Stepping Up In Movement & Mindside

So the last week has been interesting in terms of training with a step up to 75KMS in running and additional daily sessions to maintain my optimal conditioning. It has been at this point in the past where the computer has said NO aka the body has thrown a tantrum and expressed displeasure in the form of pain. Prior to Gold Coast marathon I rationalised this injury with my professional brain and took the required rest to return to pain free motion. Prior to Singapore 4 months ago however I allowed it to be an excuse to stop my training completely leading to a sub-optimal performance. What was the difference between these two periods in my life (apart from a month in the USA & Mexico which involved way to much Tequila and PBR). It was a solid mindset that had the foundation of a deeply rooted goal.

Laying Groundwork

To explain my brain a little further – ever since I was a young fella I’ve always performed better with a deadline approaching. It was always easier to procrastinate and daydream rather than suck the lemon early which in hindsight would have saved a lot of early morning study sessions and sleepless nights. However when it came to the moment I would always get by because I had an end goal to work towards (passing an exam, performing well in a production or on the sporting field). Problem was that I didn’t realise that I was happy being content, playing it “safe” to survive rather than thrive. This wasn’t an issue at the time as things such as parties and progressing socially were more important to dedicate my time to.

The Beauty of Growing Up

As I have gotten older and more ambitious with my goals (I’d put olympic qualifying as pretty ambitious) the margin for error has gradually reduced which has meant focus becomes more imperative. Leading up to the Gold Coast Marathon the focus was laser pointed as it was my last chance to Qualify for Boston 2017 which I had proclaimed to everyone for two and a half years would be my 30th birthday celebration. Co-incidently I made my qualifying time of 3 hours by 37 seconds. Now I was immensely proud as only 2% of people to run a marathon will toe this line and I was now one of that select few but because it had come again without many “sacrifices” I took it for granted without knowing.

Is it Really a Sacrifice?

This takes us to Singapore when a niggley neural calf 8 weeks out ended up as an excuse to incoherently cut my training loads and increase my extra-curricular activities, mainly drinking and eating way to much. It wasn’t that I didn’t have a goal (In my head I wanted to run a 2:50 in Singapore) but there was no reason bigger than myself for having that goal. For the Boston Qualifying time the underlying drive was the thought that if I didn’t make the qualifying time that I would be letting down all those people I had proclaimed my intentions to…not just myself. Those people probably would have still loved me unconditionally if I didn’t make the time but it solidified and deepened to roots of the goal. For Singapore I didn’t have that as I had not deeper reason for running the 2:50 apart from a loose notion that it would signify progress. This allowed my conscious mind to make excuses up for not putting in the hard yards and thus my result was not ideal.

The Lightbulb Moment

Since that point in time 3 months ago a switch went off inside me again as the deadline of the marathon started beaming like a strobe light, again I’d say slightly because of the fact I’ll have a large cheer squad there and want to put on a good performance. More importantly though I really delved into my personal reasons for not just running but competing at a high level including my legacy, my hyper competitiveness and the dopamine and endorphin highs it provides. By having a greater knowledge of my motivations it allowed me to not be sidetracked by menial distractions such as injury, bad weather and tiredness that could again de-rail the Funk train. When planning your goals whether sport, health relationship, life or other take heed of this and determine the inner working behind your wants as to make them easier to attain.

Drink Like A Bird – Not Like A Fish

Growing up and now living back in the Top End of Australia there are things I know that are unique when it comes to my home town – The Noonamah Frog Races, using the word “Bruzzy”  rather than “Buddy” & the copious amounts of alcohol which is consumed in the wet season to escape Mango Madness (Look it up!). Today though is no rant regarding our insatiable thirst and the humidity that precludes it, rather an insight into a simple movement pattern that can save your back but probably not quench your thirst unless your reaching into the Esky.

It’s All In The Hips

Getting Amongst It

If you are a Gen X’r or Baby Boomer then you would be able to identify these little guys. Millennials may have a slightly tougher time however they used to be a common source of entertainment even though they were a scientific toy that utilised a heat engine mechanism to give them the unique dipping ability. Now whilst they were commonly thought of as a health risk due to the highly flammable liquids held inside or the shards of glass that would be created if broken, their movement is one that I commonly use as an analogy to explain correct back motion.

