David Masterson Health & Performance

David Masterson Health & Performance Strength & Conditioning Coach
I help athletes improve the physical capacities needed for their sport. I went to college and studied a Business degree in Sports.

Contact by: Messenger or
Email: [email protected] Growing up I had a love for Football and still do, I was blessed with great opportunities throughout my footballing career. That's where I found my passion for training and coaching. I started my work career in Coral Leisure in Monaghan as a lifeguard. Not long after that I moved and started working @ The Peace Link in Clones in the

Gym as a instructor and a PT. There I have continued to develop my skill over the years now and fully qualified Cardiac Rehab Instructor, then went and attend my NCSC Strength and Conditioning Qualification. While I still work in The Peace Link I am also currently Strength and Conditioning Coach At Monaghan and Cavan U17,s who play in the Airtricity League. I'm a big believer in research i think the fitness game is always changing and we need to stay up to date. "Train Smarter not Harder"

21/10/2025

The Back Extension
A variation of this exercise is now in every one of my back rehab sessions.

But should everyone have a variation of this exercise in their program?

I’ve seen speak about this on his instagram saying it’s time to get these of the rehab bench and into athletes training programs.

Charles poliquin stated that if the strength of your low back muscles increase, strength in all your other lifts will go up.

The idea is that through having proximal stability (truck and pelvis stability) your limbs can produce more force.

You also gain secondary strength in the glutes and hamstrings 💪🏻

My progression so far:
Back Extension ISO
Back Extension reps and increase ROM over time
Unilateral Back Extension and increase ROM over time.

I’d love to hear of others experience with the back extension 💪🏻

18/10/2025

Is trunk and pelvic work missing from your program?

Poor trunk & pelvis control has been linked with field based sports highest muscle injury (Hamstrings) and the injury with the greatest burden (ACL).

Here is 3 integration and isolation options that you can add into your program now.

3 options you can use within your Velocity Series.

3 options you can add in with some of your main strength blocks or resilience series.

16/10/2025

Low Back Pain comes in many forms

It can cause fear of movement.
I had spent weeks even months in constant pain (my diagnosis, discus hernia at L5-S1).

However the key is to build trust through movement.
It’s about finding pain free movement, building confidence and increasing load & ROM over time.

Here is a 10-20min movement session.
☑️ Diaphragmatic breathing during decompression.
☑️ Psoas Smash (Psoas connects the spine to the lower limbs)
☑️ Passive, dynamic and band assisted ROM of the Hip.
☑️ Pelvic Control - improve the ability to control the pelvis during motion.
✅ Re-Test standing toe touch

Rebuild confidence, load and ROM.
This can take time and exploration but start with pain free movement and progress from there 🫡

Save 💾

02/10/2025

Rehab can feel like a lonely road — but it doesn’t have to be.

✅ With The Peace Link Performance Rehab, you get to complete your individual rehab program inside a motivating group environment.

👀 A Physio and S&C Coach ensuring correct form, focused attention to drive the desired adaptation, and targeted progressions.

This isn’t just rehab...
It’s rehab with purpose, accountability, and real objective markers to hit.

📅 6-Week Program | 💶 €180
📍 Max 8 participants | Subject to Physio Pre-Screen

Call or DM to Enquire

ReflectionA productive and eventful 2 weeks off. Dissertation proposal (3,000 words) submitted – and I’m looking forward...
14/09/2025

Reflection
A productive and eventful 2 weeks off.

Dissertation proposal (3,000 words) submitted – and I’m looking forward to getting feedback and getting into the practical side of it all.
I spent a full week, reading, writing & sitting a lot which didn’t do anything for my hip pain 🫣. Thank God my birthday came and now I’ve a standing desk 🙌 cheers scaldy.

In saying that I had been experiencing hip/glute flare ups over the last few months that I couldnt get to settle enough, so I bit the bullet and went for an MRI and low and behold I’ve a disk bulge 🙈. I was in denial about the possibility of it, but it’s a “Discus hernia at L5-S1 medial paramedian right-sided which comes in contact with the traversing nerve root S1 right-sided”.

However in the time of finding out and trying to training I hit a PB top speed - no speed demon but relatively it’s a big one.

