A WEST Belfast man who works as a soft tissue practitioner has spent the last three years developing workout creams designed to help before and after a workout.
Tommy McKernan from BelfastFit has been a soft tissue practitioner in West Belfast for ten years and over that time has treated hundreds of people from top athletes, to desk job workers to the elderly – helping them all with their aches and pains.
During the pandemic Tommy was at a loss due to not being able to treat any clients and this is what spurred him on to develop his creams.
“During the pandemic I couldn’t see people normally but I still wanted to try and help people. In the past I was a senior footballer with Lámh Dhearg for 20 years and I received a lot of different injuries in my body, so I’ve always been interested in how to help people with those injuries too.
“I did a lot of research online and I was reading a lot of articles in the British Medical Journal about the use of essential oils on muscles. I had known about the use of lavender etc but I started learning about other natural plants and herbs such as ginseng. I decided to develop my own cream for use before and after workout.”
After securing a mentorship from Invest NI, Tommy developed what he wanted for both his creams, the ‘Powering Potential Warm Up Cream’ and ‘Maximising Recovery Cream’ and contacted a business in England, Group 5 who were able to make his cream from his research and formulae. The name ‘TNT’ comes from Tommy, his wife Nic and their son Tom.
Tommy said: “It took three years and five tries to get it perfect. The first batch wasn’t the right consistency and the second batch warmed up a little too much. However we’ve now perfected it and it’s being used by a lot of my clients and athletes such as many of the Antrim men and ladies footballers, camogie players and rugby players like Ulster’s Marty Moore.”
CREAMS: Tommy's workout creams
Recent reviews for both creams show it has been very well received by users on and off the pitch. Tommy added that his creams are also long-lasting and a bottle would suit for a season's worth of sport. It is currently available to purchase at Tommy’s BelfastFit premises and also here.