It’s Centrifugal motion, It’s Perpetual Bliss

Ahh Faith – you couldn’t have said it any more simply. The problem with our movement mechanics today is that we are adverse in using our derrières. Due to an uptick in sitting and the seemingly socially acceptable protection of our booties we do not bend from the hips. If you look at yourself from side on we commonly seem like a C-Shape when we bend forward – the T-Spine (Middle Spine) generating the motion and our lower back acting like the ballast holding everything up. Problem with this though is simple physics in that the further we bend forward and the more weight we place in our hands, not to mention the length of our reach, increases our lever arm. If our core cannot stabilise this force then we will often end up in an injured state – beginning the often disastrous cycle of lower back pain if not addressed quickly.

Boot-I-Licious

Sing It B!

Sounds simple right…bend forward and take your head into a pond of water which will cause all of our troubles to go away. I wish that was the case, however if you have already experienced a lower back injury there are a lot of factors that need to be addressed which we will discuss at another point in the galaxy. But if you feel pretty good I want you to try this experiment. Next time you go to pick the kids toys off the ground, pat your dog or hide from someone in the supermarket – picture yourself getting a package out of the boot of a small car. As to not smack your head you will have to bend at your hips and bend your knees when appropriate. This “drinking bird” motion encourages global stomach activation and incorporates the use of the dangling objects that are attached to our trunk which seem to be forgotten at times. You may seem restricted in range and this will be because you are finally moving with true range…not compensated techniques that lead to overload and injury.

Help From The Bench

Who knew a simple 1940’s invention could be the way forward when it comes to fixing spinal movement. Thanks science for creating such a wonderful object that has made my explanations for the past 9 years not seem completely crazy.

Finck-Tank Friday – Remix to the Vision

The hard thing about working in the medical profession is that we are theoretically bound by our postcode whilst our patients are not. Often you will be travelling around the country on holidays, heading away for a work conference or just seeking a second opinion. This makes our ability to link with other quality health professionals around the world vital as to ensure you get the greatest level of care wherever you may be. The role of the Finck-Tank is to highlight these individuals & their thought’s as to open your health educational lunchbox and fill it with goodness. Today we are travelling to one of the beef capitals of Australia to get the muscle on one companies VISION. (How sweet is that Picture BTW!!)

With Eyes Wide Open

Vision Exercise Physiology is redefining the way health companies present their gym based services to their clients. On the wave of holistic health, a multidisciplinary approach & new age delivery methods Michael and the team have been improving the lifestyle aspirations of people in the Darling Downs region for the past 10 years. Over this time they have incorporated the skill sets of varying professions into the company as to “Enrich the health and lifestyle of their clients, improve well-being, prevent injury and increase physical performance”. This along with the companies ability to diversify its modes of treatment type whilst maintaining its locally owned and operated mantra have lead to many individual success stories.

Forward Focused

Good Hip Rotation

What really sets the team aside though is its future VISION (In comedy we bring things back to the same joke 3 times…Can you find the last Vision Pun!). Their recently launched online program MoveSmarter is “an education and empowerment tool to assist participants to live a life full of abundance.” Honing in on the increasing number of us (1 in 5) that are living with chronic pain on a daily basis, the MoveSmarter program contains simple to follow habitual identification strategies along with daily exercises that can be viewed from the comfort of the home or office. The 5 week series not only emphasises the benefits of living an active and healthy lifestyle but also encompasses the power of modern web app’s that deliver constant motivation to the user. This is an aspect face to face consultation struggles to do due to the inherent costs and travel. I have always said that if you could bottle motivation you would have a worldwide distribution franchise. By opening up their minds to the online world of edutainment Vision has also provided us an easily accessible method of knowledge acquisition.

