Luke Nelson - Sports & Exercise Chiropractor

Call Directions Website

Luke Nelson - Sports & Exercise Chiropractor 🔹Fellow Sports & Exercise Chiropractor (AICE 2019)
🔸President Sports Chiro Australia
🔹Director Health & High Performance
❤️️Family, Running & Sports Chiro

Ran a marathon? Your motivation might be back… but your body might still be negotiating the stairs 😂Already browsing you...
12/10/2026

Ran a marathon? Your motivation might be back… but your body might still be negotiating the stairs 😂
Already browsing your next marathon while going downstairs sideways? 👀

Post-marathon recovery is about more than waiting for your quads to stop complaining.
Different tissues and body systems recover on different timelines. Feeling less sore is encouraging, but it doesn’t tell you the whole story.

So before you launch straight into the next training block:
🍽️ Keep fuelling. Recovery still needs energy.�💧 Rehydrate without forcing excessive amounts of water.�😴 Give yourself extra time to sleep.�🚶 Keep movement gentle while soreness and fatigue settle.�🏃 When you’re ready, start with short, easy runs. Check how you feel during the run and the next morning.�📈 Gradually rebuild before bringing back long runs, hills and speedwork.

And give your head some breathing room too. After months of structure, a quieter week can feel surprisingly strange.

You don’t need to decide your next goal while your medal is still hanging around your neck.

The timelines in this carousel are guides, not deadlines. Persistent localised pain or worsening symptoms deserve assessment.

🎙️ For more, listen to “Beyond the Finish Line: The Science of Marathon Recovery” on The Rehab Runway, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
https://www.healthhp.com.au/the-rehab-runway/marathon-recovery

Save this for the week after your marathon, and send it to the runner already planning their next one.

How are the stairs treating you today? 😂

Injured runner? “How many kilometres do you run each week?” is a useful question. It’s just not enough on its own.Two ru...
06/10/2026

Injured runner? “How many kilometres do you run each week?” is a useful question. It’s just not enough on its own.

Two runners can both run 50 km a week, yet have very different training demands. How often do they run? How closely are sessions packed together? What’s their longest run? Have speed, hills, racing or surfaces changed?

When I review training around an injury, I’m looking for what changed, when it changed, and what the runner had recently tolerated. That can help us understand the training story and guide the next decision. It can’t prove what caused the injury.

I created The Running Load Review to help clinicians work through that process.

Download your FREE copy here: https://www.healthhp.com.au/running-load-review

🏃 A race calculator gives you a time. What makes that time realistic?Here’s how we approached the Sydney Marathon with t...
03/10/2026

🏃 A race calculator gives you a time. What makes that time realistic?

Here’s how we approached the Sydney Marathon with two runners I coach.

RUNNER A
A recent half marathon provided a starting point. Repeated long runs, marathon-pace work and a consistent build gave us more confidence in carrying that fitness across 42.2 km.

RUNNER B
A faster half marathon showed good fitness, but the preparation was interrupted, with fewer long runs concentrated later in the build.
They were a little underdone. Our expectations reflected that, and their performance was in line with what we anticipated.

📊 The training history mattered.
We interpreted the TSS charts alongside the completed sessions, interruptions and long-run exposure. A rising curve alone doesn’t establish marathon readiness.

🍌 Fuelling belongs in the conversation.
What has been rehearsed? What was tolerated? A written fuelling plan doesn’t confirm what happened during training or on race day.

🌡️ Then we considered the race itself.
MeteoPace adjusted the starting targets for elevation, wind and thermal effects, helping shape the pacing guides.
Both recorded race times were within a few minutes of those guides. Two examples don’t validate a prediction model, but they illustrate how the different pieces inform a coaching decision.

Before choosing your target, ask:
• What recent performance supports it?
• Does your completed preparation support sustaining it?
• What needs adjusting for the course and conditions?

🎧 More in The Rehab Runway, Episode 20: Making Sense of Marathon Predictions. Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
https://www.healthhp.com.au/the-rehab-runway/how-fast-can-you-run-a-marathon

Save this before setting your next marathon target.

Names withheld and times rounded for privacy.

01/10/2026

The training plan police aren’t coming🚨

Work runs late. Sleep is poor. Family needs you. That niggle is getting louder. Sometimes the sensible call is to shorten a run, move a workout or take a rest day.

