It was my own journey which peaked my interest in the profession of Exercise Physiology and as a practitioner, not only do I program and prescribe exercise using evidence based principles, I do it with the understanding and knowledge of how hard it can be to change poor lifestyle choices into healthy and everlasting behaviours. 

So how did I balloon up and transform myself into mediocre super saiyan 1.55? 
My story goes… (TLDR version)

Coming from a Vietnamese household, there was always a lot of pressure placed upon me to perform well academically and I had turned to food as a pathway to vent any stressors.  I went to a high-school by the name of QASMT (Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology) where sports and physical activity was not at the top of the priorities list. 

On my 16^th birthday, my dad bought me a road bike (because he was concerned about my weight) and well, the rest is history. Leaving high-school and having recently kick started my health bug/weight-loss journey, I wanted to learn more about exercise and decided to pursue a career where I could help others in my situation. Thus, it has brought me to where I am today, a soon to be Accredited Exercise Physiologist with the knowledge and capability of helping others overcome their chronic conditions and reaching their goals. 

I have one last semester before finishing and albeit a lack of professional experience, the knowledge I have accumulated from my own journey as well as helping numerous friends and family members is invaluable and I hope that I can impart some of this knowledge to influence your journey the same way others have improved mine.  

 QUT Email

-   william.do@connect.qut.edu.au
Personal email

-   williamhtdo@outlook.com     
Linkedin

-   https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-do-378771134/

Instagram
- https://www.instagram.com/willehhdoodoo/

o   Brisbane: QUT Kelvin Grove, Brisbane CBD and nearby

o   South-West Suburbs: Darra, Jindalee, Inala and nearby

I’m keen to meet anywhere informally whether it be at a gym to work on exercise cues/technique (Goodlife gym membership), cafes, uni-library or wherever we can sit-down to hash things out. 

-          What you expect from me in this mentorship and how I could better personalise this experience for you benefit 

-          What objective measures, assessments, case studies and/or ex phys principles you would like to increase your knowledge around. 

-          Your availability/scheduling and contact information

Although I have not been fortunate enough to work in the S&C sphere, it is one of the domains that I am very passionate about and have continued to develop myself further through my own self dedicated learning and self-application. Areas where I have further developed my strength and conditioning knowledge include: 

My own weight-loss journey

-          I wasn’t always living and advocating the healthy and physically active lifestyle that I live today. As mentioned before, during my teenage years, I reached 105kg in my final year of high school before applying what I had learnt in my first 2 years of XN53 (Sport and Exercise science) to shed a total 38kg to a low of 69kg. I didn’t like the way I looked and so, applying what I had learnt from resistance training, exercise prescription and exercise programming onto myself at the end of 2016, I improved my body composition and became who I am today at 77kg. 

XNB470: Healthy population practicum at Winkfit

-          Completed 140 hours of placement working in collaboration with my supervisor Matt Winkley to deliver appropriate programming and exercise prescription to clients in apparently healthy categories. This involved exercise demonstration, instruction, prescription, coaching and moral support, development of exercise programmes and actively promoting health and fitness.

HEALs Study

-          Individualised exercise programming and prescription for overweight individuals as part of a Health Eating and Lifestyle study. My role involved exercise delivery and monitoring to ensure client safety and lifestyle modification to ensure that clients were able to reach their goals over the 8 week intervention period. 

Based on my own experience in treating and applying exercise to myself over the past 6 years, I believe my skills and strengths are in the area of strength and conditioning, weight-loss (cardio-metabolic disorders), lifestyle and behaviour change and an intermediate level of musculoskeletal injuries. Thus, I can provide mentoring on: 

-          Exercise prescription, programming and periodisation 

                   o   Aerobic (avid cyclist for 3 years) and resistance exercise 

-          Interpersonal skills, building rapport

-          Lifestyle and behaviour change, motivational interviewing, encouragement and reinforcement

-          Resources for guided learning 

Although I recognize that the clinical exercise physiology discipline may not be one of my absolute strengths, my desire to develop in this area overshadows my weaknesses as I strive to continue learning to provide a service that is second to none. 

