Exercise Science, Studies Show

This was a great chat with Nathan who is the current Strength & Power coach at the St George Dragons & leads Strength-IQ. In his spare time, he is also doing a PhD - so you can imagine, we had a lot to talk about. Nathan talks us through his experience in elite sport from the NRL to the NBA and his lessons along the way. There is some cool chat about interpreting research and statistics, which is extremely valuable for coaches, clinicians, and students. Get around it and have a listen!

You can find Nathan's bio below, and learn more about him at the following links (be sure to follow him, the stuff he puts out on Linkedin is top shelf!)

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-spencer-a6856299/

Instagram: @performancecoach_spencer

Nathan' bio:

Nathan Spencer is a Strength & Power Coach and PhDcandidate whose career spans over a decade in elite sport both internationally and domestically. He has coached and consulted in the NRL, NBA, and Olympic pathways, with a focus on strength and power diagnostics, velocity-based training, and applied sports science. Nathan is currently Strength & Power Coach at the St George Illawarra Dragons and leads Strength-IQ, a consultancy dedicated to helping coaches and organisations gain clarity in athlete performance through diagnostics-driven prescription. His research explores mentoring and coach pedagogy, aiming to design evidence-based frameworks that support thenext generation of strength and conditioning professionals.

This was a very insightful chat with Amelia Yarwood, a Learning Success Advisor from USYD. In this podcast we chat all things communication, tricky clinical scenarios, and the complexity of navigating complex clinical communication. This is the episode I would have loved to listen to as an undergrad prior to going on my clinical placements - but there are also so many great insights in here for established clinicans also. Be sure to give this one a listen!

Amelia's bio:

Amelia Yarwood is annexperienced Learning Success Advisor of 7 years. She currently works at the University of Sydney where she supports students' academic success through workshops and 1:1 consultations. Amelia works closely with Allied Health students and has been responsible for delivering clinical communication workshops for disciplines with the Faculty of Medicine and Health since 2023.

This was a great opportunity to sit down with Scarlett to chat about her experiences as a new grad EP in rural settings. I had the privledge of teaching Scarlett only a year ago and she always had brilliant insights and a bunch of experience - so when I heard she was working in rural settings I was very excited to pick her brain. This was a great chat and I hope you all enjoy!

Scarlett's bio:

"I am a 2024 graduate of the University of New South Waleswith a Bachelor of Exercise Physiology, awarded with distinction. During mystudies, I completed part of my practical placement in rural New South Wales, which led me to my current role as an Accredited Exercise Physiologist serving Dubbo and the Central West. Over the past eight months, I’ve had the opportunity to apply and refine the skills I developed at university across a diverse range of clients. In addition to my work as an Exercise Physiologist, Ialso work as a Personal Trainer. I’m passionate about supporting both general and clinical populations to challenge themselves and achieve their health and performance goals."

This was a great chat with Kate about her experience working in hospital settings as well as her PhD and MRes research. Kate shares an abundance of insights in this episode about clinical work, research, placements, and much more. This was also just a genuinely fun chat where I learned a lot about so be sure to check this one out!

About Kate and where you can follow her work:

Kate is a clinician scientist with a background in cardiopulmonary exercise physiology and critical care nursing. She is currently pursuing a PhD to understand how exercise testing can uncover clues about why people become breathless. Kate has over a decade of experience working in the Australian public healthcare system, taking on roles across the entire spectrum of clinical acuity, including emergency, clinical trials, and outpatient rehabilitation.

Twitter and BlueSky: @physiologistk8

’Effects of intensity and training on cardiovascular responses to the Valsalva manoeuvre’ in Journal of Basic and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology

This was a great chat with PhD candidate, Yannick Gilyani. Yannick walks us through Process Evaluation, which is something that may not be super familiar as it is emerging in the exercise/pain space. But, if you have ever read a clinical trial and wondered how this may replicate in your clinic or, what the elements you need to 'extract' from that trial to achieve the same (or better) effect this episode is for you! Please see Yannick's bio below:

Yannick is a PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales and Neuroscience Research Australia in the Centre for Pain IMPACT. Yannick’s research interests include complex pain conditions, investigating treatment mechanisms, understanding the lived experiences in the healthcare system, and translating research into practice. For his PhD, he is conducting a process evaluation of the MEMOIR trial for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome to optimise and translate mechanistic and experiential findings into clinical practice and policy. Yannick has experience working clinically as an Accredited Exercise Physiologist with young people in the mental health space. In his spare time, he enjoys playing golf, rock climbing, cooking and live music.

This was a huge episode with someone I have connected with online for quite some time now, Justin Martino, DPT. Before I intro this episode and Justin, the audio got a little spotty in the first 5mins, but we sorted it and the rest was back to normal audio quality.

In this ep, we set out to chat exercise and mental health, which we did... but we also covered much more. We chatted about the psychosocial side of pain, siloed research, BJJ, pragmatic exercise options in the context of pain management, and of course all about Justin's journey to where he is today. In the context of mental health and exercise, Justin takes us through the evidence and some breadcrumbs as to how we can set out to engage people we are working with in this exercise in meaningful and achievable ways. Justin is a full-time clinician (see below) but also puts out some great research in really cool areas and at the end of the episode gives some insight to what he is currently working one.

