In this bite sized episode, we sit down with Harry Dale from PhysioFocus to discuss the unique challenges of maintaining personal health and fitness as a new dad. Harry shares his personal journey of adjusting to life as a new parent and stresses the critical importance of self-care, even amidst the extra responsibilities of parenthood.
We delve into the topics of exercise after fatherhood and how to navigate the guilt of taking time for self-care while still giving your utmost to your family. Harry draws an interesting, albeit unexpected, connection between deconditioning and long-term back injuries common among fathers as they neglect their physical health in the rush of parenting responsibilities.
The conversation moves into how being a dad himself has improved Harry’s understanding and empathy for the dads he treats in his clinic. He shares his day-to-day operations at PhysioFocus, a general physiotherapy clinic spread out across three locations, dealing with everything from back pain and neck pain to sports injuries.
The episode ends on a positive note, reminding dads that every small step towards fitness is a win and that it’s okay if their workout routines don’t look the same as they did pre-parenthood. Harry affirms his readiness to assist any dads looking for help with their healthcare and fitness needs.
Episode Transcript
We are here with Harry Dale from PhysioFocus, and we just were having a chat about being dads.
I'm a very new dad with a six and a half week old at home. Harry has a two month old today.
And gee whiz, isn't it interesting trying to get dads involved in their health?
Some dads are super active.
Some dads, you just don't see them because they don't need to come in for years and years. Yeah.
(00:20):
Tell us about being a dad, interacting with dads at your clinic, maybe.
What's sort of a day like for you, Harry? Yeah, I think, I guess the biggest
thing for me as a very new dad is the massive curveball as far as to lifestyle
and particularly about the time you prioritize to your own health.
So, you know, the challenge that I'm navigating at the moment is how do I get
back into doing some exercise and trying to make sure I get back into the lifestyle
(00:43):
habits that are a little bit easier when I didn't have someone to depend on,
which to be honest, I'm trying to navigate at the moment.
But I like the idea of things that are quick and easy, going
for a jog straight out the the door so you don't have any other prep time or
not feeling something can around work so we're lucky working in a physio
clinic with a gym i can try and do a quick little workout here
and there and maybe it looks like 20 or 30 minutes rather than an hour so that
(01:03):
i'm able to get home quick enough to be helpful but yeah it's definitely a challenge
definitely one that i wasn't thinking too proactively about beforehand because
i find kids are heavy right like your kid gets very heavy very quickly and yes
you get a certain amount of exercise carrying a bassinet yet pushing a pram I'm sure.
But if I didn't have a gym on the public park near where I live,
(01:23):
it would be very hard to get to the gym.
I can take the kid for a walk in the pram and do a couple of pushups,
a couple of stretches while they're asleep, but it's really hard.
And that's why we often see a lot of dads with back injuries or deconditioned
a few years down the track.
Absolutely. Well, I think it just comes down to trying to find a balance, right?
Of how much time can I take for myself versus how much time can I give to my
(01:43):
kid and my partner to try and support them?
And there's a level of guilt, I think everyone feels about trying to go away
and look after themselves, particularly in these crazy early stages where you're
trying to work out what to do.
But I think as you alluded to, it's just every little bit helps.
I think we just got to accept the fact that things aren't going to be perfect
and they're not going to, maybe your workout's not going to look like what it
did before you had the little bub.
(02:04):
And if you are doing a few pushups here and a bit of a jog there,
I think that's a win to be honest with you.
And I'm sure things will settle down as you get, as the public gets a little
bit older and you get a little bit more of a routine.
But you're right. definitely I think lifestyle habits
are easy to change to fall into bad habits
and then it's it's something that's a little bit harder to
get back into a positive habit so I think you just got to continually keep trying
(02:26):
to reframe what you need and what works for you because definitely I can even
see in my own my own life at the moment I buggered my back up straight after
having the because you just sleep deprived and not looking after yourself so
it's yeah learn by making those those mistakes, try and work it out after that.
I think being a dad now, and don't get me wrong, I'm seven weeks in,
(02:47):
I'm by no means an expert, but having that experience helps me see what the
dads I treated are going through.
It helps me understand why they're in the position they're in.
So tell me about where you work at PhysioFocus. Yeah. What's a day like for
you? What sort of things are you treating? What's your reason of interest?
General physiotherapy clinic. So it's relatively widespread.
(03:07):
We treat back pain, neck pain, chronic pain conditions.
We also treat a lot of sporting injuries. So we do a lot of post-op,
ACLs, shoulder reconstructions, rotator cuff injuries, ankle sprains, that kind of thing.
I think we do the active rehab and education really, really well.
We've got a big sports rehab clinic in Carringbar, where we have a full gym
that's manned by physios and exercise physiologists all the time for people
(03:30):
to come in and complete their rehab space.
And then we've got, you know, 11 beds up at the Guy Meir Clinic where we can... 11 beds?
11 beds, yeah. So they're large clinics and we've got another smaller clinic in Cronulla as well.
So, yeah, I guess it's a broad spectrum. We don't treat hands or women's health,
but pretty much everything else we're across. Nice.
Well, let's enjoy the party. But I'm sure if any dads are looking for help and
(03:52):
healthcare, you'd be very happy to sit in. absolutely 100%.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.