I Have a Vision

What we can learn from this as users is that there are no excuses when it comes to making meaningful changes in our lifestyles. I don’t want to hear “it’s too expensive, too hard or too complex” anymore as these thoughts will continue to drive the co-morbidity factors that are encompassing our society (like the 2 in 3 of us that are overweight or obese). Remember we are the generation that is projected to have a shorter life expectancy than our parents, something that has never occurred in the history of mankind. Take charge of your health with the tools that companies like Vision are creating with one eye on your & your kins future…it may have you moving smarter than Einstein doing the Dougie.

Help From The Bench

Vision creates movement programs that are tailored specifically for you based on your physical capabilities, as well as your personal goals and lifestyle aspirations. Check them out on their website https://visionexercisephysiology.com.au/, FB https://www.facebook.com/visionexercisephysiology/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE, or Instagram @Visionexphys. The link to the YouTube video illustrating the MoveSmarter program can be found here. Good luck team with revolutionising the health care system!

It’s all in the Disc – Which Type are you?

Ahhhh its the age old question isn’t it…how stiff is too stiff? Don’t worry this is a SFW article however today’s topic is definitely one that brings up a few giggles in the clinic when I mention it. This concept was brought to my attention in my first year as a practitioner in 2009 by Anna-Louise Bouvier from Physiocise when she visited Northern NSW to teach us about habitual retraining. For some reason this idea of teaching people correct movement patterns to assist with their often chronic conditions stuck a cord with me. To be honest it was probably the simplicity as Forrest says it the best…

But more than this Anna-Lousie brought up “Stiffies”which as a 22 year old with a phallic driven brain also resonated with me. Most simply put individuals flexibility will vary depending on their genetic makeup. When thinking of this logic there are important notions to keep in mind. Firstly when thinking flexibility we aren’t just talking muscles – nerves, joints, cartilage all comes into play as our body isn’t a segmental machine. It is designed to work in synergy and what seem like seperate area’s are actually connected via collagenous tissue called fascia thus are linked from tip to tail. Secondly not all of us are inherently “flexible” and what may feel like a tight area may not necessarily be tight at all (This will be a concept I address at a later date).

A Little Column A, A Little Column B

Anna-Louise categories patients as “Stiffies”, “Floppies” and “Flippies” as to allow people to address where they may fit on the spectrum. It’s genius in the way that it individualises mobility protocols and streamlines the classes at Physiocise as to ensure the most successful program for each person. “Stiffies” are those of us that often have to work very hard to maintain the flexibility that we have. This is due to a reduced elastin nature of our collagenous tissue (Elastin = Think less elastic) which leads to reduced chain move ability globally. “Floppies” are our hyper mobile crew or the friends that used to pop their shoulders out as a party trick (my favourite is when a floppy comes into the clinic showing me this pronouncing “I’ve always freaked people out by doing this”). Floppies inherently have a more mobile collagenous makeup thus can move seemingly more freely than Stiffies. Now we may think this is a blessing however it can be a double edged sword as Floppies can feel tightness as well (Notice I said tightness not stiffness). Which leads us to “Flippies”, a hybrid of the two who generally are quite flexible however end up with some stiff bits (Insert laugh here).

Please Explain

So this is where the bread is buttered. Say you are a Flippy that has flexible muscles around the neck & shoulder however a stiff joint capsule. If you are stretching incorrectly you may actually be over stretching your nerves or overloading your joint. Your body will let you know that computer says no and try to protect you via natural symptomology. As a result you will stop stretching all together because of the noxious stimuli where it’s possible that a more targeted approach to your mobility issue would be appropriate. “So how do I know what to Stretch and How oh wise, handsome one” I can hear you all hollering from the rooftops. The key is to first know where you fit into this classification. Always been diagnosed as Hypermobile – then I’d say you would be a Floppy. Been fairly flexible but just end up with troublesome areas that stiffen up – get in the Flippy box. Stiffer than a brick or a stick – you my friend are a Stiffy.

Help From The Bench

I will always be grateful that my old boss at Yamba Physiotherapy was always looking outside the box and organised for Anna-Louise to come and visit that Thursday night. The Physiocise website can be found here.

