FITNESS
HELPING YOU GET BACK OUT THERE Wellness Warehouse co-founder and medical doctor Dr Sean Gomes and chiropractor Dr Jesse Bruins Roberts have launched an innovative new brand and product called ZLAANT. Dr Sean Gomes
Dr Jesse Bruins Roberts
The two are passionate about helping people stay active and ‘get back out there’, and have drawn from their collective experience and expertise to create a community of outdoor enthusiasts and a sustainable, ecoconscious business that promotes consistent efforts to keep your body functioning at its peak.
HOW IT STARTED
Co-Founder Dr Bruins Roberts completed a three-year post-graduate programme in sport chiropractic, during which he spent a significant amount of time at Elana Meyer’s Endurocad, a running academy for underprivileged runners in Stellenbosch. He also looked after the Zimbabwean national rugby squad when they toured South Africa, and currently works as a chiropractor for Hamiltons Rugby Team. It was during his time at the running academy that he noticed the same injuries that kept resurfacing amongst the runners, five of the most common being:
*Runner’s knees *Achilles tendonitis *Shin splints *ITB syndrome (Iliotibial band friction) *Plantar fasciitis (heel pain under the
foot)
While the above are the consequences of repetitive strain injuries, Dr Bruins Roberts also encountered more acute injuries such as ankle sprains – and wanted to create a simple product that could help to prevent both kinds of injuries through consistent daily exercise. At around the same time, Dr Gomes was training for his second Ironman triathlon whilst battling with a severe range of repetitive strain injuries, specifically 46 \\ W W W. W E L L N E S S W A R E H O U S E . C O M
runner’s knees. Although he was familiar with the condition and the required treatment, he found it difficult to recover from the injury. He reached out to his nephew, Dr Bruins Roberts, who found research on a specific angle decline slant board that could assist with shock absorption and lengthening of the tendon. Together, they developed the ZLAANTBOARD to treat and prevent common overuse injuries caused by activities like running and cycling.
ZLAANT’S VISION & MISSION
The majority of people suffering from common running injuries keep injuring themselves over and over again. Dr Gomes and Dr Bruins Roberts identified that these injury recurrences are mainly due to the fact that most people don’t stick to their rehabilitation programmes or practise prevention. There are plenty of products, tools and support systems for healthy and active people, but when we get injured, we’re often left out on a limb (excuse the pun). ZLAANT was inspired by the lack of support for injured people, and the team wanted to create something that would be easy to use and that could act as a visual reminder to do strengthening exercises on a regular and consistent basis in order to recover from and prevent injuries.
Many people take a couch-to-marathon approach without first establishing a foundational level of strength, stability, mobility, balance and proprioception. ZLAANT asserts that by working on all of these elements in combination each day, you’re much more likely to prevent hurting yourself when attempting to get active.
While plenty of benefits can be gained from things like yoga, fitness classes and personal trainers, ZLAANT’s specific aim is to create simple and easy-to-use tools that can be used daily and in the convenience of the home. ZLAANT has brought together a community of healthcare practitioners, athletes and other ‘ZLAANTERS’ to serve as a support system by sharing useful information and material to help you through your journey of recovery from repetitive strain injury. Theirs is a movement to get people to be active and do the things they enjoy in a pain-free and injury-free way. They want to help keep you out there 100% of the time, and not just to go from 0 to 100 and then back to 0.
ZLAANT’s mission is to protect the longevity of your active lifestyle by finding the most effective ways for you to recover from and prevent common sports injuries so you can perform at your best. Based on research and their own struggles with repetitive strains, the ZLAANT team discovered the three pillars to sports injury recovery, around which the product and movement are built: 1. Patience – results take time 2. Consistency – keep going 3. Quality of movement – do it the right way
