With furthered growth of the practice we now welcome Owen McElhinney, the 4th full time Physiotherapist to Belfast Sports and Spinal.

Owen qualified as aPhysiotherapist in July 2022 with a degree from the Hanze Hogeschool, Groningen. During his studies, Owen gained experience in neurorehabilitation, cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal physiotherapy, before specialising in sports rehabilitation.

After returning to Belfast from the Netherlands, Owen pursued an MSc in Sports and Exercise Medicine at Ulster University, alongside working in private physiotherapy, graduating with distinction in December 2024.

Owen works with a diverse range of patients, specializing in sports injuries. He is passionate about helping individuals regain their ability to enjoy their favourite activities and sports through personalized, movement-focused rehabilitation plans that incorporate patient-specific strength and conditioning principles.

In his spare time, Owen plays field hockey professionally in Hamburg, Germany and has a history of international and elite-level domestic experience.

SSC digital conference on “Return to Play in Elite Sport”. 2 very full days of the highest quality lectures and presentations beamed live from the SSC. So much leanred over these 2 days to bring to the table in our daily practice!

Sessions included:

Knee

Spinal

Foot and ankle

Shoudler and elbow

Athletic hip and groin

Soft tissue management.

Evening lecture covering Blood Flow Restriction training current applications and research drivin protocols. Also covered chronic concussion assessment and treatment principles..

Seminar covering Sports Performance Nutrition. Not necessarily a Physiotherapy remit but great to keep up with what’s going on in other associated fields.

2 day conference covering various aspects of hip, groin and pelvic based injuries including assessment, diagnosis and current treatment principles.

1 day conference covering various aspects of running based injuries including assessment, diagnosis and current treatment principles.

Evening lecture covering aspects of hip and groin assessment and treatment principles as well as information on pelvic health.

Having not learnt his lesson the first time in Vichy, Peter takes on the first ever Ironman event in Ireland. Youghal Cork was a fantastic host, shame the weather was epic to say the least.

1 day course delivering a masterclass in Tendinopathy assessment, diagnosis and current treatment principles. Expertly taught by world reknowned Peter Malliaris.

In training for Cork Ironman, Peter takes on the new Belfast Marathon Course. It’s a fantastic new route although still remains challenging. The Belfast support where as fantastic as always.

Evening lecture presenting current thinking on Spinal injury treatment and current Orthopaedic management.

Down to see Sean at www.bicyclecoffeeshop.com to get the TT fitting for the up coming Ironman Cork

Peter takes on his second World Marathon Major, his time in the fantastic city of Berlin. Kipchoge setting a new world marathon record the same day in 2:02.

1 day conference presenting current thinking on Orthopaedic injury treatment and current NHS management.

1 day conference presenting current thinking on Spinal injury treatment and current Orthopaedic management.

“Optimal Loading in Sport”. 2 day conference presenting current thinking on Sports injuries treatment and rehab progression

After completing the Dublin Ironman 70.3 in August last year, the next challenge was to attempt a full Ironman, so with 1 years training under his belt Peter completed the Vichy Ironman on the 27.08.2017. The 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile cycle and 26.2 mile run being as challenging as it was amazing…Not for the faint hearted (or sane of mind)
https://vimeo.com/232004183

In training for the France Ironman Peter undertook and completed the Gran Fondo Mourne Course. 174km with approx 8000ft of elevation climbed. A hard enough day in the saddle to be honest!

2 Day course led by Dr Phil Glasgow, World reknowned Physiotherapist. Dealing with assessment and treatment of Lower back pain with an emphais on the sports person

After 13 months of hard training Peter finally suited up for his hardest challenge to date and completed the Dublin “Ironman 70.3” in 5 hours and 34 minutes.
The 1.2 mile sea swim, 56 mile cycle and 13.1 mile run proving to be every bit the challenge it sounds but definitely a day to remember and not forget.