From Print to Perch – Be Apart Of Your Own Experiment

In the search of broadening my own educational horizons I commonly read and watch new content. I’ll use this space to express my views on these topics along with how they could impact the writing of the micro and macro health stories within our society. One of my favourite methods of sourcing this information is watching online Ted talks. For anyone thats unaware “TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less).” My two favourite aspects of TED are the convenience of access and diversity of speakers that provide their expert opinion regarding the topic.

“It’s Science”

Recently I watched a Ted-X talk posted within the last month titled “Why Curiosity is the Key to Science & Medicine” that featured Kevin B.Jones. Kevin is an American Surgeon that treats one of the rarest forms of cancerous tumours called Sarcomas. Sarcomas affect the bone and soft tissue and thus leads to him having to encounter tough clinical decisions with his patients on a daily basis. Just like the words of Ron Burgundy it was the combination of Science and Medicine that initially drew me to the video however early into it I realised I would be hooked for another reason.

That it is Ron…That it is!

Are you Curious & Humble?

Kevin in his talk is discussing the link between science & medicine and the importance of certain vital skills within our health professionals. He expresses that curiosity and humility are traits we should seek in our professionals as this is what allows us to truely find answers for the questions we have about about our health. Vehemently agreeing with his observation that our health clinics are starting to look more and more like Jiffy Lube centres we really don’t have a textbook on any ailment we may come into contact with. This is as health and medicine is ever changing and depends on the individual circumstances of you, the patient. I have always felt that the only way we create true changes within peoples lives is to really engage with these circumstances (curiosity) and by asking someone else or sourcing more knowledge if we are unsure of the answer (humility). If we are concerned more about the time on the clock or our reputation rather than the person in front of us, then we are missing the important details.

Booking in soon? Don’t forget the express service

Control the Pen

The other vital part that really stood out to me was the way Kevin empowers his patients in their treatment. We as health professionals can get caught (I am not immune to this) in being so confident in our knowledge and so sure of our diagnosis that we subconsciously take power away from you. By adding in simple words such as “Might have” to the sentence “I got it all” and adding the analogy of treatment as an “experiment” it creates an inclusive treatment experience. As a result its possible to see that the patient then has an avenue to be aware what aspects of the treatment to look out for as to indicate a successful “experiment”, making them more autonomous in the process of writing their health novel. There is nothing wrong in being a confident practitioner however always be aware that the book of medicine is never closed. As a result of watching this talk the last few days I have curiously incorporated the experiment analogy in my discussions with clients and the buy in on their behalf can be measured by the looks on their faces. It can also be seen within their immediate actions and occurs because I didn’t plug in my diagnostics tool, I went back to basics and listened.

Help From the Bench

Obviously this comes today from Kevin and his impassioned speech & views on having open discussions with his patients. If he can have these types of chats in difficult situations then surely it’s possible for us to incorporate a bit more curiosity & humility within our daily practices.

Bryce’s Health Adventure – The Wild Ones

In sharing my health adventure I hope that it allows for an insight into the power that strong beliefs in relation to health can provide. I have always followed my nose…torso, legs amongst others to reach these beliefs as our body is the best machine for diagnosing how we feel. Whilst this is the case I am always willing to hear from you; in particular your thoughts regarding all areas of health, medicine and fitness as this gives me more paths to possibly follow in my health adventure novel. So sit back, relax and scribble in the margins of the comment box while you read about what has brought me into your story.

Down & Dirty

Best way to Immunity if not on Survivor

One of the greatest things growing up in the rural area of Darwin was the space. While we rented the first few years living in the Top End, the parents eventually brought their own home which at the time was a brick house and a barren acre and a half of “garden”. Some of my fondest memories of those formative years were playing with Emma in the dirt piles mum had created while she was planting numerous trees. This ability to create our own fun led to many adventures of mischief however it bred a creativity when it came to entertaining ourselves. It also cultivated a love of the outdoors which continued to grow within us just like those trees mum planted all those years ago..

