Dubai: The UAE can become a hub for sports medicine thanks to the opening of a new facility designed to prolong the careers of athletes, according to Chelsea and England legend Frank Lampard.
The former midfielder opened the nanoM sports health assessment clinic in Golden Mile Galleria on Palm Jumeirah on Monday.
The 17,000 square foot facility, which is part of the Emirates Healthcare Group, houses all the latest equipment to analyse health, fitness, functionality, and performance capabilities of visiting athletes.
Designed and developed by orthopaedic consultant Dr Bikram Singh, who has treated injuries from sports men and women from around the world, including Premier League footballers, the facility looks to heal, detect, flag potential issues that may arise, and ultimately prolong the careers of stars.
“I think positioning-wise this is great, it’s very easy to get to and from Europe and all parts of the world, and conditioning and weather is conducive to teams and individuals to come here,” said Lampard, who won three Premier League and one Champions League title over 13 years at Chelsea from 2001 to 2014.
“I’ve seen certain parts of this technology around at clubs that I’ve been at over my career, but not all under one roof with all the expertise and staff to go with it,” he said in reference to walk-in MRI scanners, biometrics equipment, gait and motion analysis. There is also ECG cardiovascular monitoring, and even provision for hearing, sight and oral care, as well as X-ray and ultrasound.
“As a young player I didn’t have that, and the whole point and vision of this is for clubs, athletes or regular people who have an issue, to come here and try to prevent potential issues that may arise when playing sport day in day out.”
Lampard retired last year at the age of 38, and was known to be ever-present and injury-free making him an ideal ambassador for nanoM. How did he achieve that?
“It was a mixture of hard work not just with the teams I was with but also individually,” he said. “I tried to work on certain aspects of fitness outside of training, that helps, and the balance of that is rest and how you live your life. I tried to pick up tips on nutrition. Rest is also imperative when working so hard and playing so many games. On top of that throw in luck because, in top level sport, injuries can come at any time. Touch wood — well, I don’t need to now because I’m retired — but I was fortunate with that.”
