Worked to the core

Paul Clinton

As a college basketball player, Mark Roche always looked for ways to

get stronger, quicker and more agile.

Lifting free weights gave him strength, but always made his

muscles sore. Plyometrics, the form of German gymnastics that

includes tossing a medicine ball, gave him agility, but didn’t help

him with his vertical leap.

Once Roche discovered a line of computerized training equipment

that helps athletes improve their strength and endurance by working

specific “core” muscles, he found his niche in the training industry.

He also found machines that translate to better skills on a field,

hardwood floor or baseball diamond.

“You’re not going to have that soreness that you have in regular

weightlifting,” Roche said about the machines. “Our job is to make

people better ... and move them on their way.”

Roche now owns and runs the Natural Health Sports Therapy clinic,

at 2901 W. Coast Highway in Newport Beach, where he offers this

training method to any athlete hoping to add inches to a vertical

leap or quickness to starts at race time.

The QuickTwitch system, as it is known, is a network of four

high-tech workout machines connected to a computer monitoring device.

The multi-chest, leg extension curl, total hip and glute hamstring

machines are strung together during hour-long sessions that provide a

grueling and intense workout.

Roche provides 22 sessions over a 10-week period for $550, or

about $27 per visit. A trainer monitors the action.

Rotating from machine to machine at noontime last week, Joe

Lestino huffed and puffed after a shortened session. The body’s “fast

twitch” muscles are targeted in the workouts to build explosiveness

and power, said Lestino, a Costa Mesa student and therapist at the

clinic.

“It works your power muscles,” Lestino said. “It’s a good

supplement to your workout.”

Roche opened his first Newport Beach clinic in 1989 nestled in a

building on Mariner’s Mile, across the street from his Natural Health

clinic. In 1993, he moved to his present location.

Roche’s clinic is the only one in Newport-Mesa that offers the

QuickTwitch machines.

Roche, 44, lives in Huntington Beach.

* Got an interesting tidbit or story idea about a local business?

E-mail it to Daily Pilot business reporter Paul Clinton at

paul.clinton@latimes.com.