Caroline Arnold Sports Therapy and Pilates

24/11/2025

Great listen

Very excited to announce the launch of a new podcast!! 🎤🎧

Welcome to The Everyday Athlete Podcast where our mission is simple: better conversations about training, injury, and performance.

Each episode we will tackle the messy, confusing, and fascinating realities of what it takes to be an athlete today — hopefully with honesty, humour, and no-nonsense insight from our experiences as both athletes and therapists / coaches.

Please do follow and recommend us to your colleagues, friends and fellow athletes.

Available across Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Podbean.

We are also on insta as

We really hope you enjoy listening, Rosi & Mike.

Episode 1 now available: https://open.spotify.com/show/1la9TZRobursegSFFLlKNu?si=KZQhVFeTQTy0rvnr0WLE_Q

22/11/2025

Creatine is one of the most proven and accepted supplements in sport…

But for endurance athletes?
The story is very different.

Here’s the truth 👇

1️⃣ Does creatine boost endurance performance?
Short answer: Not really.

Meta-analyses in trained endurance athletes show No meaningful improvement in VO₂max, time trial, or endurance performance.

Some studies even show slightly worse VO₂max gains when training with creatine.

So for marathoners, long-course triathletes, and ultra runners → don’t expect magic.

2️⃣ The catch: weight gain

Creatine reliably adds 1–2 kg of extra intracellular water.

For weight-bearing sports, hill running, or events where W·kg rules performance, that extra mass often outweighs any potential benefit.

As Asker Jeukendrup puts it - “The power gains are usually offset by the weight gain for most endurance athletes”.

3️⃣ So why do some endurance athletes still use creatine?

Because it does help in specific situations:

✔ Sprint-heavy cycling, XC MTB, CX, or surgy racing

Creatine can improve: Sprint finish ability, Attacks & repeated surges, High-power demands and is less of an issue if added mass doesn’t slow you down (e.g., TTs, track, flat cycling).

✔ Strength blocks / off-season training

Trent Stellingwerff emphasises periodised supplementation: Use creatine when you’re building the “chassis”:Strength, Power, Muscular robustness, Bone health: Then stop 3–4 weeks before key races.

Stuart Phillips’ work is clear: Creatine supports strength, muscle retention, and training adaptation, which is valuable in Off-loading phases, Return to running, Masters endurance athletes preserving lean mass.

4️⃣ When creatine is not worth it

❌ Marathon training
❌ Ultra endurance
❌ Hill running / mountain races
❌ Athletes sensitive to weight gain
❌ Those managing RED-S risk or body image concerns

Here, the cons > pros.

5️⃣ If you do take creatine…
• Use Creatine Monohydrate (Informed-Sport tested)
• Dose: 3–5 g/day
• No loading phase needed
• Take with food or post-training
• Expect 1–2 kg water gain
• Stop ~3–4 weeks pre-race if weight matters

6️⃣ The take-home message

Creatine is brilliant for strength and power, but a niche tool in endurance sport.

For most runners and long-course triathletes → skip it. For cyclists, sprinters, strength blocks, rehab, or masters athletes → it can be a smart, targeted choice.

Use creatine strategically, not automatically when safe to do so.

18/11/2025

16/11/2025

Sums it up

04/11/2025

☯️

10/10/2025

Balance both

Cardio keeps your heart beating strong.
Strength training keeps your body capable, confident, and resilient.

Run for endurance.
Lift for power.
Do both for balance.

Because it’s not enough to simply exist longer
you deserve to thrive longer.

04/10/2025

More Tai Chi benefits

💡 Tai Chi exercise, lasting 15 to 30 min per session, performed three times a week over an intervention period of at least 16 weeks, may represent the most effective intervention for alleviating chronic low back pain in adults.

👉🏻 This is from the new paper "Exercise prescription for improving chronic low back pain in adults: a network meta-analysis" by Zhao et al 2025

📚 Do you struggle to stay on top of new research?

😫 You're not alone!

✅ Physio Network’s Research Reviews make it easy for you to keep up to date and provide better care for your patients. Try it for free for 7 days now.

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—---------

Disclaimer: Sharing a study is NOT an endorsement. You should read the original research yourself and be critical.

31/08/2025

Amazing to think our knee cartilage has equivalent strength to concrete! !

Will function even with a tear

Is cartilage stronger than concrete⁉️

Beluzzi et al. (2023) say cartilage strength is approximately 9 to 40 Mpa. The compressive strength of standard concrete is 17 to 35 MPa.

They have comparable strength, but cartilage is a living, viscoelastic tissue which is far more resilient than concrete under repeated dynamic loading and manages millions of load cycles during its lifetime.

This strength and resilience allows it to function even with a tear. This may be why tears are often asymptomatic, even in runners.

As with everything, individual cases will vary and management will be influenced by the type of tear and symptoms such as locking, giving way or persistent loss of range.

The good news is that many meniscal tears can be managed conservatively without need for surgery. Reassuring people about the toughness of the knee and its cartilage can help them see that rehab is well worth a shot!!

31/08/2025

Great advice

29/08/2025

We are unique

We all move differently

Our movements are meant to be unpredictable and chaotic

Doesn’t stop us from working on our biomechanics but not for the reasons you think