight into content from Merv's Pain Unstuck course. 

The exercise rehabilitation lens: The restoration of strength is a critical component of rehabilitation for this case study patient. Traditionally, strength testing in clinical settings for Achilles tendinopathy has been limited to simple tests like the calf raise endurance test. Recently, force-plates and other technologies are becoming common in physiotherapy practices. Many clinicians are using devices these devices, but are unsure of what tests to choose, what the results mean and how the findings should direct their rehab. Leaning on content form his S&C for Physiotherapists course, Merv will outline a comprehensive overall strength profile for this patient to illustrate key practical skills in strength testing, interpretation of findings and targeted exercise prescription for rehabilitation.

Kennari: Peter Malliars

Dagsetning: 22. - 23. maí 2026

Tímasetning: Auglýst síðar

Staðsetning: Stígandi sjúkraþjálfun, Bíldshöfða 9

Peter Malliaras is a physiotherapist and researcher from Melbourne, Australia focusing on the problem of tendinopathy. He is the first ranked tendinopathy expert globally according to the website ExpertScape. Appointed Professor of Physiotherapy Research in 2022 at Monash University (Australia), his research focuses on understanding pain and neuromuscular impairments, and clinical trials testing the efficacy of exercise, education and other interventions in tendinopathy. Peter maintains a strong clinical focus, consulting to elite athletes and people with persistent tendinopathy presentations in Australia and internationally.

Practical frameworks and practical strategies is a comprehensive online course launched in 2024 that provides a structured, evidence-informed approach to the management of lower limb tendinopathy. Rather than isolated techniques or protocols, the course presents an integrated system of clinical frameworks that can be applied directly in everyday practice.

The course covers a series of core frameworks, including:

• Diagnostic decision-making
• Assessment and screening
• Strength assessment
• Load management
• Rehabilitation planning
• Stretch–shorten cycle training
• Outcome measurement
• Designed for clinicians across all levels of experience, this course is suitable for new graduates through to highly experienced practitioners working in private practice, hospital settings, or elite sport. Prof Peter Malliaras delivers practical, adaptable frameworks that go beyond standard CPD content, providing clear structure, clinical reasoning tools, and actionable strategies you can use immediately with patients.
• Learning outcomes
• Describe the structure, function and adaptation of healthy tendon
• Describe the stretch shorten the cycle and its functional role in energy storage tendons
• Define tendon ‘stiffness' and how this relates to tendon function
• Compare the key parameters for tendon versus muscle adaptation
• Describe key tissue, psychological, biomechanical, metabolic, hormonal and neuromuscular impairments in tendinopathy
• Describe and demonstrate effective diagnosis and assessment for lower limb tendinopathy.
• Construct an individualised management plan that includes consideration of key screening and assessment findings
• Describe and justify a rehabilitation framework for common lower limb tendinopathies which includes consideration of muscle strength and power development and tendon adaptation
• Develop a strategy for effective deliver of individualised education for people with tendinopathy
• Plan and implement an individualised stretch-shorten cycle rehabilitation progressions for people with lower limb tendinopathy returning to walking, running and various sports
• Compare and contrast evidence for common adjunct therapies, as well as medicine, injectable and surgical treatments

Kennari: Mervyn Travers

Dagsetning: 24.-26. september

Tímasetning: 9-17

Staðsetning: Auglýst síðar

Course overview

This 3-day course teaches fundamental skills in prescribing gym-based strength exercise programmes. A mixture of practical and theory sessions combine to give participants the confidence and competence to deliver effective rehabilitation, injury prevention and general strength programmes. Based on the most up to date research and practice, participants will learn how to effectively prescribe key lower limb strength exercises to their patients, how to match the intensity of the exercise to the capacity of the individual and how to create structured and progressive programmes. The key take home messages can be readily applied to clinical practice in a variety of settings.

Participants will learn to:

• Demystify the gym & make patients feel safe
• Coach broad repertoire of lower limb exercises
• Tailor intensity, volume, rest and training frequency of resistance exercise for your patients
• Construct safe, effective & time-efficient gym-based rehab programmes
• Prescribe effective & safe gym programmes for older people
• Utilise the minimum effective dose & maintenance dosages to maintain progress when patients are time pressured

Dr Merv Travers PhD. 

Merv is a Senior Research Scholar working in the area of low back pain, tendon pain and exercise rehabilitation at the School of Physiotherapy, The University of Notre Dame Australia.

Merv lectures in the Advanced Anatomy & Pathology, Applied Clinical Sports Science and Sport Rehabilitation units in the Musculoskeletal and Sports Physiotherapy Masters programmes at Curtin University, Australia. He also lectures on merging exercise and pain science in the Physiotherapy Masters programme at Aalborg University, Denmark, as well as other international engagements. 

He completed his PhD at Curtin University where he also maintains an Adjunct Research Fellow role. He has a Masters of Manipulative Therapy and is a qualified strength & conditioning coach (Australian Strength and Conditioning Association – Level 2).

Mervyn’s clinical background includes working in professional rugby union and he provides clinical consultation for complex musculoskeletal conditions at Star Physio.

Kennari: Mervyn Travers

Dagsetning: 25.-27. september

Tímasetning: 9-17

Staðsetning: Auglýst síðar

Course overview

Pain Unstuck takes a fresh look at pain and exercise rehab through the lens of active inference.   Active inference flips our understanding of how the nervous system operates and provides a potential explanatory framework to guide your clinical practice.

This 2 day course takes participants on a journey to consider pain as a deeply personal, conscious experience. This means pain doesn’t live in the tissues, nor in the brain. Rather, pain sits somewhere in between, emerging from the delicate dance between sensory information and your unconscious predictions.

Using case studies of real patients, participants will learn how to help their patients understand that it is safe to move, feel that it is safe to move, experience safe movement and repeatedly move with confidence. 

What will I learn?

• Screening for increased risk of serious structural pathology
• Screening for increased risk of neuropathic pain
• Understanding the evidence for exercise as a treatment for persisting pain
• Planning a comprehensive exercise rehabilitation programme for persons with persisting pain 
• Retraining the sensorimotor system through sensory precision training, implicit and explicit pre-motor training, and feedback-enriched and goal oriented movement. 
• Extending your subjective examination to incorporate the person and their wider world
• Experimenting with movement as a form of learning 
• Aligning existing treatments (e.g. manual therapy, taping, etc) with this active inference perspective of pain

Dr Merv Travers PhD. 

Merv is a Senior Research Scholar working in the area of low back pain, tendon pain and exercise rehabilitation at the School of Physiotherapy, The University of Notre Dame Australia.

Merv lectures in the Advanced Anatomy & Pathology, Applied Clinical Sports Science and Sport Rehabilitation units in the Musculoskeletal and Sports Physiotherapy Masters programmes at Curtin University, Australia. He also lectures on merging exercise and pain science in the Physiotherapy Masters programme at Aalborg University, Denmark, as well as other international engagements. 

He completed his PhD at Curtin University where he also maintains an Adjunct Research Fellow role. He has a Masters of Manipulative Therapy and is a qualified strength & conditioning coach (Australian Strength and Conditioning Association – Level 2).

Mervyn’s clinical background includes working in professional rugby union and he provides clinical consultation for complex musculoskeletal conditions at Star Physio.