RunStars have linked up with Performance Team physiotherapists, Mark Buckingham and Matt Bergin to provide remote physiotherapy services to our athletes. Many of our coaches have had career long personal relationships with Mark and Matt whilst competing so we can now offer a very joined-up, personalised service to keep our athletes up and running.

Matt balances his work as a top class physiotherapist, working alongside Mark in their practice in Northampton, with an international running career.

As an elite runner and regularly needing his own physiotherapy, Matt is well aware of the impact injuries can have, not only on the careers of elite athletes, but also on recreational runners looking to stay fit and healthy. Qualified to Masters level, he has juggled treating musculoskeletal injuries and issues in the NHS with a promising 3km and 5km running career, which has seen him finish 10th at the 2017 World University Games following a junior career which hit the heights of becoming 2012 Junior Mens Diamond League 3,000m Champion.

Matt is excellent at diagnostics. He always looks beyond the presenting symptom or injury to discover the root cause through looking at compensatory mechanisms, strength and flexibility issues. Manual therapy techniques to improve the local tissue changes, combined with detailed analysis of the weaknesses and stiffnesses, are the basis of Matt’s treatment methodology. This is the same for an athlete as it is for the rest of his patients. Treat the symptom and look for the cause. Matt will then look further at the causes of these imbalances, whether that is work practice, running style / gait pattern or training loads.

Matt is well aware of the impact injuries can have, not only on the careers of elite athletes, but also on recreational runners looking to stay fit and healthy