My latest practicum was at Metro South Mental Health – Woolloongabba – Early Psychosis
-           Where I worked with mental health consumer’s in the public health system to treat mental health disorders, depressive symptoms, prevent the onset of cardio-metabolic disorder’s from psychotropic medication prescription and general musculoskeletal injuries. During this placement, my duties included conducting exercise assessments, prescription, programming and delivery. Additionally, it involved liaising with a multidisciplinary team (psychiatrist, psychologist, nurses, social workers, doctors) which allowed for me to further develop my understanding around treatments for mental health conditions. 

Treating myself: Patella tendonitis, Disc bulge (L5-S1) and low back pain

-          In January this year, I had developed injuries as a result of overtraining and poor lifting mechanics. I had an acute bout of low back pain which was x-rayed and eventually diagnosed as a disc bulge at L5-S1. Additionally, I had concurrently developed patella tendonitis. Through consistent learning and applying my experience and exercise physiology principles, I was able to prescribe and program exercise to become injury free. What better way to learn than to apply it to yourself?!

Thus, I can provide mentoring on: 

-          AEP scope of practice

-          My experience, knowledge and skills gained during my practicum 

-          Selecting and conducting appropriate health and fitness assessments

                   o    (subjective questioning to learn about patient history and other important information that may                 affect exercise prescription, 6MWT, blood pressure, anthropometrics and others)

-          Resources for the treatment of cardiovascular, metabolic, musculoskeletal and mental health conditions
-          How to develop confidence and become your own practitioner. 

It’s one of the ideologies that I believe in and live-by. You’ll only achieve as much as you invest in (not in all cases, especially if you bought crypto in December) and I can ensure that’s the case with me. 

I expect my mentee to be: 
Committed – Be involved and commit your time and effort to the process. 

Proactive - Be enthusiastic, ask questions about things you don’t know and would like to increase knowledge around and look to further develop your career and skills. You’ll never know everything but you’ll know a lot about something. 

Open minded – Have an open mind. There’s more than one way to do something and we’re still learning new things about exercise principles and the human body every day. Be open to new ideas and changes to what you thought was the best and most efficient. 

Respectful – Treat other’s the way you want to be treated, be mindful of the beliefs of others. 

Flexible – Have a flexible schedule. You may be on prac, I may be on prac, and we may both be busy but please be considerate and try to allocate time to this to allow for us to further develop ourselves and each other professionally. 

 What you can expect from me?

-         The exact same thing I expect from you! 

-         I expect to be committed and proactive about how I can help my mentee achieve what they wish to achieve from this mentorship by allocating time to facilitate my mentee’s learning and ensuring that I fulfill the promises I make.
-  I expect myself to be open minded and respectful in the sense that I will acknowledge my mentee’s professional experience and expertise to facilitate professional development and learning. I do not know everything and will never claim to so it is an opportunity for both of us to exchange ideas and facilitate each other’s growth. My mentee’s beliefs and time will also be respected in the regard that I will be non-judgemental, willing to compromise, accepting and punctual. 

As AEP’s our expertise in chronic disease management is not as well known or respected as physiotherapists, occupational therapists or dietitians. Having experienced it myself and acknowledging this common misconception, I understand how important it is to not only education patients but also colleagues about our scope of practice. 

This may sound defensive but during my last practicum in Early Psychosis at Woolloongabba, I was consistently questioned by other health professionals as to my role within a multidisciplinary team and how I can prescribe exercise to benefit mental health conditions. Needless to say, there is some ground to make with the non-believers so I always have a spiel ready. 

Attending a mental health placement has sparked my passion for the chronic disease group. I initially attended the site with a great deal of stigma around mental health, consumers and engagement but after my 6 weeks, it only developed my want to help people with mental health disorders. Recent studies have shown the benefits of exercise for mental health disorders, albeit having little improvement on schizophrenia and mania, exercise can greatly improve depressive symptoms and prevent cardiometabolic comorbidities from developing from psychotropic medication use. All in all, i aim to go against the common stigmas whilst aiming to improve the life of others.