Barefoot Bushmen

Whether it was creating slip’n’slides with black tarp on rainy wet season days, coming home after school hitting six’s over the pool on the off side with our mates from the neighbourhood or playing AMAZING in the back shed we were always finding interesting experiences that incorporated the environment as our playground. In the days (only just) before the electronic babysitters known as Intern Et and Ex Boxx the worlds we were exploring weren’t a final fantasy – they were reality. We would be walking around barefoot in our underwear until sunset dreaming of travelling to far away lands – although the clothed part I swear was to save my Dad washing everyday. I have no doubt it was our parents insisting even when we had a Sega Megadrive to “get outside and play” that has meant activity is now apart of my everyday life in both a leisure and vocational capacity. Maybe I was lucky that my parent’s didn’t fly their help-copters in my space or that I just missed getting stuck in this generations bubble.

The Bubble-Generation

Does he look happy?

The current bubble generation has been blamed for a spike in obesity numbers in our youth, a reduction in generational immunity and whole communities that are vicariously living their lives online. All of these I believe I have seen first hand in clinic along with postural dysfunctions & classifications that had never been seen prior to the naughties. Whilst this is good for the profession with a whole new client base pushing a 2% growth in physiotherapist numbers over the next 5 years, its disappointing from the fact that these avoidable physical issues will reduce the quality of life of a lot of young people. Whilst it is the parents best intentions to protect their children from inherent dangers that are more prevalent in a seemingly more perverse world, it is to the detriment of their physical and emotional independence.

Burst the Bubble

My solution – lets get back to utilising outdoor spaces in community design to make playing outside safe & enjoyable again. Some of the most beautiful and most liveable cities in the world (New York, Melbourne) have some of the most famous parks. Possibly as new suburbs are built there needs to be a federal law that states for every piece of land that is developed for housing that a smaller parcel must be placed aside for community outdoor areas. This doesn’t necessarily need to be parks but maybe nature gyms, government supported outdoor adventure programs or, if e-tainment needs to be utilised to engage those in their impenetrable bubbles, shared outdoor virtual reality spaces that combine the internet and the environment. I would love to hear your suggestions as to what may help us burst societies bubble.

Help From the Bench

Embedded is a great article on theconversation.com regarding what is it that parents fear nowadays that leads to the bubble being applied to their children. Again all views as always are my own and are developed via seeing and feeling the state of the world.

Finck-Tank Friday – All Natural Baby

The hard thing about working in the medical profession is that we are theoretically bound by our postcode whilst our patients are not. Often you will be travelling around the country on holidays, heading away for a work conference or just seeking a second opinion. This makes our ability to link with other quality health professionals around the world vital as to ensure you get the greatest level of care wherever you may be. The role of the Finck-Tank is to highlight these individuals & their thought’s as to open your health educational lunchbox and fill it with goodness. Our lunchbox metaphor is more apt than normal today as we will be covering something that’s close to my heart (and stomach) – The Natural Nutritionist.

#BostonStrong

Freedom Fuel

Over the past few weeks I’ve covered a lot; farms, underwear, superheroes however I haven’t mentioned my current life goal. 3 years ago I set out on a journey to qualify for the Boston marathon for my 30th birthday. This was prior to actually running a marathon or knowing 1st hand the effort it would take both physically and mentally to run a Sub-3. In true Funky Finck fashion though I attacked it with a full heart and due to my previous thoughts on nutrition, a full stomach generally due to lots of carbs. We are constantly fed information via television advertising about the importance of fuelling with carbs – pasta, cereal, potatoes etc as this has been the staple diet of our athletes for decades. How on earth could you travel those kinds of kilometres without gorging the day before on a big bowl of spaghetti. Now while my times were going down gradually (improving my PB by 45 minutes in the first 12 months) I still always felt heavy while running and was 35 minutes away from the magical 3 Hour mark. Not one to rest on my laurels (& because I don’t like doing things “just coz”), I began a bit more research on all aspects of my training. This led me down the rabbit hole of “Fat Adaptation” and more specifically the musings of Steph Lowe and her team at The Natural Nutritionist.

