HUR Australia Webinar April 2021
Muscles and Mobility Matter: Lessons from Research to inform Practice
29th April 2021 | Thursday | 1200-1300 (Singapore Time)
For many decades we have been discussing bone loss, osteoporosis; its importance, consequences, prevention, and proper management. Whilst osteoporosis is widely discussed these days, a similar and an equally devastating disease describing muscle loss, sarcopenia, is still largely unknown for many clinicians, underdiagnosed and mistreated.
There is overwhelming evidence from research over the past decades highlighting the importance of strength training to optimise muscle mass, strength and function, and its importance to maintain health and prevent disease. It has been shown that muscles have a direct liaison to many functions beyond locomotion, such as metabolic rate, glucose metabolism, cognition, blood pressure, and blood lipid levels. Indeed, muscle mass and strength has been directly linked to the treatment and prevention of almost all chronic diseases, and when exercise is properly prescribed, it can work as an efficient medicine to optimise muscle health and reduce the risk of many conditions.
Skeletal muscle is the largest organ system in our body, second to water itself. Our muscles are our main movers but also have a role as endocrine organs with many responsibilities in the management of general health. Furthermore, skeletal muscle makes up almost half of the protein reserves in the human body. Proteins are the main structural components of cells with the responsibility for many physiological tasks such as building and repairing cells including muscle tissue and assisting in the fight against any viral and bacterial infections. Muscles behave as our protein reserves – the “banks” we can withdraw from when our body needs to fight viruses and rebuild cells. Understanding that muscles could act as an immune organ by producing acute phase protective proteins, regular strength training might be a crucial preventive action to fight against diseases.
Muscle health matters. As the average person can lose around 30-40% of their muscle mass from between 20 and 80 years, it is time to get into action and preserve the strength we have, despite the age.
After the year of COVID related inactivity, it is time to get into action to fight Sarcopenia. It is such a pleasure to welcome everyone to our first webinar of 2021, Muscles and mobility matter: Lessons from research to inform practice, and present our speakers, Professor Robin Daly, a Deakin University Researcher with a long research profile on Sarcopenia, and Richelle Street, from Blue Care, and exercise physiologist with a passion for health and wellness, especially in older adults.
Speaker Profiles
Professor Robin Daly is the Chair in Exercise and Ageing at Deakin University, Melbourne
Robin has more than two decades of research experience in conducting clinical, public health and translational intervention trials evaluating the role of exercise and nutrition for preventing and managing common chronic diseases such as osteoporosis, sarcopenia, falls, type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer as well as cognitive related disorders.
Robin is an active national and international contributor of clinical guidelines in the area of exercise, calcium and vitamin D for osteoporosis and fracture prevention. He is Immediate Past President of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Sarcopenia and Frailty Research (ANZSFR), a fellow of Sports Medicine Australia and the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research, a member of the medical and scientific advisory committee for Osteoporosis Australia and a board member of Active Geelong. He is also the founder of the ‘Osteo-cise: Strong Bones for Life’ community-based osteoporosis prevention exercise program.
Richelle Street is as an Accredited Exercise Physiologist with over nine years of work experience in Aged Care and currently working and coordinating the Exercise Physiology Allied Health Discipline within Blue Care.
Richelle has affiliations with the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, University of Southern Queensland and the Australian Catholic University as a lead clinical educator for several exercise physiology students. Richelle has also developed numerous tools for AEPs to use across their work within the Aged Care Sector.
Richelle’s compassion, dedication and professional practice as an accredited exercise physiologist has been recognised in its highest regard by the industry, whereby Richelle was awarded Australian Exercise Physiologist of the Year in 2014. In the past 3 years; 2020, 2019 and 2018 Richelle has been a finalist nomination for this award again respectively. Richelle’s work and Aged Care journey as an AEP has also featured in multiple national magazines including ESSA activate and The Australian Aging Agenda.