If you’ve got this far, then here’s the rest of the events, at 32 I constructed my first veranda 🤣👷‍♂️

S&C clients are flying, rehabs progressing really well, clients back to playing their best after a lengthy time off, and others heading into semi’s and quarter finals.

The most important thing was time with the family, in the caravan, working on projects and time with Jesus 🙏🏽

June DumpThe Month of the Most Sacred Heart of JesusWhich impacted me more than I could have imagined.We bought a carava...
01/07/2025

June Dump

The Month of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Which impacted me more than I could have imagined.

We bought a caravan. When Megan first brought up the idea months ago, I honestly thought it was just a phase. 🙈 Safe to say, it wasn’t. When we found the one we wanted, I spent the next week or more completely obsessed with researching all things caravans. 🥴 Nearly forgot I had a presentation to prep for the Masters on-site! 😅

Spent about 6–7 days over in London, with some top coaches from Ireland, England, Germany, and the Netherlands. Managed to squeeze in a few sessions, good chats about all things S&C, good food, and a few drinks along the way. 🥃

One more year to go, to devote to the dissertation and then that’s a wrap.
Any suggestions? I’m all ears. 👂😅

We hit the road for our first night away in the caravan, with a voucher in hand for massages 🤣 (you have to have some comforts) and dips in the lake. Megan had the next trip booked before we’d even left the next morning. 💙🙌

“It is in the simplicity of your ordinary walk that you have to find the secret.” 🤫
St. Josemaria Escriva

🙏🏽

12/06/2025

How you do it MATTERS
⁠
Online client came into the gym with an acute knee flare-up.

She had observed during her pogo’s that she had excessive knee flexion

Once observed we noticed the excessive knee flexion could be from poor ankle dorsiflexion.
⁠
After she demonstrated the penguin march, it was clear dorsiflexion was limited, and the body was finding movement compensation from the toes instead.

Why this matters:
Without solid dorsiflexion, the ankle can’t load and spring properly > so the knee takes the hit.
⁠
By allowing her to use an external support, we started restoring true dorsiflexion.

Regressing and addressing the situation it potentially sets her up for long-term knee relief and better mechanics in running/jumping.

⁠


08/06/2025

Does movement variability in the gym matter?

Sport isn’t predictable!

Strength is essential, but strength that’s only useful in one plane of motion or one position doesn’t carry over to the chaotic environment of a game.

- Exploring joint positions builds access, and exposes tissues to a new stimulus
- Variability enhances coordination, resilience, and control
- Stable movement across wide ranges = fewer injuries and can lead to enhanced performance

This isn’t about random drills.
It’s about planed variation that builds movement competency.


Mobility might not be the most exciting aspect of athletic performance…But it plays a massive role in both performance a...
27/05/2025

Mobility might not be the most exciting aspect of athletic performance…

But it plays a massive role in both performance and injury outcomes.

As I work through Alan Mordochs Fast > Fit framework it is clear that mobility is one of his key staples. “A distorted pulley will fray any rope” - limitation in range can cause compensation in gait, placing unnecessary load on the tissues.

Stuart McMillan adds that a lack of full hip extension range can cause athletes to dump into anterior pelvic tilt which is associated with injury.

Not only related to injury, athletes that can make big shapes (large limb separation) and expansive ranges (optimal range of motion) allow athletes to create large forces and wind up to attack the ground effectively.

By assessing movement and range of motion of the joints and limbs we can get a clearer understanding in isolation of what might be happening during on-field dynamic movement.

Addressing this low hanging fruit may not only promote recovery, but it could have a positive impact on creating more efficient, resilient, healthy & confident athletes.

Touch base through DM to ask questions, and enquire about movement & ROM screening 💪🏼🤙🏼


Light reading: 

https://www.sportsmith.co/articles/analysing-sprint-performance-what-metrics-really-matter/

https://altis.world/articles/rehthinking-hip-extension/

Address

The Peace Link, Liseggerton Clones Co Monaghan
Monaghan
N/A

Telephone

+353879868370

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when David Masterson Health & Performance posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to David Masterson Health & Performance:

Shortcuts

Share