#realfoodathlete

Fat Adaptation…sounds like something that a bear going into hibernation would encounter? Oh contraire my dear Watson’s this is a revolution that is gradually taking off in the health field but picking up pace due to diligent practitioners such as Steph, Elyse and Min. The idea of the importance of gut health has been around since Hippocrates who stated that “All disease starts in the gut”. Unfortunately the power of the big commercial companies has saturated the market in the past 50 years to incept the notion of “Carbo Loading” into our brains. These quick bang for your buck products however aren’t real leading to nasties like refined sugar and poor quality dairies & fats joining the party. Human evolution hasn’t progressed enough to process these party poopers (By the way “The poop” is a key indicator of poor gut health – pay attention to it!) leading to metabolic illnesses and chronic inflammatory processes. This is where the beauty of Real Food comes into play.

 

#thenaturalnutritionist

It sounds like a play out of the KISS handbook but it is effective as it is simple. The girls at the Natural Nutritionist lean on Real Food as the base of making long lasting changes within peoples health story. Expressing that “anything out of the ground, off a tree or from an animal…will be the most nutrient dense and whole food source of nutrition”, they create the link to optimal personal health are rotate back to natural food sources and the easy elimination of packaged and processed products. The website provides an easy to navigate pantry of information (#puntastic) providing knowledge to people who are hungry for information about kitchen essentials, favourite products, simple JERF recipes along with links to the associated blog and podcast. One of my favourite aspects of the site is the availability of Skype consultation which I myself as a practitioner feel is vital in spreading essential health information in this e-driven world. The additional benefit of this service is the complementary 15 minute Skype consultation which encourages people that may want to dip their toes into the water before cannonballing bottom first. The thing that really caught me though was the science behind metabolic efficiency and this way of eating.

#JERF

Here’s the Proof – It’s a Pudding 

JERF stands for “Just Eat Real Food”  and was the mantra of becoming a fat adapted athlete. Fat adaptation is the metabolic re-orchestration from a predominant fuel source of glucose to a predominant fuel source of fat. I explain to people as Steph does in her most recent book The Real Food Athlete that this is like driving the car with diesel – fat is a slower burning fuel source which leads to less emissions in our body (lactic acid). In turn this promotes a glycogen sparing effect which allows this type of fuel to be utilised when it is truely needed (high intensity activity). The bonk is something that most endurance athletes know well and it was something I had encountered in all races before switching to becoming a real food athlete in February 2016. The proof since then has been in the proverbial Coconut, Raspberry and Cacao Chia pudding. From then until March I followed the training guidelines of gradually building up my tolerance pre endurance activity with the limitation of carbs I could envelop. I dropped 4 percent of body fat increasing my lean muscle mass and in July 2016 at the Gold Coast Marathon I achieved one of the biggest accomplishments in my life by clocking a 2:59:23 – A PB of 35 minutes in itself.

#HFTB (Help From The Bench)

With the continued support of the Natural Nutritionist my next goal is to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as an Australian long distance racer. It’s a long way off however I now have a sustainable navigational pathway to write one part of that journey. The Natural Nutritionist is a Holistic Nutritionist specialising in real food education, high performance fat loss, and metabolic efficiency. They can be found via their website thenaturalnutritionist.com.au, Facebook /thenaturalnutritionist , Instagram  or Twitter. All of their content both hard published and online can be found within these bowels (ok thats the last one).

Pharmaceutical Dosage of Habits

One of the most common questions I get asked is “How often should I be doing that for” when it comes to exercise prescription & it causes me to casually bang my head on the table for a few seconds before composing myself for a moderated answer. Although we may think it this isn’t societies fault as we live in a cause and effect pharmaceutical based world. Firstly we get sick or injured & realise we need to get better quickly as it isn’t convenient to not be running on all cylinders (although that’s mainly due to our health not being our number one priority!). So we purchase medication that we take for a week as directed which make us feel like we remember feeling at the start of that week. Therefore we go back to “Normality” and thus the habits that caused us to get sick & injured in the first place. So no wonder when exercise gets lumped in with sickness or injury that society goes  “well I only need to take the Pharmaceutical Dosage”.

