Handball: Serge Spooren

Name: Serge Spooren
Birthday: 22/11/1993
Current location : Neerpelt, Belgium
Club: Handbal Achilles Bocholt

I started playing handball when I was 8 years old. In the first 4 years, I combined the sport together with football. At age 12, when I started secondary school, I had to choose and I chose for my biggest passion. One of the biggest reasons for my decision is that my father had played the sport for over 20 years. I train 4 times a week indoors, play a game in the weekend and try to add 2 more strength trainings a week. So, you could say that I am busy with my sport all day long and every day of the week.

Handball is in my opinion one of the most complete sports, you must have strength, flexibility, stability, speed and brains. It is very important to train each of these aspects if you want to reach the top level. I made my debut in the Belgian top flight at age 16 and my debut for the Belgian national handball team at age 21. So far, I have only played for 2 clubs within the Belgian league but I have gained international experience due to our international games with club and country.

Success is a big part of the sport. We play the sport around about 10 months a year so you want all the effort to pay off. You want to win games and titles, you have that one goal that you want to reach with your whole team. In the meantime, I have won 4 titles including the championship of Belgian-The Netherlands twice and played 24 international games for the national team.

In my daily life, I am a teacher. I teach in a secondary school in Belgium, I am allowed the teach Physical Education, English and Biology for the ages 12-16. The fact of the matter is that handball is no professional sport within Belgium so me and all my teammates work or study while performing the sport. I am so passionate about sports and working with people that I started as a Personal Trainer a few months ago. The start-up went very well and my network is expanding throughout different sports like football, horseback riding, handball and regular people who want to improve their fitness and lifestyle. I also love to travel, try different foods and try different sports with my long-term girlfriend.

When I look at the sport of handball, the most common injuries are knee instability, ankle twists, shoulder ligaments and muscle ruptures. To prevent any injuries, I have recently started to use the BLACKROLL® products. My favourite two products are the Blackroll Standard Foam roller in combination with the fascia 8 ball. And the Blackroll resistant band.

Before and after every training I roll out with the foam roller to warm up and cool down my muscles. I also use it for strength exercises and core stability to have an extra challenge. It is great that you can keep it clean and the material is very durable. When I feel that I need to trigger the muscle just a little bit more I use the fascia 8 ball that really digs deep into the muscle and helps towards a faster recovery.

I use the resistance band to train my shoulders, my arms, my core stability and most of all my footwork. It is an amazing tool that has the right stretch and can aid towards a better body.

I have introduced the product to my Personal Training clients and they are super happy and intrigued by the products and want more of them.