an introduction to our 'engage with your health' campaign

Professional sports people make fantastic role models when it comes to looking after their physical and mental well-being. During our time as title sponsor of the Engage Super League we enrolled a number of the players as ambassadors, with the aim of encouraging and educating on the benefits of eating healthily, staying active and generally keeping on top of health and well being. 

Here’s a brief introduction to three of the health ambassadors.

Meet the rest of our team at http://www.engagesl.com/health-home.php where our ambassadors provide hints and tips and general well-being.

body of evidence - research into the rigours of rugby league

Rugby League is one of the most physically demanding sports in the world and our unique research has identified just how gruelling the game can be after uncovering the most frequently occurring injuries sustained by professional players.

We asked physiotherapists and strength/conditioning coaches from all 14 of the 2011 Engage Super League clubs to identify which injuries they deal with throughout the season. This information was used to pinpoint the most common injuries associated with the professional game.  The top five are:

1. Dislocated shoulder - 26.5%

2. Ligament damage/sprains (ankle) - 17.7%

3. Dead legs - 14.7%

4. Medial cruciate ligament tears (knee) - 11.8%

5. Rotator cuff injuries (shoulder) - 11.8%

To illustrate these injuries and the sport’s gruelling physical demands on the body, we enlisted the help of Leeds Rhinos and England winger, Ryan Hall, who spent three hours being turned ‘inside out’ by world champion body painter Raphaelle Fieldhouse.

Ryan said: “In order to be a professional athlete you have to train hard, lead a healthy lifestyle and ensure your body is in optimum condition to resist injury and recover as fast as possible. Exercising regularly, eating well and ensuring your body is in the best condition it can be is a great message to everyone, not just professional athletes.”

View the video of Ryan getting body painted and pictures from the day below:

the reasons behind the campaign…

Promoting the benefits of a healthy lifestyle is a positive campaign which fits well with our aim of generally helping families to plan for a better future, and the aim of Super League clubs to encourage more people into sport.

The campaign was initiated to complement the introduction of our health cash plan product, which aims to help families to budget their everyday healthcare costs and generally keep on top of everyday health issues.

For more advice from our ambassadors please visit the health and well-being pages on our dedicated fans’ site www.engagesl.com.