TGMC Sports Performance Training Center succeeds

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Terrebonne General Medical Center has long been committed to the athletes of our area. The hospital provides athletic trainers to Terrebonne Parish prep sporting events, as well as hosting free athletic physicals and other events throughout the year.

But now, things have been taken to a whole new level, and local athletes are in a position to be better prepared for competition than ever before.


TGMC’s Healthy Lifestyles Center recently got even better with the addition of the hospital’s Sports Performance Training Center. The facility, led by master trainer Zach Voss, is providing locals with state of the art equipment, training techniques and everything else needed to get fit, feel better and enjoy a long and happy life.

The training center is piggy backing and partnering off TGMC’s Community Sports Institute, which has set the communitywide goal of providing education on health, wellness and preventative care to everyone in the Houma-Thibodaux area.

“This is such a great thing for anyone who wants to get that special attention – that individual treatment as far as their workout procedures go,” TGMC Healthy Lifestyles Center Director Stan Gravois said. “It’s so nice to have this facility. We have really good equipment in there, and certainly a trainer in Zach (Voss), who can work with people and specialize their needs.”


“TGMC is taking a proactive approach with the addition of the Sports Performance Training Center,” TGMC President and CEO Phyllis Peoples added. “Our goal is to provide more opportunities for our students and community to receive expert advice on performance training, while continuing to instill healthy lifestyles within our community.”

Take one step into TGMC’s Sports Performance Training Center and a couple things immediately catch one’s attention. The first is the bright aesthetic yellow paint, which coats the walls of the facility. It’s by design. The yellow is energetic by nature and keeps the pace and momentum flowing throughout the room.

The second is local flare. Banner flags representing the area’s universities and high schools are flown from the facility’s rafters as an olive branch to show that the facility is one with the community – one in which all people of all makes are welcome.


The third is the outstanding equipment and an enthusiastic trainer, which, ultimately, are the stars of the show.

Voss is the facility’s Sports Performance Specialist – a title he earned after getting a Master’s in Kinesiology and Sports Performance at Louisiana Tech.

Voss spent time as a strength and conditioning coach for the Minnesota Twins, during which he worked with dozens of the organization’s minor league players – some of whom are now at the MLB level.


Those around Voss describe him as energetic and the kind of guy who will push you to be the best that you can possibly be.

He said it’s simpler than that in his eyes.

The Sports Performance Training Center only takes folks in classes of five or smaller. This allows Voss the opportunity from the outset to get all of the information necessary on a person, which allows him to tailor a program based exactly on what the individual wants or needs.


For football players, it might be quickness or muscle mass. For baseball players, it might be flexibility. For non-athletes, it might just be to get in better shape and/or to overcome complications with diabetes, high blood pressure or other ailments. Whatever it is, Voss and the facility has an answer – something that both the trainer and Gravois said set it apart.

“My job is for you to reach your goals and to get better,” Voss said. “When that happens, it’s a great feeling. I get excited. The person training gets excited. It’s a great feeling all-around.”

“Anything you need, he’s got it,” Gravois said. “Some of the best athletes in our area have come in. Big Gibby Talbot is one. He’s a tremendous local basketball player. Connor Bates, who is one of the best pitchers this area has seen in a good long time. They are two kids with completely different training needs in two different sports. But Zach does a great job with them both, and that’s the beauty of this all – it’s something for everybody.”


Voss has some pretty awesome toys to play with, too.

Inside the Sports Performance Training Center are several top-of-the-line machines that would be the envy of any muscle goer in any gym.

The equipment is designed to develop “absolute and relative power, speed, agility, cardiovascular endurance, balance, mobility and flexibility,” according to TGMC’s website.


One piece of equipment that’s always a favorite is the InBody scale, which keeps track of a client’s weight, but in a way that’s more diverse than just spitting out a flat number.

This scale breaks down body composition and body fat ratios throughout segments of the body, which helps the trainer see if a client is making progress within his/her training.

From that, Voss can make a plan for each client that is tailored specifically to what the person may need on a given day or within a given session.


“This is a great piece of equipment that is invaluable to our consultation process and throughout our time with people,” Voss said. “It helps to keep us on track. It helps us to know that we’re doing the right things to help people continue to make progress.”

Voss said that because of how diverse the facility’s offerings are, he wanted to stress that practically everyone is welcome to participate.

All people ages 12-82 are eligible for performance training, regardless of one’s physical condition and/or athletic experience.


He said he also will be hosting two summer camp training sessions available to junior high and high school students – one that’s currently under way and another that’ll be from July 6-August 1.

Because, yes, the goal is to better train our area’s student athletes.

But at the core, it’s also about prevention and teaching people the ways to live healthy lives.


That’s what TGMC said it takes most pride in – the fact that it now has a facility in-house where all citizens can come and learn how to conquer ailments and achieve optimal health.

“Many people think you’re born at the hospital, but then you don’t come back until you have a health problem in your 50s or your 60s,” Gravois said. “But we want to change that. We want it to be known that we’re a place where you can come and learn how to avoid illness altogether. We’re in this for our community. They are our biggest priority.”

We want people to know that we’re here and we have their best interests at heart,” Voss said. “It’s not just for athletes. It’s not just for young people. We want any and everyone to come and feel welcome. We want to teach people the path to a healthy life.”


Zach Voss (left) with the TGMC’s Sports Performance Training Center works with a client at the hospital’s new training facility. The building is taking athletic training and wellness education to a new level locally. 

 

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