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Raise Your Game: Can you briefly describe your job?

Garry Trainer: I try to help people achieve their sporting goals. Most of the time the thing that gets between them and achievement is an injury, so I help treat the pain, deal with the injury and also try to help prevent future injuries.

RYG: How did you initially get involved in this type of work?

GT: As a 17-year-old I was tackled by two big props and I ended up in the spinal unit for three months. I had wheelchairs parked next to the bed and I was losing sensation in my legs. I was hospitalised and I was put on high dosages of medication, but unfortunately they didn't tell me that anti-inflammatory drugs can erode the stomach lining and I got a stomach ulcer. I had to look for a form of treatment that didn't require medication and that's when I came across acupuncture.

RYG: Is there a lot of training involved?

GT: It takes three years to train as an acupuncturist, but I also trained as an osteopath which takes another five years. Acupuncture is a sensational way to relieve pain and osteopathy is a very good way to understand where it came from.

RYG: Posture can be very important in terms of confidence and avoiding back problems. Are there phrases that you say to yourself to remind you to improve your posture?

GT: There's a very good quote which is "What is the best position?" and the answer is "The next one." A lot of people find themselves slouching and they give themselves a hard time about it, but if you catch yourself slouching, the next position you put yourself in is the best one. You sit up and you address it at that stage.

RYG: How can young people avoid injuries and overcome problems with posture?

GT: You've got to keep it very simple. Stretching and strengthening exercises are what prepare the body for movement. Keep the body strong and prevent injuries from occurring.

RYG: What are the highlights of the job?

GT: I personally believe that there's no better job! To see someone come to you in pain and then walk out of your clinic free of that pain is one of the most wonderful feelings.

RYG: How difficult is your job?

GT: It's a very strenuous and physical job. It is mentally tiring because you're taking responsibility for everybody else's pain and suffering. You're viewed as 'the answer,' so it comes with a certain pressure as well.

It's no good relying on who you've treated in the past, you've got to keep reproducing it every time. Whenever I provide treatment I say to myself "I want to make this the best one I've ever done just in case it's my last one."

RYG: What advice would you give to any young people looking to follow in your footsteps?

GT: This is probably one of the greatest areas to work - helping other people. I came out of school without any qualifications, but the truth is, if you want it, you can achieve anything. If I had my time again, I would have focused on the sciences, because anatomy and physiology go hand-in-hand with treatment, so if you're still in school, you may want to concentrate on the sciences. That would be my advice.

RYG: If somebody came to you looking to do some work experience, what kind of qualities would you most want to see in them?

GT: I've had this clinic for five years and I've had a turnover of people. I think I'm getting better at choosing the people who are going to be the survivors! I can see it in their eyes and I can sense when they're excited about it.

What you do is you listen to what they're talking about and if they're talking about treatments and their love for the work, then they're the right people to bring onboard. I have a need for job satisfaction and the way I get that is to do the best I can for the person I'm treating.

RYG: Together with your clinical success, you have also tasted success in another field. What are the skills needed to be the World Worm Charming Champion?

GT: It's not that well-known and I stumbled across it by chance! A friend of mine said he was the World Champion and he was looking to retain his title so he invited us down to a place called Blackawton in Devon.

Every contestant is marched out onto the fields where you're given a one metre square piece of land and then you've got 20 minutes to try and entice as many worms to the surface as possible. You're not allowed to break the surface with a spade so people pour water from a watering can and jump up and down on the grass, but I put acupuncture needles into the ground and I listened for worms with my stethoscope! Half worms don't count so you've got to get the whole worm.

I went back to defend my title a year later, but someone cheated. They came with a can full of worms in their trousers and when it came to counting time they had hundreds more than anybody else! I think we need it to be televised to have slow motion replays!