If you’re someone who needs to tick every box, changing the plan can feel like failure. It isn’t.
Perfectionistic concerns have been associated with running injuries, although that doesn’t prove rigid training caused them.

Train for the months ahead, not a perfect week.

Who else has felt guilty for changing a session? 👇

It’s taper time! Meet Liv. 👋Liv has finished the hard training.�Now all she has to do is less.She is finding this consid...
29/09/2026

It’s taper time! Meet Liv. 👋
Liv has finished the hard training.
�Now all she has to do is less.

She is finding this considerably harder than expected.

One extra session. A quick fitness test. Three hours at the expo. Some new gels recommended by a man she met twelve minutes ago.

Fortunately, none of this counts as training.

A little book about doing less. With considerable effort. 📖

Which taper mistake feels a little too familiar? 👇

⌚ Your watch gives you a marathon time. Does your training support it?Garmin, Runalyze, and race calculators can give yo...
25/09/2026

⌚ Your watch gives you a marathon time. Does your training support it?
Garmin, Runalyze, and race calculators can give you different answers because they use different inputs and assumptions.

Garmin uses estimated VO₂max and training history. Runalyze adds context from weekly mileage and long runs. Race formulas use previous performances to estimate another distance.

But more inputs don’t automatically mean a more accurate prediction.

Before choosing your marathon pace, check:
✅ Recent race results and reliable training data�✅ Consistent training, long runs and practised fuelling�✅ Course and weather conditions�✅ A realistic target range and controlled opening pace

🌦️ MeteoPace can help adjust your base target for heat, wind and hills. That helps build a pacing plan; it doesn’t confirm the original target was realistic.

A prediction starts the conversation. It shouldn’t dictate your race.

🎙️ More in The Rehab Runway, Episode 20: How Fast Can You Run a Marathon? Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Listen here: https://www.healthhp.com.au/the-rehab-runway/how-fast-can-you-run-a-marathon

⌚ How close was your predicted marathon time to your actual result? Tell me which watch or calculator you used 👇

📚REFERENCES
Riegel PS. Athletic records and human endurance. American Scientist. 1981;69(3):285–290.
Vickers AJ, Vertosick EA. An empirical study of race times in recreational endurance runners. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2016;8:26.
Oficial-Casado F, Priego-Quesada JI, Pérez-Soriano P. Performance prediction equation for the Valencia Marathon based on time and pacing in the half marathon. Frontiers in Physiology. 2026;16:1718298.
Howard J et al. Validation of the Garmin Forerunner 265 to estimate VO₂max and predict half-marathon race performance. SEACSM Annual Meeting Abstracts. 2025.
Engel FA et al. Validity of VO₂max estimates from the Forerunner 245 smartwatch in highly versus moderately trained endurance athletes. European Journal of Applied Physiology. 2026;126:591–603.

🏃 Your VO₂max doesn’t tell the whole marathon story.It tells us about your aerobic capacity. But marathon performance al...
22/09/2026

🏃 Your VO₂max doesn’t tell the whole marathon story.
It tells us about your aerobic capacity. But marathon performance also depends on how much of that capacity you can sustain and the energy cost of your running.

Then there’s durability: how these physiological characteristics hold up as the run continues.

🔬 Zanini and colleagues tested 14 trained male marathon runners when fresh and after separate 90- and 120-minute runs. VO₂peak and lactate-threshold speed declined, while the oxygen cost of running increased. Deterioration was greater after 120 minutes.

In another study of 18 London Marathon runners, smaller declines in lactate-threshold speed after prolonged running were associated with faster marathons.

These small studies don’t give us a universal durability test or a formula for adjusting your target time. They do highlight why fresh fitness measurements only tell part of the story.

When reviewing marathon preparation, I’d also ask:
• How do pace and effort change late in long runs?�• Were heat, terrain and fuelling influencing the response?�• Is the pattern repeated across comparable sessions?

Heart-rate drift alone isn’t a marathon pass mark.

🎙️ I explore this in The Rehab Runway, Episode 20: How Fast Can You Run a Marathon?

For more on durability, revisit Episode 13 with Michele Zanini.

Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or watch on YouTube. https://www.healthhp.com.au/the-rehab-runway/how-fast-can-you-run-a-marathon

📌 Save this before choosing your marathon target, or share it with your training partner.

📚 References:�Joyner & Coyle (2008). J Physiol. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2007.143834�Zanini, Folland & Blagrove (2025). Scand J Med Sci Sports. doi:10.1111/sms.70076�Hunter & Muniz-Pumares (2025). Eur J Sport Sci. doi:10.1002/ejsc.70073

Had to get on this trend 😂A little book about some very familiar conversations in the clinic…“It’s only a niggle.”�“But ...
18/09/2026

Had to get on this trend 😂
A little book about some very familiar conversations in the clinic…
“It’s only a niggle.”�“But what if I run slowly?”�“What about a short one?”�“And I’ve already paid for the race…”

Any of these sound familiar? 😂
After more than 20 years working with runners, I’ve heard plenty of variations. And as a runner who’s had his own injury frustrations, I understand the temptation to negotiate!

You’ve put in the training. The race is getting closer. You’re hoping there’s a way to keep going.

But unfortunately, your bone hasn’t checked your race calendar. And it’s not particularly interested in the cancellation policy.

This is a fictional story, but the conversations are very familiar.

Sometimes the hardest part of rehab is accepting the advice you were hoping you wouldn’t need.

Anyone else been a Ben? 🙋‍♂️

🏃 A 90-minute half marathon predicts roughly 3:08 for the marathon.But would I give every runner with that result the sa...
17/09/2026

🏃 A 90-minute half marathon predicts roughly 3:08 for the marathon.
But would I give every runner with that result the same marathon target?
No.

I’d want to know how they’ve trained, whether they’ve managed consistent long runs, practised their fuelling, and what conditions they’ll face.

Race calculators are useful. The problem is treating their prediction as proof you’re ready to run it.

📊 In one study of recreational runners, Riegel marathon predictions were at least 10 minutes too fast for approximately half the runners evaluated. Adding previous race results and weekly mileage improved prediction.

That doesn’t mean everyone should add 10 minutes. It means the training behind the race time matters.

The newer Valencia model provides another reference point, but it didn’t outperform VDOT across every finishing-time group.

My approach? Start with the race result, then ask whether the runner’s preparation supports the predicted marathon time.

🎙️ Episode 20 of The Rehab Runway:�“How Fast Can You Run a Marathon? Making Sense of Marathon Predictions”
Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or watch on YouTube. https://www.healthhp.com.au/the-rehab-runway/how-fast-can-you-run-a-marathon

📌 Save this before choosing your marathon pace, or share it with your training partner.

💬 Has your marathon result matched a calculator’s prediction?

📚 REFERENCES
Riegel PS. Athletic records and human endurance. American Scientist. 1981;69:285–290.
Vickers AJ, Vertosick EA. An empirical study of race times in recreational endurance runners. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2016;8:26.�DOI: 10.1186/s13102-016-0052-y
Oficial-Casado F, et al. Performance prediction equation for the Valencia Marathon based on time and pacing in the half marathon. Frontiers in Physiology. 2026;16:1718298.�DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1718298

15/09/2026

Not every calf raise needs to be heavy. But if improving calf strength is the goal, you eventually need enough resistance to challenge it.

The problem with heavy single-leg calf raises using a barbell is that balance can become the limiting factor before the calf does.

This supported variation helps solve that:
🔸 Use the other leg for balance�🔸 Lean the barbell gently into the rack�🔸 Let it glide along the upright, similar to a Smith machine�🔸 Control the lowering phase and drive up strongly

The supporting leg will contribute slightly, so this isn’t a pure single-leg calf raise. However, the extra stability allows you to place considerably more load through the working calf.

The goal isn’t to win an award for balancing. It’s to progressively load the calf.

Give it a try and load up those calves! 🦵🔥

Address

437 Belmore Road, Mont Albert North
Melbourne, VIC
3129

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 7pm
Tuesday 8am - 7pm
Wednesday 8am - 7pm
Thursday 8am - 7pm
Friday 8am - 7pm
Saturday 8am - 12pm

Telephone

+61398573143

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Luke Nelson - Sports & Exercise Chiropractor posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Sponsored

Share

Category