It was so wonderful hearing from Dr. Joanna Nicholas (with guest host Emily Scherb aka The Circus Doc) - this episode covers a range of topics from Dr. Nicholas who ran a broad study that looked at pole sport (physical and psychological factors) all over Australia! We talk about common injuries in the pole world, how much head position matters, how to structure classes to build competency in fundamentals while making sure students have fun, and what keeps people coming back to pole class. https://www.waapa.ecu.edu.au/about/our-staff/profiles/research-staff/dr-joanna-nicholas https://www.instagram.com/drjoannanicholas/?hl=en

In this episode of CircSci, we cover aspects of pain science (and how tissue damage may not be as bad as we think), RPE scale usage (for strength versus skills), self-efficacy in coaching and rehab, and more (like some potential aspects of a good warm-up). Tait Brown is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist, and  is incredibly knowledgable in the field of Allied Health and is about as hilariously Australian as you get (he also has his own podcast: Into the Red Zone!). You can follow him here (https://www.instagram.com/totalbodybenefit/) and listen to his podcast here: https://www.spreaker.com/show/into-the-red-zone (or on Spotify!). His bio below: Tait completed a Bachelor of Exercise Science (Rehabilitation) in 2012, followed by a Masters of Clinical Exercise Physiology (Rehabilitation) in December 2013 at Charles Sturt University and has been accredited by Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) as an Exercise Physiologist since January 2014. Tait has a long established interest in physical fitness and health, realising very early that this was his passion. Throughout his career, Tait has been exposed to a broad spectrum of chronic and complex health and injury conditions. He has a particular interest in musculo-skeletal rehabilitation & strength & conditioning. Tait takes an evidence based approach in his work, focusing on the biopsychosocial model. Tait’s ability to communicate and interact with clients ensures the greatest level of motivation and confidence from clients to achieve their goals. Tait is currently working in one of Sydney, Australia’s leading Strength gyms, working with strength athletes competing across powerlifting, weightlifting and strong man as well as general population.

Have you ever wondered about the interaction of dieting in relation to circus or aerial training? In this episode of CircSci, we look at intermittent fasting and keto diets and whether they make sense for circus athletes with Dr. Ethan Weiss. Dr. Weiss is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and a Principle Investigator in the Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI). He received his M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also completed his internship and residency. He completed his cardiology training at UCSF. Dr. Weiss’ clinical interests include prevention, lipids, thrombosis and the emerging intersection of endocrinology and cardiology with a specific focus on pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes as risk factors for coronary disease. His research is focused on the mechanisms of obesity, fatty liver disease, and diabetes. He has an active program in clinical nutrition exploring time-restricted eating. He has served as Principle Investigator on grants funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). His laboratory previously focused on novel regulators of thrombosis and hemostasis. He serves on multiple scientific advisory boards and is a co-founder of Keyto Inc., a San Francisco-based company aiming to enable the use of a heart healthy ketogenic diet to treat metabolic diseases.

Ever been curious about how to assess when to stop training a dynamic aerial skill versus a strength skill? In this episode of CircSci, we explore the way you can use autoregulation and repetitions left in reserve to pick sets/reps and load for differing types of exercise and skills. Throughout my coaching and academic careers, I’ve always looked up to experts who: were constantly learning, humble, passionate, and admit when a question or idea is beyond their scope of knowledge. Dr. Eric Helms (@helms3mdj) is one of those people. He not only was open to doing an interview, but touched on a NUMBER of different subjects beyond our overall topic of autoregulation in bodyweight strength training, aerial, circus, and gymnastics. Eric is currently a research fellow at the Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand, author on MASS Research Review, two books, and competes internationally as a powerlifter, strongman, and bodybuilder. Please enjoy this lengthy podcast episode covering auto-regulation for strength training and skill training, minimum effective dose, and oral contraceptive impact on performance (piggy-backing a bit on the last episode with Dr. Jess Allen). As usual, if you have any questions for me, please comment below or email me at koz.circ@gmail.com If you’ve got more questions about the newest research in strength training science, check out MASS (Monthly Applications in Strength Sport) Research Review and give Eric a follow @helms3mdj and subscribe to his channels as he puts out incredible content constantly!