Welcoming Justin to Specialised Health! He has been with us now for 1 month and is representing the state of Tasmania, based in Launceston.

Justin comes to us with an impressive Exercise Physiology background. He’s worked in private practise and with the university EP Clinic providing Cardiac Rehab as well as managing musculoskeletal injuries and clients post-surgery providing both hydrotherapy and land-based exercises.

In addition to clinical EP, he provided workplace health on-site for industrial companies.  He is an Exercise Physiologist for us now! Although on the side, is continuing to work as a Rehab Provider, so we’re excited for some more insider tips on how to best support the Rehab Providers we work with all over the country.

I have always enjoyed sport and exercise and have participated in many different sports throughout my life. After starting in a PE teaching degree at University I found that learning about the science behind how the human body works was by far the most interesting aspect, so I switched to Exercise science and never looked back!

Being able to learn more and use that knowledge to help people recover from injury or manage illness is always rewarding.

I’ve always enjoyed learning about cardiac function and conditions. It’s fascinating how a muscle can contract repeatedly for your entire life without getting fatigued and is so adaptable to stress, especially exercise, even when not functioning optimally.

From a clinical perspective, it’s always amazing to see the difference exercise training can make to the daily lives of people recovering from cardiac events or managing a condition.

Do you exercise?

Every day if possible. Usually, four times per week strength and power training and three days of aerobic training mixed up with intervals, sprints, hills.

I prefer high intensity, lower volume rather than longer duration lower-intensity because it’s also more specific for playing hockey in the winter which involves a lot of hard repeat efforts for 70 minutes. But, for training, I do like to mix it up with the modes between running, bike and rower.

While working in a physio clinic a few years back I had an 88 year old DVA client who was a nurse during WW2.The determination this man showed was amazing. He was mostly chair-bound but was adamant that he be able to walk again using his walker.

After about two months of sessions in clinic and home exercise which he did every day, he was able to perform six laps of the clinic gym without stopping. This is after being unable to complete more than a few steps when I first saw him!

He always wanted to thank me afterwards but I always told him he was the one doing the hard work!

It was also incredible hearing his life experiences. One of the stories he told me was during WW2 in Darwin he could recall standing on the balcony of the hospital watching the Japanese planes fly over and start dropping bombs, it certainly gave me some perspective.

🍣  Food – –  anything in large quantities – I particularly like Asian cuisine, especially Japanese and Thai. Some chocolate and coffee is always agreeable too.

🏑 Exercise (and why?) –  Sounds like something my Fiance’ would say!
Personally if exercising alone I enjoy strength training while listening to music, but overall my favourite exercise would be any that’s incorporated into team ball sports, I find it much more fun and motivating to work hard when it’s part of a game, I’m just a bit competitive at times.

🌎 Fact – There is on average 100,000km of blood vessels in the human body, enough for 2.5 trips around the earth.

🎥 Fiction –  Video games and movies of many genres, I’m an unashamed part-time nerd.
Favourite type of games are first person action games such as Battlefield and Halo that I can play online with friends (again, competitive) as well as sport, racing and open-world adventure.
For movies, I enjoy action, thriller and true story films with some of my favourites being the Daniel Craig Bond films and the Marvel franchise. The best film I’ve seen recently is 1917.

🦴 Myth Buster  –  A scan will always tell you exactly what’s causing pain and lead to it being “fixed” – FALSE!!
Many findings are incidental and more often than not rehabbing to regain function and confidence can be as or more effective as any perceived quick fix medical intervention. Although this, of course, varies greatly with the type of injury, area, traumatic/chronic etc. 

There is a giant star visible in the night sky that has dimmed significantly in recent months, suggesting it may go supernova in the not too distant future or may have already but the light hasn’t reached us. If it did, the light from the explosion would be visible on earth during daylight and be as bright as the moon for several weeks, that would be cool to see.

Yes. I love playing and watching sport and getting outdoors as much as possible. I also love travel and adventure. I try to visit new places and try as many experiences as possible, close to home or far away.

I also love learning about other science topics outside of the health field and have been an aviation enthusiast for as long as I can remember, thanks to my grandfather.

Plus, as I’ve already mentioned, some spare time is filled with videogames.

Outside of work my goal is to win a first-grade hockey premiership after coming within a goal of the grand final in 2019. I’m also hoping to travel to Japan, their food, tech and gaming cultures look like fun. Some wedding and honeymoon planning should also gain a mention.Professionally my goals are to improve my clinical knowledge and skills across the board, I’m really looking forward to getting back into practical sessions with clients. I’m especially looking forward to tapping into the experience my new colleagues at Specialised health have  working with cancer, mental health and fatigue

Justin Ockerby
Email: justin@specialisedhealth.com.au
Linked In:https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-ockerby-82907598/
Area of service: Launceston, TAS