The landscape of competitive athletics is ever changing.

     Beginning with Saturday’s Grand Opening of Southwest Health’s new $7 million renovation project, the future of sports-specific athletic training will be available to athletes right here in Platteville.

     SWH has already opened its Orthopedic Institute, Women’s Center and a new rehabilitation wing as part of its multi-million dollar expansion. Saturday the hospital will unveil its newest, sports-centric amenity, The EDGE, a sports performance center targeted toward junior high, high school and college-aged athletes.

     The EDGE will feature masters-level experts armed with scientifically proven methods personalized for each individual athlete. It will be the first facility of its kind anywhere in the area.

     “This is not for someone looking to simply get in shape,” said Brian Regan, director of athletic training and sports performance at Southwest Health, and the lead coach at The EDGE. “It’s for that dedicated athlete looking to optimize their performance in their specific sport.”

     Regan, a certified athletic trainer who has his masters in exercise science from Eastern Illinois, believes passionately in the science of body movement and advantage proper training can give a young athlete.

     “Every single athlete could benefit from getting stronger and faster and we will show athletes exactly how to accomplish that,” said Regan. “Each workout is going to be tailored to each individual athlete. If someone can sustain a greater pace their workout will be different than everyone else in the class.”

     Prior to training at The EDGE every athlete will receive a head to toe evaluation of functional performance and limitations, and a personalized plan to turn those limitations into strengths and optimum athletic performance.

     Regan and his staff will provide weekly training in five essential areas: body weight training, free weight strength training, running, sprinting and jump and landing.

     To maximize the personal attention, training will be offered in small classes.

     Regan will lead a three-days per week training program will be held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday with classes available at 4 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. Athletes may sign up for an intensive six-week program for $450 or a comprehensive 12-week program for $720.

     The EDGE will also offer a 2-days per week training program on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4 p.m., 5:15 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. The cost of the six-week program is $360 or $600 for the 12-week program.

     Athletes may select any combination of the previously listed sessions. Athletes in the 3-days a week program are encouraged to select Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but the sessions are not locked in place and accommodations can be made to work around the schedule of in-season athletes.

     Right now The EDGE is offering introductory rates at 50 percent off the listed prices.

     Each training session will begin with a dynamic warm-up session, followed by barbell strength training, a sports specific speed workout on one The Edge’s state-of-the-art Woodway Force treadmills, followed plyometric/jump training. Each session will last 75 minutes.

     “The Woodway Force treadmill is not motorized, so the athlete is the one creating the work,” said Regan. “The belt only moves when the athlete moves it. So you can go stop to start without any sort of accident. I wanted to look at one before the hospital made the purchase so I called the company to find out if there were any in the area. I found out the closet one to Platteville was at the Chicago Bears training facility in  Lake Forest, Ill.”

     Regan, a 25-year-old native of Dubuque, came to SWH in July 2012 after completing a graduate assistantship at a rural hospital in central Illinois. Before earning his masters at Eastern Illinois University Regan earned his bachelors degree from Clarke University in Dubuque, where he also played soccer for two years.

     Regan’s athletic training staff at SWH includes other Certified Athletic Trainers Benton Rose from De Pere, Joe Frerichs from Cedar Rapids and Andy Augustin from Dubuque.

     Regan and his staff ran a speed, agility and mobility camp at Platteville High School this summer and more than 100 athletes took part, so some may already be familiar with Regan’s coaching style.

     “The biggest difference between The Edge and some other training facility is our staff,” said Regan. “We are all currently licensed athletic trainers and our backgrounds are in biomechanics and body movement. We currently provide athletic training services to seven schools in southwest Wisconsin and we are around every different sport all year round so we understand the importance of specific movement in each sport.”

     “The biggest thing I’ve come to learn about Brian is his passion and knowledge for sports,” said Jaime Collins, Director of Marketing and Communications at Southwest Health. “He really knows his stuff. I’m a runner and a triathlete, so I come in and pick his brain from time to time about my injuries or my training schedule.”

     To sign up for classes or receive more information call 608-342-4790 or email TheEDGE@southwesthealth.org.

     Saturday’s Grand Opening will be held from 9 a.m. to noon and the first 300 people to tour the new facility will receive swag bags.

     Former Green Bay Packer legend Ahman Green will be on hand to meet visitors and sign autographs from 10 a.m. to noon. Green is the Packers’ all-time leading rusher and a four-time Pro Bowler. He led the NFL in rushing in 2003 with 1,883 yards and gained more yards from scrimmage from 2000–2004 than any other player in the NFL.

     “Ahman Green fits in with our vision of offering championship services because he was a champion in his field of professional football,” said Collins. “We have a CEO in place in Dan Rohrbach that was an All-American running back in college that is passionate about athletics and moving Southwest Health Center forward. We have a Harvard-trained orthopedic surgeon in Dr. Joshua Lindsey who specializes in hip replacements and we now have Dr. Kim Christopher Mackey, one of the top OB/GYN doctors in the nation after having spent 12 years at UW Health in Madison. All off them have been champions in their fields.

     “The people of southwest Wisconsin deserve the same great quality of care as Madison or Dubuque and they shouldn’t have to drive two hours to get it. We used to be small rural hospital with a great staff, but we weren’t known for specialties. Now that has all changed. We are doing things now that you can’t even get in Madison or Dubuque and The Edge is a big part of that. With all the changes going on at our facility someone can go from injury, to surgery, to physical therapy back to post injury performance training all right here in Platteville.”