Lateral Think - The Melbourne Athletic Development Podcast

Lateral Think - Avish Sharma (PhD) is the current Victorian Institute of Sport Track and Field Performance Scientist (Physiology). His background includes posts at the AIS and with Triathlon Australian, where his research has centred on altitude training and performance optimisation. In this discussion we explore the attainment of performance, understanding the input of physiology and the complex nature of overall sports performance.  This is a great discussion with anyone looking to understand how we can enhance the capability of the people we work with. 

Lateral Think - Load Monitoring has become a huge area of sports performance and injury management. In this episode we explore what is useful and what may assist clinicians and coaches in making group or individual decisions with the aim of improving performance and reducing injuries.

Lateral Think - Justin Rinaldi is a world renowned middle distance track coach. Justin has guided 4 Australian males to run under 1 min 45 sec over 800m and has the three most recent 800m Australian record holders as his current or former athletes. Despite such an impressive coaching career, Justin has worked throughout his coaching life in a full time role working in management for a major Australian bank. We explore his philosophies on training, athlete management and coaching. 

Lateral Think - In this episode Jack and John discuss Manual Therapy. The topic has become somewhat a talking point in the world of physical therapy, however upon diving deeper into the understanding of its effects, its application and the appropriateness of use to an individual case, we see that there are opportunities to explore its implementation to create the best outcomes for patients.

Lateral Think - Marco Keogh is a psychologist who specialises in  addiction. Drawing on his experience working through group therapy, counseling and psychotherapy approaches Marco shares how understanding how psychological skills and relationships affect interactions with patients and the careful use of communication for the benefit of both patient and clinician. 

Lateral Think - Jack and John discuss the use of experimentation in clinical practice. We explore the use of educated experimentation, known as 'safe to fail' experiments and highlight how this ties together concepts of complex systems theory and healthcare practice. This is deeper exploration on how to use a targeted and individual approach to injury management using information to constantly update your approach for best outcomes. 

Lateral Think - Associate Professor Tania Pizzari is a clinical physiotherapist, researcher and successful physiotherapy clinic owner. Tania's research across a multitude of injuries makes her a world leading expert in more than one area of research. In this discussion we explore clinical practice, teaching and learning and the translation of research to practice. Tania is a true leader and clear thinker across many areas of practice, making this an episode not to be missed.  

Jack and John discuss diagnosis in healthcare. Diagnosis is the cornerstone of many healthcare frameworks, however it is important to consider its effect on the patient, the prognosis and the outcomes that are achieved. In this discussion we explore what a diagnosis means and how you may use first principles to guide your management even in situations where a clear diagnosis is difficult to ascertain. 

Lateral Think - Katrina Borg is the lead Nutritionist at Married to My Macros. Katrina uses her Masters of Science in Nutrition & Human Performance and a background as a competitive weightlifter to develop and optimise nutrition plans for athletes and the general populace. Her background as an athlete shines through in this discussion across topics from weight cutting for combat sports and weightlifting to optimising micronutrient intake for performance and injury management. 

Lateral Think - David De La Harpe is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in spinal surgery. Prior to his specialising in spinal surgery David completed his training as a Chiropractor. In this discussion we explore his unique perspectives on spinal surgery, and how is background has altered his clinical care, in particular when to use spinal surgery and when it may not be the best option.