Diary of an academic mum

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD).  Physiotherapist, behaviour change scientist and run coach. Aim: Establish the effects of wearing a facial mask on perceived exertion and physiological outcomes during running. Method: One 31-year-old woman (max HR = 189 beats per min) pushing a pram with one 10 month-old-child (weight = heavy) ran* 2.7km twice while attending a work meeting. The second run was completed while wearing a three-layered facial mask. The space between each run involved getting the grocery shopping done, allowing heart rate and perceived exertion to reach normal levels. One Garmin Forerunner™ watch measured physiological outcomes (heart rate [HR] and percentage heart rate maximum [%HRMax]). Distance, time to complete and pace was also recorded using the watch. Rating of perceived exertion was measured on a scale of 0 (as easy as sleeping) to 10 (exhausting). Results: The two runs were successfully completed with baby and pram in situ, as we...

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD).  Physiotherapist, behaviour change scientist and run coach. My last post involved talking about the potential positives of being isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it's time to talk about some of the negatives. But, I'm not going to talk about the immediate negatives like poor health and economic outcomes . Instead, I'm going to focus specifically on the future negatives. What could go wrong when we encourage the entire Australian population to stay indoors? Image 1: Will you look circle-like after self-isolation? (credit: Bored Panda ) For those who don't know, I am a researcher and do a lot of work in changing health behaviours (e.g. supporting people to exercise more). So this pandemic has made me not only fear for our current health, but also our future health as a result of the lifestyle changes we'll make as we transition to increasing the amount of time spent indoors trying to dodg...

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD).  Physiotherapist, behaviour change scientist and run coach. Those who have seen a physio before are probably used to going to a clinic, checking in with the receptionist, waiting in the waiting room and then seeing the physio in their consultation room. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a spanner in the works. The clinic is your computer room, your receptionist is the 'accept' button on a calendar invite, your waiting room has a comfy couch and your trusty dog and your physio's consulting room is in the cloud. This is 2020. This is pandemic physio. This is telehealth! So what does a telehealth consultation look like? A patient of mine gave me permission to share a video of part of our consultation where I am assessing her shoulder movement and prescribing her an exercise. As you can see, there's not much difference between assessment over telehealth and assessment in person! Except that the consultat...

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD).  Physiotherapist, behaviour change scientist and run coach.   Isolation throws many ordinary things at us, like boredom, loneliness and the potential for poor fitness and general health. Let's try and overcome our isolation obstacles with a homemade obstacle course! I created two obstacle courses at home using stuff I have lying around. Yes, there's some exercise equipment, but you don't need it. Check out my videos below.  Are you new to exercise? Check that you're safe to exercise by  completing this online quiz first . Talk to your preferred health care professional (e.g. GP or physio) if you have any concerns about your safety to exercise before undergoing a new activity. Make sure you warm up and cool down appropriately before exercising (e.g. gentle walking around the block) Cardio Obstacle Course This short circuit starts and ends with a gentle cardio exercise, like stepping up...

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD).  Physiotherapist, behaviour change scientist and run coach.     We are in the beginning of the first (and hopefully last) pandemic of our generation. The COVID-19 or "coronavirus" pandemic sees many of us having to undergo several behaviour changes that we never anticipated needing to make.  What is "coronavirus"? Check out this video for an explainer of the virus' action and COVID-19's infection outcomes. We are being asked to do things we never thought we'd need to do in 2020, like avoiding people around us by using  social distancing that includes 1.5m spacing . We have also seen a lot of the things we enjoy being taken away from us, like our  pubs, clubs, restaurants, cafes ,  gardens  and  beaches  being closed. Image 1: Introverts might enjoy the isolation, but those extroverts out there might struggle without their clubs and pubs (credit: knowyourmeme.co...

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD).  Physiotherapist, behaviour change scientist and run coach.   COVID-19 ("Coronavirus") has officially been  declared a pandemic  by the  World Health Organisation (WHO) . Australia has recently taken the extreme and necessary step of asking people to self-isolate if they :  Are experiencing symptoms (e.g. fever, cough, shortness of breath or sore throat [Image 1]); Have been in contact with someone with COVID-19; or Have travelled overseas and arrived back in Australia after March 15. Image 1: Symptoms of COVID-19 (credit: health.gov.au ) Self isolation can be just that: isolating . We often say that we wish we could just stop time for a couple of weeks and take time off from our responsibilities, like work and exercise, and put our feet up. Well, now that it's enforced for many, we start to realise that it's actually not much fun. In fact, breaks from usual activity can be  bad...

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD).  Research Fellow, BehaviourWorks Australia.  COVID-19 ("Coronavirus") has officially been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) . What is a pandemic? Our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison (ScoMo), has been very busy trying to manage public concern and panic around the pandemic, while advising us on what we should do to minimise the spread of the virus (Image 1).  Image 1: What you can do to control the spread of COVID-19 (credit: Centres for Disease Control and Prevention ) Mr Morrison is often seen flanked by the Chief Medical Officer, Prof. Brendan Murphy , in press conferences where they advise us on what the current situation is, what the government is doing to control the spread and protect the safety of the nation, and what Australians need to do to keep ourselves and each other safe and healthy.  But is ScoMo following his own advice? I read an interesting paper ...