With the Sydney Marathon approaching, training blocks are kicking off across Sydney. Whether this is your first marathon or your fifth, the excitement of starting a new build often comes with the temptation to do too much, too soon.

Marathon prep is one of the most rewarding training cycles you can undertake, but it also places a significant load on the body. The runners who perform best (and enjoy the process most) are usually the ones who can stay consistent and healthy across theentire block.

Here are my top three training tips and top three injury prevention tips as marathon season gets underway.

🏃‍♀️ 3 Top Training Tips

1. Build consistency before intensity

One of the biggest mistakes runners make early in a marathon block is chasing fitness too quickly. Long runs, speed sessions, and weekly mileage all ramp up at once, and the body struggles to keep up.

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Creatine is one of the most extensively studied supplements in sports science and rehabilitation. Research consistently demonstrates benefits for muscle strength, rehabilitation outcomes, pain reduction, recovery, and healthy aging. From all the research I have gathered the answer is yes! It is one of the safest and highly beneficial supplements to consume for both the brain and the body, for females and males, and for all adults throughout life.

Creatine is a natural substance your body already makes that helps your muscles produce quick energy. Creatine is a compound found in your muscles and brain. Your body makes it from amino acids (building blocks of protein), and you also get it from foods like meat and fish. When you need quick bursts of energy (like sprinting, lifting weights, or jumping) your muscles use creatine to create fast fuel and the more creatine in your muscles = more quick energy available. This is why creatine helps with strength, power, and short intense workouts.

Some research suggests your muscles absorb creatine slightly better post‑workout, especially when taken with food or a shake because our muscles are more sensitive to nutrients after exercise. Creatine absorbs well when insulin is triggered (from carbs/protein), so taking it with a normal meal also works great.

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Waking up with a stiff, painful neck that you can barely move is a common and frustrating experience. Often referred to as “wry neck” or torticollis, this condition can come on suddenly and significantly limit your ability to turn your head, drive, or even find a comfortable position.

Although it can feel alarming, wry neck is usually not serious and responds well to the right management.

This blog explains what wry neck is, why it happens, and how physiotherapy can help you recover safely and effectively.

 

What Is Wry Neck (Torticollis)?

Wry neck, or torticollis, is a condition where the neck becomes painful, stiff, and difficult to move. It often presents with the head tilted to one side and difficulty turning in the opposite direction.

Symptoms typically develop quickly - sometimes overnight, and may be triggered by something as simple as an awkward sleeping position or sudden movement.

While the pain can be intense, wry neck is usually a short-term condition involving the muscles and joints of the neck rather than serious structural damage.

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Staying active during pregnancy offers significant benefits for both mother and baby. As physiotherapists, we play a key role in guiding safe, effective exercise tailored to each individual. This blog outlines current recommendations, including guidance from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG), and highlights evidence from recent systematic reviews.

Why Exercise Matters in Pregnancy

Regular physical activity during pregnancy is associated with:

• Reduced risk of gestational diabetes

• Lower incidence of hypertensive disorders (including preeclampsia)

• Improved mental health and reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression

• Better weight management

• Reduced risk of excessive fetal growth (macrosomia)

• Shorter labour and reduced likelihood of operative delivery

Importantly, exercise is considered safe for most uncomplicated pregnancies.

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If you’ve ever felt tightness along the outside of your thigh or knee—especially with running or gym work—you’ve probably been told it’s your IT band.

For many people, it starts as a mild awareness or stiffness. But over time, particularly with repeated loading, it can develop into sharper pain on the outside of the knee. This is commonly referred to as Iliotibial Band Syndrome, one of the most frequent overuse injuries seen in runners.

It’s often blamed on a “tight IT band.”

But here’s the thing… it’s not quite that simple.

What is the IT band?

The Iliotibial Band (IT band) is a thick band of connective tissue that runs down the outside of your thigh, from your hip to just below your knee.

Rather than being a muscle, it acts more like a support structure, helping to stabilise your hip and knee—especially during activities like walking, running, and single-leg movements.

It works closely with muscles around the hip, particularly the Glutes and Tensor Fasciae Latae to control how your leg moves and absorbs load.

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Sleep is not just “rest.” It’s an active biological process essential for tissue healing, inflammation control, and pain regulation. Research consistently shows that poor sleep leads to:

• Slower recovery from musculoskeletal injuries

• Higher pain levels and reduced pain tolerance

• Impaired rehabilitation outcomes

• Increased risk of re‑injury

Key Point: Improving sleep is one of the simplest, most effective ways to enhance healing.

So what happens during sleep that directly influences injury recover? Lets look in to it.

1. Tissue repair, cellular regeneration and growth hormone release.

Deep Sleep = The Body’s Primary Repair Window

During deep sleep, or slow‑wave sleep (SWS), the brain’s metabolic activity drops, allowing more energy to be diverted to tissue repair.

Key processes during SWS:

• Growth Hormone Surge:

  Large pulses of human growth hormone (hGH) are released from the anterior pituitary. hGH supports:

  • Muscle fiber regeneration

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Low back pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal conditions worldwide, affecting up to 80% of people at some point in their lives. Among the many potential causes of back pain, intervertebral disc injuries, often referred to as disc bulges, disc herniations, or “slipped discs” are frequently discussed and commonly misunderstood.

Although these terms can sound alarming, many disc injuries improve with proper management and a gradual return to movement. Understanding what a disc prolapse is, why it occurs, and how physiotherapy supports recovery can help people stay active and confident during rehabilitation.

 

What Is a Disc Prolapse?

The spine is made up of a series of vertebrae separated by intervertebral discs. These discs act as shock absorbers, helping distribute loads through the spine during everyday activities such as walking, lifting, and bending.

Each disc consists of two main components:

• Annulus fibrosus – the strong outer ring of fibrous tissue

• Nucleus pulposus – a softer, gel-like centre that helps absorb compressive forces

A disc prolapse, also referred to as a disc herniation, occurs when the inner nucleus pushes outward through a weakened portion of the outer annulus. This can lead to irritation of nearby structures, including spinal nerves.

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Endurance sports like running and triathlons demand exceptional physical and mental resilience. But for women, there’s an additional layer to performance and wellbeing that often goes overlooked: hormonal health. As a pelvic health physiotherapist, I frequently see active women who are doing “everything right” with their training—yet struggling with fatigue, injuries, pelvic floor symptoms, or disrupted menstrual cycles. Often, the missing piece is understanding how endurance training interacts with the body’s hormonal system.

The Hormonal System: More Than Just Periods

Hormones regulate everything from energy levels and metabolism to bone density, recovery, mood, and pelvic floor function.

• Oestrogen – supports bone health, muscle repair, and tissue elasticity (including the pelvic floor)

• Progesterone – influences temperature regulation, breathing, and recovery

• Cortisol – the stress hormone, elevated with intense or prolonged training

• Leptin & insulin – regulate energy availability and metabolic function

When training load, nutrition, and recovery are well balanced, these systems work in harmony. When they’re not, disruption can occur.

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