Like all good things in life every once in a while, it deserves an upgrade and Belfast Sports and Spinal is no different.
We have now moved to new premises on the Ormeau Road giving us 4 large stand-alone treatment rooms and a large rehabilitation space where we will be running Pilates and Yoga from in the near future. It also benefits from significant parking on site and in the near vacity and has full disabled access throughout the building. For some pictures please clck on our “Instagram” page.
Needless to say, we will still be providing the same expert level of care just now in much larger and better facility.
Many thanks for your continued support and we hope we don’t need to see you but if we do, we hope you will feel at home in our new premises.

Peter completes the second of the 2 marthons in 8 days in 3:26. The wind blew him about a bit but at least the great people of Belfast were out in force providing their usual fantastic support to all those taking part.

Peter compeletes his first of 2 marathons, 1 week apart in the epic event that is the London Marathon. He also undertook raising over £2000 for the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice in doing so.

Course providing new innovations in the rehabiliation of ACL reconstrucion surgery and how to best faciliate return to sport and full function

Both Peter and Barney complete the Dublin Marathon. Barney completing his first full in just over 4 hours and Peter taking 10 mninutes of his PB in a time of 3:23.

Course provided by our friends at Northern MRI on advice on how to read and interpret an MRI result.

Both Peter and Barney take to the streets again for the Belfast 1/2 Marathon in prep for the Dublin full marathon next month

In order to get a fuller understanding of plyometric, resistance training and weight lifting principles and technique, Peter undertook the foundation UK Strength and Conditioning course in SINI.

The Belfast Sports and Spinal “YouTube” channel goes live to show you in live action the exercises prescribed to you in the clinic.

Peter attends a course entitled “Robustness in Running” by world renowned runnig and sprint couch Frans Bosch. Looking at running technique and biomechanics to assess for areas of weakness and how to establish a better running gait.

Bitten by the Marathon Bug Peter starts this year off with running the Paris Marathon. A fantastic marathon for any of those looking a great European run! Great route, great support, fantastically well organised, all round crackin marathon!!!

On the sunniest day in September we took part in the hardest but most stunning run you could imagine, The Causeway Coast Marathon running from Portballintrae to Ballintoy and back over some of the most angulating and arduous terrain Ireland has to offer. Fantastically organised by 26 Extreme.

Peter takes part in the first Belfast 1/2 Marathon and records a PB of 1:35. Great event as always.

For some reason Peter thought that it would be a good idea to run 2 marathons is quick succession. So back on the roads again after taking a week off post Barcelona, he built his training back up again and completed Belfast marathon 6 weeks later in a PB of 3:33. In doing so he managed to raise nearly £1500 for the Belfast Royal Victoria Neonatal Unit.

After missing out on Dublin marathon in 2012 Peter decided to run 2 marathons in 7 weeks in 2013 to catch up. He completed his first in Barcelona on the 17th of March.

After years of thinking about it Peter finally got himself organised and managed to run his first Dublin marathon over Halloween, a scary thought! In doing so he also managed to raise £1066 for the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice and would like to thank everybody who generously supported him.

The Association of Orthopaedic Chartered Physiotherapists (AOCP) national conference.

Update on new developments in the care and treatment techniques of orthopaedics and fractures to give the staff at Belfast Sports and Spinal accurate, up to date knowledge of what is happening at NHS and Private Practice level regading fracture care and first line fracture treatment.

First aid training and manual handling update undertaken with “Revive Healthcare Training”.

Peter has just attended and completed a 2 day course intensive course on assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of the golfing athlete.

A course designed to fully assess anybody at any level of golf to establish areas of existing or potential weakness and therefore establish a treatment programme to address current problems and prevent new ones from occurring. Essential in improving your golf swing and technique and keep you playing for longer injury free.

Further details can be found at :

www.thegolfathlete.com

After 3 years of planning, Belfast Sports and Spinal opens its doors on the 6th of April, 2009