Hi I’m Usha, and I’ve been working in the NHS for nearly 30 years with most of it as a GP. I now also work for Nuffield Health as a Health Assessment GP. I'm passionate about health and fitness and strongly feel that prevention is far better than treatment and the best way to achieve this is through increasing awareness and equipping patients/clients with the right tools and support to form life long habits.  

 

I've always been active, however, over time, over training, limited strength training and an alignment issue on my knees, resulted in me developing osteoarthritis in both my knees. Following realignment surgery in 2022 on my L-knee and removal of screws in 2023, it was a long, slow road back to recovery. In an attempt to postpone knee replacement and adapt to my body's needs,  I have radically changed my training routine, to become a stronger version of myself and to reduce any further joint damage. ​

 

Very often I see patients and clients struggle with daily activities of life (going up and down stairs, carrying shopping, lifting children etc), following prolonged periods of inactivity, long drives to work, hours sitting at a desk and/following injury. This is not just specific to certain age groups and is becoming more common even in individuals in their 30s and 40s. The cycle of joint pain/chronic pain, immobility and lack of exercise often leading to increase stress, poor dietary choices and weight gain, which then perpetuates the cycle process. It can then be difficult to break this cycle and periods of support by medical professions can often be short lived ( physiotherapy for example), resulting in the return to learned habits and the cycle repeating itself. With the right support, this cycle does not have to keep repeating. Let's put a stop now!

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Like other women of my age, perimenopause/menopause has been a real personal challenge for me. Both my medical knowledge and understanding of the impact of a fall in oestrogen levels on our bodies and my expertise and knowledge in personal training, has enabled me to adapt my personal training and that of my clients to their hormonal/age related changes.  These changes can be visible from as early as 40.

Social media has had a huge impact in increasing awareness of our hormonal changes during this time, however, there is a lot of noise around these hormonal changes and cortisol levels and their impact and often not by professions with the appropriate qualifications. My mission is to help support my clients with the correct information, so that they can make informed choices that will positively impact not just short term but also their long term health. It is very easy to just focus on now but my aim is to help you to focus on the "now" and the " future", so that the changes you make today, will hopefully equip you with skills and knowledge into the future, enabling you to live and function independently and improve your longevity. 

 

Other specialist interest and expertise lies in supporting clients with more complex medical needs, suffering from chronic illness such as Diabetes, High Blood Pressure etc and in physical activity and weigth management for obese clients . The fundamental lifestyle change that you can make, that us GPs often tell you to do is to "loose weight and exercise more!". However, this can be difficult if you don't know where to start and knowing whether it's safe for you to start. Getting support in this area requires fitness instructors to be specially trained, to have the knowledge and understanding of how age/disease and medication impacts on the body and training.  

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This is an area of highly specialised training and at ushacfitness, we provide this level of knowledge to support you. This knowledge enables us to develop bespoke programs which will support you to increase your mobility, build strength, prevent injury, manage and/or prevent chronic illness (diabetes, high blood pressure etc) and to reach your fitness and health goals. There are no limits to what you can achieve, however, the way we approach it and how we get there, will change as we get older and understanding this will support you to get to where you want to be. 

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I want to now share my knowledge and experience of both as a GP, Health Assessment Doctor and Rehabilitation Specialist Personal Trainer to help support you along your journey, whether you are new to fitness/training, recovering, and returning to exercise or you wish to lose weight or improve your fitness. This is not a sprint but a marathon, so let me support you along your  journey.

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