Why I became an Exercise Physiologist- Cody Waldon
Why I became an Exercise Physiologist- Cody Waldon
This story all starts at around the age of 5 years old. As an energetic youngster I developed a passion for playing and using the gym equipment where my mum worked. Both my brother and I were lucky enough to go to work with mum and would usually be banished to the child minding, but sometimes we were allowed to stay in the gym. On one occasion we where playing on the squat rack climbing up and down which was one of our usual activities if we could get away with it. Although this time we decided it might be fun if we tried a few more daring moves. Unfortunately for my brother this didn’t end so well resulting in a rather large gash right under his cheek and thus from this day forward we would spend a lot more of our time in the prison that was child minding. Ever since this moment I have constantly been in gyms either visiting mum at work after school or as I got older training to become an all star soccer player.
As I grew up I noticed how different all the people that came to the gym were. They ranged from young aspiring sports stars to your middle aged “gym junkies”, huge muscles and loud grunts and even a hand full of 80 year olds trying to keep fit so they could still do their every day activities. One of these 80 year old was my Grandad or “Pa” as we would call him. Two to three days a week my Pa would come to the gym early morning and do his weights. As he got older and a little less mobile he would wake up early and complete his usual routine around the pool table. Being quite young at the time I never really understood why he would do this but I certainly do now. By being surrounded by exercise I saw some of the amazing and sometimes simple benefits it has to help you enjoy your life.
Over the years playing soccer on the Gold Coast I have seen and had my fair share of injuries. Most of which came from hard tackles or just knocks. Actually when I think about it I have managed to stay pretty clear of any chronic injuries. I think over my 17 years of playing I have probably only had 3 injuries that have kept me out of soccer for more than 3-4 weeks. This is largely because any time I had soreness or something that was niggling I would consult the exercise expert (my mum). She would usually give me a couple of things to work on and advise a good massage and wa-lah, within a couple of weeks the pain would usually disappear. This got me thinking about how important the right kind of exercise can be in athletic populations. Then when I found exercise physiology it just made sense.
Skip forward to 2014. I was finishing my Bachelor of Exercise Science at Griffith University and was unsure of what my future would look like. I was recommended to do some work experience with a family friend coincidently an Exercise Physiologist. 6 weeks learning and seeing how much people enjoyed themselves and also how much better people were feeling and I had decided my future. Still competing in soccer allowed me to take a different look at Exercise physiology seeing not only how well it works with chronic disease populations and ageing populations, but also sporting populations.
I believe that deep down everyone enjoys some form of exercise and I thoroughly enjoy trying to find out what type that of exercise is. My enjoyment for exercise physiology only increases as I see how much it can help people achieve their physical fitness and health goals.
In Fitness,
Cody Waldon
Accredited Exercise Physiologist
