We follow Physiotherapist Adam Shaw as he prepares for his first Marathon.
Adam is preparing for his first Gold Coast marathon in July. We will be following his journey as he prepares for his upcoming marathon.
With help from different professionals at Physiologic we will assist him by looking at everything from metabolism efficiency, running technique and economy, effective training intensities, fuel intake and exercises for runners.
As Adam goes through his assessments and sessions with each professional you will find videos of his sessions and the advice he is given.
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Knee cap pain is the most common form of knee pain and affects both males and females of all ages and activity levels. It is often referred to as patellofemoral pain or runners knee.
It tends to become painful when performing activities such as squatting, kneeling, going up/down stairs or sitting for a prolonged period of time.
There are many things you can do to improve your symptoms and your Physiotherapist can help guide you with these.
Be sensible with your exercise and activity levels.
Avoid doing too much too soon.
A combination of exercises that use your thigh and hip muscles gives the best results.
Retrain the way you move – this can be done with the support of your Physiotherapist who can guide you in what to look for.
Supportive taping or shoe inserts can help immediately with pain management.
A crisp day greeted me for the morning of the Coolangatta Gold 2018.
Cool but not cold. Spring was in the air – what better way to spend the day than 46km of torture with paddling, swimming and running all on the menu in what has been described as one of the toughest insurance races in Australia.
Id been training hard for this for the past 5 months and at the ripe old age of 40 decided that rather than entering my age group, id enter the Open Elite Male category and battle it out with the best in the business including 5 time winner Ali Day !!
Ive watched this race for many years and I remember as a kid seeing Guy Leech and all my childhood heroes run along the beach at dusk with a hideous look of pain on their faces. I wondered if that was going to be me today and if it was really as hard as everyone says it is. Only time would tell i thought and I really began to grown nervous not at where I would place but how much pain my body was going to go through.
So after breakfast, stocking up on energy gels, preparing my water and hydration packs it was off to the start line with the help of my handlers who would be collecting all my gear throughout the race. A 15-20 min warm up and briefing from the starter about the course and I found myself on the line with starters gun raised in the air.
BANG!!! We jump on to our skis to begin the first 23km ski leg which is my best leg and the part of the race that i favoured myself to hang in there with the best guys – the adrenalin surges through me but I’m pretty careful not to expend too much energy at the start. I know from experience that a lot of young guys will go out hard so my plan is to conserve energy for the first few minutes and try to wash ride. I manage to get in to the front group and I’m feeling good.
I notice that Ali Day goes full gas to move into the lead after 5 min. No one is prepared to chase him and as i suspected it would be the last anyone would see him all day as he raced off the front of the group.
1 hour 45 min of ski paddling and I’m looking really good – equal 2nd with the first group after Ali Day. We are paddling with the wind and i notice as we near the end of this ski that the wind has built to a worrying 18-20 knots southerly.
Worrying because for the next 20km i will be pushing into this wind in the remaining swim, board and run legs. I know the swim will be the hardest of these. I just hope countless hours in the pool over winter on 5-6 degree mornings was worth it !!
I head into the 3.5 km swim off Burleigh in 5th place and it lives up to its reputation as being brutal. Being the weakest of my legs – i get passed by about 4 people but this was expected.
I can honestly say that as i came in from this leg i almost contemplated giving up as i felt sick and wobbly on my feet. Id been going around 3 hours with the last hour in a washing machine !!
After meeti ng my handlers and taking on some food / drink (and somehow managing to keep it down) it was on to the board.
Again similar circumstances – a 20 knot headwind and arms that feel like I’m lifting 20kg every time i take a stroke. The clock ticks over 4 hours and i begin cramping in the lower back. A young guy next to me looks terrible – worse than me and I begin to feel a bit more confident that at least others are suffering as well !!!
7km left to run and again its into a horrible gusty 25 knot head wind. Its amazing how the mind will automatically look for the easiest way out at this point. Anything to make the calf cramps, spiking heart rate and led weights on your shoulders stop hurting.
As promised to my handlers before the race i would literally bury myself in that last run leg to pick up a place and finish in 9th in the Open Male Elite Category in conditions that were later described as the toughest in years!!
Easily the best part of the day was having my two kids run with me over the finish line!!
When i think about why i do this stuff – its easy when i see their faces smiling and proud of me. I just want to be a good role model for them and to try and be a person who promotes what i preach every day in my profession.
It really is interesting about how i viewed this race when I finished. I got so much praise and congratulations from my friends and family but i think with age and being in the health industry, completing this race and putting myself through that pain barrier is extremely insignificant compared to the fight that some people have on their hands when it comes to sickness, death, depression and the emotional sadness that people go through when times are tough.
I was actually extremely thankful that i was healthy and fit enough to participate in something so great and it made me think about how lucky i am to have what i have and do what i do.
This blog is being written from my own personal experience. Unfortunately I was diagnosed with breast cancer in June.
I am not going to say it’s been an easy road. Actually it’s been bloody hard.
I am so lucky to work with a highly skilled team of professionals who are passionate about health and well-being. And who are supporting me.
I think the most important advice I was given from day 1 was KEEP MOVING!
There will be days when you just want to curl up and die. It’s not about running a marathon, it’s not doing a spin class.
I know the thought of exercise can be daunting when you are ill. It can be as simple as walking around the block. Some days it’s just hanging out the washing. Or even watering the garden. But move that body.
Our amazing personal trainer Alex supported and nurtured me through a session today that she tailored to my physical capabilities at this stage of my health and treatment.
I am keeping good health. I have had no other illness or sickness.
My specialist team always commend me on how well I am doing and how I am in such good health for someone going through this treatment. And I say it’s because I move my body. I think exercise has played a big part in my treatment and my good health.
