Good Morning Everyone in America,
I have come to the conclusion after yesterday and today that I am not of fan of Canberra, Australia. I have not found it nearly as exciting and fun as Melbourne, and there is not as many crazy adventures to go on. However, I only have until Friday here and I am going to make the most of it! At least Wednesday and Thursday we have full training and lecture sessions at the Australian Institute of Sport, so I will actually be able to experience what I came to this city for. This morning right after breakfast we took a walk to the University of Canberra campus where we met up with our teachers and some of their colleagues to learn a little bit more about our research presentations due for the course as well as what they are studying here in Canberra. Our first speaker of the day was Keith who was very interested in making learning and communication worldwide more accessible to everyone. He doesn't believe in paper or in having an office. He prefers to have all of his material accessible to his students online and holds his office hours in the teachers commons where students often come and go during the day. His philosophy on learning was very different and interesting, but I learned some interesting new ways to use Facebook and Twitter for communication. After Keith Disa, one of our teachers for the course, gave a presentation on how we are suppose to create our research poster in PowerPoint, and she also gave us examples of quality work which was very helpful. Once we got through all of our questions regarding our project she went through and discussed her area of research. She studies the affects of osteoporosis in older generations and ways to prevent it. So far they are utilizing a program called HeartSavers which gets the older generation active and works specifically on balance techniques to decrease the risk of injury due to falls. One statistic that stuck out in my mind was that after an elderly person breaks their hip there is about a 50% chance of them passing away in the next twelve months. After Disa one of her colleagues, originally from Spain, was doing her research for her PhD in triathlon training. Specifically the affects on the amount of power exerted by an athlete and their ability to continue on the the next leg of the competition. Her presentation was very technical and hard to follow, but by the end the research made a lot of sense and seemed very beneficial to athletes training for a triathlon. The next woman that came to speak was Kate and her research had to do with lymphedema. This condition is the blockage of lymph vessels which drain fluid from tissues throughout the body. This condition is very common in those with cancer, and is most prominent in women with breast cancer, which was Kate's area of study. She conducted a study to see if lifting weights and exercise would improve or atrophy the fluid build up, particularly in the arms of women who have or have had breast cancer. Her findings were that although the exercise wasn't significantly beneficial it did not cause any adverse affects. She hopes to continue her research further and is giving a presentation in Europe, I believe, later this year, so we were good practice for her. The final colleague who spoke about their research gave a presentation on drugs in sports. her studies focused on how the public perceived drugs (whether recreational or performance enhancing) versus how the athletes viewed the use of them in their sports. It was interesting to find that athletes would report frequent use of drugs in sport, but when it came to the breakdown on drug use by sport those numbers were significantly lower. So many of the players acknowledge the use of drugs, but are diverting the eye away from their sport. Tonight we are attending an Australian rugby match between the Brombies and Wales, so before we left the lecture hall we had one more presentation explaining the rules and logistics of rugby union football. This presentation was very informative, but he kept putting down American football. Another walk back to the AIS and we were free to relax until dinner and then we are out into the freezing cold for the Brombies game. Luckily, the stadium is on sight at the AIS, but according to Disa it is suppose to get down to -1 degree Celsius which is below freezing in Farenheit. For now I am curled up in blankets finishing this post and watching Transformers 3, but I will certainly let you know tomorrow how the game went. Sorry for the lack of pictures, but like I said there really isn't a while lot to do our take pictures of in this facility. Tomorrow and Thursday we are finally getting to train like the athletes and meet/ listen to lectures from some of the Physio's (Physical Therapist), coaches, and athletes, so hopefully it will liven up my perception of this city.
~TTFN
No comments:
Post a Comment