i suppose you gotta study on a study abroad trip

today was our first full day in canberra and it was filled with lectures! (though i suppose on a study abroad trip, we should be learning something ...) our first lecture was given by alicia norris on "fueling your performance". she spoke on topics regarding how nutrition helps an athlete perform, how we fuel our body, types of fules used for certain intensity and duration of exercise, nutritional requirements, energy balance, and hydration. only 2% of body fluid needs to be loss before performance will be affected, so remember to stay hydrated in the summer heat!

our second lecture was given by damian raper on "injury prevention". he spoke on topics regarding injury risk reduction, acute management of injuries, rehabilitation, injury surveillance, injury risk factors, and prevention strategies. one interesting thing that differs between the states and australia is concussion management. both counties seem to follow the zurich protocol for return to play (RTP), but in rugby union they have this thing called the "head bin". this is about a five minute period where a medic must figure out if an athlete actually has a concussion and if they can go in or not. this is dangerous because symptoms can develop over a few hours and if a concussion is not resolved before RTP a life-threatening injury called second impact could occur.

our third lecture was given by nathan versey on "recovery". he spoke on topics regarding different ways to recover such as sleep, nutrition, periodisation, warm down, stretching, massage, hydrotherapy, compression garments, and relxation techniques. after the lecture we had a lab on hydrotherapy. specifically contrast where you are submerged in cold water for a bit and then warm water. we all tried to stay in the warm tub as long as possible because the cold tub was not pleasant to be in at all! you're supposed to always finish in the cold tub after a contrast treatment and an hour later i'm still trying to warm myself up!

anyway, i think i'm gonna go find myself a nice hot cup of tea to warm up to before dinner. there isn't good wifi here (or more so none at all), so don't be alarm if i'm not responding to emails/texts. i'm trying the best i can! missing everyone at home dearly <3