Exercise As A Drug

I am by no means bagging on medication as it may seem as I definitely discuss its use in treating certain physiological conditions. What I am bagging though is the notion that its not important for exercise to be habitual when it comes to injury rehabilitation and subsequent prevention. There is a reason that people continue to present with similar injuries and illnesses to physiotherapy/chiropractic/doctors clinics year in and year out & unfortunately we as practitioners contribute to this. We focus in on the micro; the short game which is often get in, get better then get out so the person sitting in the waiting room looking at their clock can get their exercise prescription. All too often we are in the business of making people feel better – not truely getting them better. This leads us to treating exercise like a drug.

Listen To The Verve

The trick for us as practitioners and what you should expect as autonomous health consumers is to treat rehab & pre-hab as habitual notions. How many times a day is it good for us to brush our teeth, have a shower, eat a meal…their is no definitive science behind it but we do all of these things at least once per day as it always makes us feel better when we do (and for some reason our significant other doesn’t love the musky creation of wine and garlic). These things are habitual and engrained in us from when we are young as our parents knew it was in our best interest. Exercise for pain relief used to be this way as we had no mechanical mode of transport, no desks and no computers to do the “heavy lifting”. So just like brushing your teeth think about performing exercise whether you are injured or not at least once a day – chances are it will also increase your chances of getting a kiss at the end of the night!

Help From The Bench

The main hep today comes from the great websites that provided the pictures in this blog – mainly The Natural Society! Oh and of course who could forget the Verve – Hey the Drugs don’t work they just make you sweat a lot when you lace up the shoes again.

I’m Not Wearing Any Underwear!

The medical & health profession is seen in most cases as being very clinical – probably due to the fact that most of our work occurs within clinics. Whilst this is the case when you are in the people business there are always funny situations you get caught in seemingly on a daily basis. The premises that made scrubs such a popular television show in the naughties was a satirisation of life within a hospital setting whilst still treating the content with serious reverence when appropriate. If you are a fan of JD and his multitude of awkward situations then you will appreciate the following story.

Fresh-Meat

My first job out of university was in a laid back seaside town on the Northern NSW coast in Australia. Yamba was supposed to only be my home for 12 months but ended up stealing my heart enough to lead me spending 2 stints and 6 years surfing, hitting up the bowlo & being funky. Now being on the coast there was a pocket of the community that was charmingly alternative which was very different to what I experienced growing up in Darwin (It’s alternative in a completely different way). So treating as a new practitioner you had to be wary of the words you used in addressing clients.

Slip of the Tongue

This was no more evident than in my first week of clinical practice. Here I was trying to save the world one back at a time so I was being very thorough with every person I met. Early one morning I had a lovely bohemian lady come and see me in a flowing sundress.

Setting the Scene

After discussing within the subjective examination what she was seeing me for I was ready to get down to discovering a diagnosis to give her some relief. I asked her that while I left the room to take off her dress however she could leave on her underwear on so that we could assess her movements. Thinking nothing more of it I stepped outside the room and prepared my thoughts “I’m thinking that she may have a facet joint impingement so lets look at her quadrant test”. She sung out – “Ready” & in I went to face the music.

Red Faces

Looking back on my words and knowing the lady well now I see where it all went wrong but at the time all I could think when walking in was “They don’t teach us about this at uni”. Here she was standing in her undergarments as I asked however I didn’t think that the only thing underneath would be a very brief pair of knickers. Being speechless and no doubt going slightly red (which is not something I was used to) she stepped in with kind words…”Don’t worry mate it’s nothing you haven’t seen before”. True I suppose but wasn’t really conducive to effective treatment at that time. I quickly told her to get a towel and over herself up and ran out of the room like a rat up a drain pipe. Looking back now it probably wasn’t the smoothest transition out of the room but as a 21 year old practitioner I had no prior experience to draw on. All wasn’t lost though as she thought it was a laugh and I’ll always be appreciative of her assistance in making a molehill of what I thought was Mount Fuji.