This was an absolute pleasure to record, and I highly encourage everyone to check this one out - there are a tonne of golden nuggets in there from Justin.

Justin's Bio:

"Justin Martino is an outpatient orthopedic physical therapist with Duke University Health System in Durham, North Carolina in the United States. He emphasizes evidence-based care and shared decision-making to empower patients through movement optimism—helping them recognize their body’s resilience and the benefits of conservative care.

He earned his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from High Point University in 2024 and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Wake Forest University in 2019.

When he's not at work or doing research, Justin enjoys spending time with his girlfriend and goldendoodle, Brazilian jiu jitsu, lifting weights, and cooking."

Research discussed by Justin:

⁠https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35416941/ ⁠

⁠https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36731907/⁠

⁠https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38355154/⁠

⁠https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34398577/⁠

⁠https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36369663/⁠

⁠https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33497853/

This was a huge episode with someone I have connected with online for quite some time now, Justin Martino, DPT. Before I intro this episode and Justin, the audio got a little spotty in the first 5mins, but we sorted it and the rest was back to normal audio quality.

In this ep, we set out to chat exercise and mental health, which we did... but we also covered much more. We chatted about the psychosocial side of pain, siloed research, BJJ, pragmatic exercise options in the context of pain management, and of course all about Justin's journey to where he is today. In the context of mental health and exercise, Justin takes us through the evidence and some breadcrumbs as to how we can set out to engage people we are working with in this exercise in meaningful and achievable ways. Justin is a full-time clinician (see below) but also puts out some great research in really cool areas and at the end of the episode gives some insight to what he is currently working one.

This was an absolute pleasure to record, and I highly encourage everyone to check this one out - there are a tonne of golden nuggets in there from Justin.

Justin's Bio:

"Justin Martino is an outpatient orthopedic physical therapist with Duke University Health System in Durham, North Carolina in the United States. He emphasizes evidence-based care and shared decision-making to empower patients through movement optimism—helping them recognize their body’s resilience and the benefits of conservative care.  

He earned his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from High Point University in 2024 and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Wake Forest University in 2019. 

When he's not at work or doing research, Justin enjoys spending time with his girlfriend and goldendoodle, Brazilian jiu jitsu, lifting weights, and cooking."

Research discussed by Justin:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35416941/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36731907/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38355154/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34398577/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36369663/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33497853/

It was great to chat with Dr MillieMardon about her journey into academia, her brilliant work around pelvic pain and pain education, and her current post-doctoral work. This was a super enjoyable one to record and there are lots of gems in there as well - be sure to have a listen!

Millie's bio

"Dr Amelia Mardon is a postdoctoral research fellow in reproductive health at NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University. She has a PhD in pelvic pain and a research interest in the conservative management of endometriosis and pelvic pain, including pain education. Through her research she hopes to reduce the stigma associated with the pelvis and improve the wellbeing of those living with pelvic pain."

Papers discussed:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38452219/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39968159/

Was great to sit down with Claire and Chris and talk about the ASTEROID trial. We get into the self-report outcomes, the objective IVD outcomes, and the qualitative outcomes of the trial. Claire and Chris are both PhD candidates (at the end of their candidature) at Monash. Their Bios, where to find them, and links to the trial and protocol are below:

Claire Samanna:

Claire Samanna is a PhD Candidate from Monash University and an Accredited Exercise Physiologist for the last eight years. Claire’s desire to continually grow and learn tied in with her deep passion for understanding andhelping those experiencing chronic low back pain led her to undertake a PhD in low back pain and specifically in how intervertebral discs respond to exercise. She is a member of the Australian Pain Society and recently presented herresearch findings at the Australian Pain Society conference and the Exercise Sports Science Research to Practice conference. Claire’s hobbies include keeping active with race walking and running and traveling as much and as oftenas she can. Claire’s personal experiences with her own injuries drive her desire to improve the healthcare standards and narratives patients in pain receive, to create better pathways for those experiencing chronic pain.

Instagram: Claire_thelowbackpain_epX: @ClaireLSamanna

Chris Neason:

Chris Neason is an exercise physiologist and the owner of the Healesville Wellness Factory. He is passionate about helping people with back pain overcome pain and injuries and is currently undertaking a PhD exploring running in people withlow back pain. Chris also teaches and supervises students at Deakin University. 

X: @chris_neason

ASTEROID: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/59/2/99.full

Protocol: https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/9/1/e001524

This was a fantastic chat with newly minted PhD, Dr Imtiaz Desai. Imtiaz has recently finished his PhD at UNSW looking at some really cool research around the effect of resistance training and creatine on the gut microbiome. He is now a post-doctoral researcher and trial manager at the Centre for Pain Impact working on the Capacity trial. Imtiaz also recently published a systematic review on the effect of creatine on RT-based body composition changes (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39074168/). Imtiaz provides some great insights to academia and we get into some cool chat around his research. Enjoy the show!

Imtiaz's bio:“Imtiaz is a health and performance expert with global experience in the management and development of small businesses—who loves being on two wheels—and has PhD-level experience in managing clinical research. He has a passion for guiding people and organisations to success and is dedicated to improving human health.”