The Doctor on a Mission

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At AUT Millennium it’s not uncommon to be surrounded by elite athletes, however there are plenty of high-class athletes in the building who might not catch your eye as easily as Valarie Adams or Lisa Carrington. One such athlete is Dr. Andrius Ramonas.

One reason for this may be that Andrius is a fairly unassuming character, who moves around the building with a degree of swiftness, or it may be that Andrius competes in a sport that doesn’t often make the nightly news. That sport is ultra-endurance running.

As the winner, and current record holder of The Hillary, Tarawera 50 and The North Face 50 Ultra events, as well as numerous top ten finishes in other international distance trail events, Andrius’s presence doesn’t go unnoticed when he toes the start line at an ultra event designed to take you to the edge of your physical and mental capabilities.

Despite our perfect environment for trail running, it wasn’t actually running that brought Andrius to New Zealand, and ultimately AUT Millennium, from his native Lithuania.Dr. Andrius Ramonas 2

You see, Andrius possesses a lot more than just running talent, he is also a qualified Sports Medicine Doctor who has a real passion for equipping himself with the skills and knowledge to assist others achieve their athletic dreams.

Having previously studied at Nottingham University in the UK, Andrius is currently seeking his PhD in Exercise Physiology from AUT.

As part of his research he is putting other athletes through their paces in the lab to determine how efficient they are at utilising fats and carbohydrates during exercise.

Recently, there has been considerable interest in how dietary consumption of carbohydrate and fat can be manipulated to enhance athletic performance, however there are still a number of gaps in what is known. Andrius is attempting to fill in some of these gaps, and ultimately help other highly trained endurance athletes lift their performance.

“My passion for this area of research has come from years of my own experimentation, as well as observing that a lot of poor performance issues in other athletes stem from trying to consume too much food, or the wrong food, while exercising.”

While it will be some time before the official findings of his studies are released, you can tap into Andrius’s skills and knowledge right now through his work in the AUT Millennium Sports Performance Clinics where he provides exercise physiology services.

Through the range of services on offer in the Clinics you can assess your own performance level and determine the best path forward for your training, or get an accurate measure on your own carbohydrate and fat utilisation.

 

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