My love of sport, adventure, and nature has resulted in my life revolving around exercise. I have witnessed the benefit of living a healthy life through exercise for myself and for the people I encounter daily. It is my goal to help anyone – my family, friends, clients, teammates, school learners, young and old – to achieve physical and mental wellbeing. 

My love of sport, adventure, and nature has resulted in my life revolving around exercise. I have witnessed the benefit of living a healthy life through exercise for myself and for the people I encounter daily. It is my goal to help anyone – my family, friends, clients, teammates, school learners, young and old – to achieve physical and mental wellbeing.

Brink Eksteen

“A healthy body houses a healthy mind.”

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WHAT HAVE I DONE SO FAR IN MY LIFE?

During high school I received academic honours, and played 1st team rugby. My main sport though was gymnastics, which I excelled in on a provincial and national level. I also coached and judged competitions.


After school I became a qualified biokineticist which is the perfect career for me, combining exercise and medicine. I completed my internship at UPE while practicing at a new sports medicine clinic in Greenacres and have since been a registered member of the Biokinetics Association of South Africa (BASA). I was then offered the position of Senior Biokineticist and Manager of NMMU Biokinetics and Sport Science Centre. Duties included overseeing one full time biokineticist and one full time sports scientist as well as training interns and training and lecturing postgraduate students in sports injuries & evaluation, rehabilitation protocols & procedures. It was also required to establish and manage various satellite practices and projects. Additionally I hosted regular talks, presentations and meetings with allied professionals.

 

Then I became the Research, Development, Education and Training Manager for Power Plate SA. During that time, I had the privilege of working with professional sports teams like the Springboks, Sharks & Stormers as well as celebrities such as Michael Mol, Danny K, Joost van der Westhuizen and Raynard Tissink. 

 

In 2009 I established Race of Faith Sports Ministry and ran this for 10 years. I completed 8 Ironman races, 4 Half Ironman races and trained a team of athletes to take part in Ironman SA. As a team, we completed Ironman SA from 2010 to 2018. I have trained more than 200 people to take part in Ironman SA, Ironman 70.3 SA, as well as other events like road and mountain bike races, road running, and various other sports. This was done through weekly training programmes for each of the team members. The programmes included running, swimming, bike work on the road and gym sessions. A large part was based on practice events, which were mini triathlons. These ½ and ¾ practice triathlons became legendary in and around the Port Elizabeth area with more and more athletes attending regularly.

 

Currently I am the Biokineticist and Conditioning Specialist for Pearson in Port Elizabeth. Here I provide a professional service which is based at the Pearson Health & Fitness Centre. I am responsible for the full spectrum of fitness, conditioning, rehabilitation, and all related services to Pearson learners. I work closely with all the sports coaches, and am proud to be associated with the hockey, water polo, cricket & netball teams being ranked amongst the top in the country.

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WHAT CAN I DO AND WHAT DO I HAVE TO OFFER?

 

I assess and evaluate individuals and teams to compile physical profiles and set up personalized goals. 

I compile detailed long-term periodized training, rehabilitation and intervention programmes to achieve any goal conceivable. 

I run, supervise and monitor training sessions on a one-on-one or group basis and make day-to-day / week-to-week / month-to-month adjustments to ensure effective progress towards achieving specific outcomes. 

I offer interventions in anything from :

  • general fitness and wellness;
  • health improvement through weight and nutrition management;
  • cardiac, chronic disease / orthopedic rehabilitation;
  • endurance sports programmes including triathlon, Ironman, road running, road cycling, mountain biking, swimming;
  • team sports programmes (rugby, hockey, water polo, netball, cricket);
  • gym training (strength, hypertrophy, power) for young and old, students and executives. 

Most often, in my role as trainer / biokineticist / coach, I am as much a mental as well as a physical therapist. This is an important part of achieving goals and so I can relate to my clients well, and quickly form a framework of what makes them tick, what motivates them and what approach will be best to achieve the optimal results for the individual or team. 

I like to use my knowledge and experience combined with my “gut-feel” in every individual situation rather than follow the herd mentality. 
Starting with the basics, the plan evolves by adapting it from day to day according to my client’s response. 
Consistency is the key to success – doing what can be done with the time and resources available, and to get into the habit of exercise. 
Every rep / set / second / session counts – every training session must be hard enough to challenge the body and it is essential to try to make little improvements each day. 
Using good posture and technique, without being overly technical about the execution, must contribute to each exercise being performed comfortably and safely.  
It is important to “Injury proof your body” (IPYB) by doing a range of small exercises all the time to work on weaknesses. 
A combination of variety and consistency during training sessions, while keeping score to measure progress will help improvements from one session to the next.  The principle of periodization to my training programmes ensures specific goals are achieved before the progression to the next. 
Each person needs to “know their numbers” and constantly aim at improving themselves and achieving new levels of performance. Assessments are done regularly to keep a record of clients’ “training numbers”, to provide progress reports with visible feedback.  Exercise must become a habit – one must live a lifestyle of fitness and be as active as possible at home, at work and at play.