Life’s Too Short For Mediocre Underwear

I’d love to say that was my only Turk moment over the past 8 years in practice but that would be far from the truth. What I’ve learnt over time though is the calmer you can be when you encounter them and if you can see the lighter side it makes the outcome much less drama filled & leads to future scrub-like stories. Since that moment though I have always offered a towel or asked if the client is wearing underwear before examining – it saves having to explain to your receptionist awkward facial expressions!

Help From The Bench

Shout out today to Cloud9Jewels for the picture of the beautiful sundress in the column.Check out their shop on Etsy but remember underwear is a necessity.

Bryce’s Health Adventure – The Tao Of A Buddha

In sharing my health adventure I hope that it allows for an insight into the power that strong beliefs in relation to health can provide. I have always followed my nose…torso, legs amongst others to reach these beliefs as our body is the best machine for diagnosing how we feel. Whilst this is the case I am always willing to hear from you; in particular your thoughts regarding all areas of health, medicine and fitness as this gives me more paths to possibly follow in my health adventure novel. So sit back, relax and scribble in the margins of the comment box while you read about what has brought me into your story.

 

It’s just baby fat

 

I know what your thinking looking at the photo at the top of the post “Damn Bryce how have you been so lucky as to have always had a sensational head of hair!”. Whilst I do thank you for your kind thoughts this Demi-god of a child wasn’t me – I was this guy >>>>

May or May not be a true representation – But Great Hair!

 

 

 

Hair – Check, Cheeky Grin – Check, Belly – Big Big Check! This was the amazing physique that garnered me the nickname Buddha within my close family. Mum would always say that I would latch on like a tick (funnily enough that’s one of Emma’s nicknames), go for dear life, lay back down in front of the TV watching Fat Cat & Friends, fall asleep and start the process all over again. Ahh life was so much simpler back then – the ultimate dine in fast food restaurant. 

 

Honey I Shrunk The Kid

 

Alas this sedentary life couldn’t last and I slowly grew up and slimmed down apart from some awkward early teen years where silk boxers were fashion to be worn in public and again in my early 20’s when my actor’s diet consisted of beer, wings and more beer. It probably didn’t help that I thought that I needed to bulk up further for the leading man roles I was going to get leading me to guzzle copious amounts of protein. Looking back on these baby pictures now though in family albums I sometimes wonder – how is it that the excuse gets thrown around “it’s in my genes to be obese or overweight” when I was a hefty little critter with a wise fat shaming nickname to boot.

 

Fat Check – Isle 1

 

A study in 2011 published in the Journal of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine followed over 44,000 babies between 1980 and 2008 measuring their length and weight over the period of a decade and placing them on a graph in relation to all others which lead to a percentile system. Now while no correlation was found between the weight of most bubs and future obesity (The artist also known as Puppy Fat), those that were found to be in the top 5% of all babies in length and weight were considered to be overweight and were more likely to be obese at the age of 10. On top of this children that rose more than 2 percentile points on the growth chart in the first 2 years doubled their chance of being obese at 5 years old and increased to 75% by age 10.

 

Big Baby, You are Beautiful

Actually a Thing

 

Does this mean that all babies that show some excess skin should be placed on a toddler treadmill or embark on a strict diet…of course not. Toddlers require specific nutritional value that is gained via a whole variety of healthy foods that can be explained further by paediatricians and nutritionists. However this study should develop guideposts on when it’s appropriate to screen children for length & weight as a predictor of possible future obesity. As parents we should be aware that a large increase in adipose tissue in our youngsters isn’t necessarily a normal outcome of development & by not acting accordingly we could be contributing to our current weight epidemic. It’s only Babies Hearts and Minds that need to be Super Sized – not their bellies (Tao of Finck, 1/17)

 

Help from the Bench

 

Thanks to my parents for not just pointing and laughing while I was rolling around on the floor because I struggled getting to my feet. Due to your diligence in teaching me the benefit of varied diet I have discovered a love for food that transcends the nutritional pyramid (I heard a great TED talk recently with the speaker saying “We don’t eat of a Pyramid!”). If you would like to read more about the featured study the link is as follows: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2058546/Bigger-babies-ARE-likely-obese-Its-just-baby-fat.html