Do I want to some days ? Hell no ! But I know the evidence and medical benefits exercise has for cancer patients.
Please click here and read from The Cancer Council for more information and call our team at Physiologic to see how we can help you or a loved one.
Are you tapping into your body’s full potential?
Did you know that by assessing your body’s ability to use fuel we can tell you exactly at what intensity levels you achieve best results and how much nutrition your body needs to maximise performance?
*Assessment and plan are suited to all levels of fitness. Both individualised.
Phy sio and metabolism expert Mark will analyse your body’s ability to burn fuel both at rest and during running. A 60 minute assessment using high end metabolic equipment.
Physio and Running Coach Dave Coombs will talk to you about your own training goals, explain the data from your test and teach you how to use this data to get the most out of your training. Learning how to use your personal metabolic profile allows you to get the very best out of your training, whether you are aiming to lose weight, run your first 5k, or train for a mountainous ultra.
Use the data from your metabolic test, combined with your own personal training goals with a 12 week training program from Physio and Running Coach Dave Coombs. Dave has helped train runners for events across the globe, from 5k to Ultra. Your personalised program will be unique to you and reflect your personal metabolic profile as well your specific time availability, current fitness level and individual goals. Your full program is a 12 week roadmap to improved health and maximised performance. During the program you will be able to stay in touch with Dave as often as you like to seek his advice with your training.
nutritional perspective as well as comprehensively assessing your current health status and goals (both training and health). This one hour consultation delves into digestive health, hormones, stress and other neurological factors, weight and body composition, medical history, blood or other results and any supplement you may be using.
Using the metabolic test as well as the information from the initial consultation and your 12 week training program, Delina will create a personalised nutritional and lifestyle plan to assist you in reaching your goals. The program is designed around your needs, training and nutritional goals, your likes and ability when it comes to food preparation, cooking and your budget. With the combination of your 12 week training program with Dave Coombs the nutritional plan will assist you in achieving optimal health and performance. Delina is available throughout the program period as often as you need.
Save up to $352 on this special!
Are you under stress and feel as though your metabolism is slowing down?
Your thyroid may be affected as a response to chronic stress.
When we are under prolonged levels of stress we will begin to experience multiple system issues, one of these is a change in our metabolism and consequent weight gain particularly around our midsection. We may also begin to feel puffy and fatigued. Due to the complexity of the thyroid I have only looked at a snap shot on what may be happening to your thyroid as a result of chronic stress.
Essentially under the stress response, fight or flight, our thyroid hormone conversion is going to be down- regulated to peripheral tissues. This is a normal response to threat. It should only be short lived. When the stress response becomes chronic and we are experiencing high levels of stress daily we begin to experience more dysfunction in the body leading to various symptoms, inflammation, disorders, and disease.
Often this is when you may begin to expect something is wrong with your metabolism, you may be gaining weight and feeling tired without changing your diet. You may visit the Doctor and have blood tests done. In the earlier stages of dysfunction you may be symptomatic however your pathology does not reflect a thyroid issue, your blood test may show a normal TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) and T4. This can leave you feeling confused about what is really going on with your body as the bloods appear to be normal. Testing TSH, however, does not represent the thyroid hormone status of all the peripheral cells, it represents T3 in the pituitary. In stress situations T3 is upregulated to pituitary and downregulated to peripheral cells.
Due to the lack of supporting evidence you may be told to eat less and exercise more as a way of controlling your symptoms. This may increase the stress response/Cell Danger Response (CDR). If the stressful state continues then a weight struggle persists, often for years, before the next phase happens and you start to develop an autoimmune attack on your thyroid. Regular blood tests do not detect thyroid antibodies so this can go undetected as bloods will still appear to be normal. You once again may be told the same thing- to eat less, exercise more and look at managing stress through referral, stress management techniques and possible medication.
Eventually if stress remains unresolved phase III kicks in. This is when the autoimmune / immune response creates so much damage to the thyroid that the gland can no longer make enough hormone to support the pituitary gland, TSH will rise and T4 will drop below lab range. Pathology tests will now show that there is a thyroid issue. Unfortunately it is now a chronic problem.
Due to the complexity of the chronic stress response and how it effects other body systems it is important that you seek good advice on managing your return to optimal health. As a Clinical Nutritionist I can work with you and your Doctor to find out the best approach that will work for you. Metabolism testing is also an excellent tool in helping understand what is going on with your body.
If you feel like some further very technical reading you can search “Cell Danger Response”, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23981537 and you will find an amazing paper that explains the CDR.
To support the thyroid we should choose a diet rich in tyrosine, iodine, selenium, zinc, vitamin E, vitamin A and antioxidants.
The following is a list of healthy foods to base your diet around to support your thyroid.
Vegetables: Organic where possible (particularly when you eat the skin such as tomatoes), cooked cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kale. All seasonal and local vegetables.
Daily exercise stimulates thyroid hormone secretion and increases tissue sensitivity to thyroid hormone.
What is lovely about this dish is its simplicity and diversity. You can use a wide variety of veggies here — there is no right or wrong as long as the veggie can survive the roasting! You can easily use sweet potatoes, beets, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, parsnips, radishes, onions, garlic cloves, leeks, peppers, zucchinis, fennel, carrots or eggplant. These Veggies can be prepared ahead of time and added to salads to boost the flavour and interest. A great recipe for your balancing your hormones.
Toss the veggies with coconut oil, sea salt and the Moroccan blend.
Lay them out on parchment paper so they don’t touch each other too much.
Serve with your favourite protein and a green leafy salad sprinkled with sunflower seeds.