Darren Barclay is a highly experienced podiatrist and sports science expert with a deep passion for both physical health and athletic performance. Originally from Canberra, Darren spent six years honing his career and gaining invaluable experience in Darwin before recently relocating to the Gold Coast. His professional journey has been shaped by over 12 years of living and working overseas in Canada and New Zealand, where he expanded his global perspective on sports medicine and injury prevention.

Darren holds a Bachelor of Sports Science from the University of Canberra (1996) and a Bachelor of Podiatry from the University of Newcastle (2010). For nearly a decade, he has specialized in sports injuries and musculoskeletal podiatry, with a particular focus on running-related injuries and athletic footwear. His keen interest in helping athletes recover and optimize their performance makes him a trusted expert in the field, particularly for runners and sports enthusiasts of all levels.

An avid sportsman himself, Darren has a personal understanding of the demands of physical activity. He is passionate about squash, has completed ultra-marathons (including a grueling 100km race), and most recently conquered the challenging Ironman Triathlon. These accomplishments reflect his commitment to both personal achievement and a holistic approach to fitness.

Outside of work, Darren embraces the great outdoors, often spending his weekends camping and reconnecting with nature around a cozy fire. His diverse professional background, combined with his enthusiasm for sports and outdoor adventure, allows him to connect with clients on a personal level, making him a valuable resource for anyone seeking to improve their physical health and performance.

Foot Myths

Men’s and women’s feet are naturally different. It’s the reason that you see noticeable differences in men’s and women’s shoe sizing and fit – leading shoe manufacturers are taking much more than just style into consideration in their designs, it is now commonplace to consider both structural differences like foot width, arch height, toe height and natural flexibility – as well as functional differences like the tendency to pound the pavement during running. 

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AFL | Allsports Physiotherapy

Australian rules football is both a great team sport, and makes for an excellent endurance workout, with players quickly accelerating to high-speed running, making swift changes in direction, kicking, ball-handling and tackling over an 80-minute game. At a professional level, game analysis shows that every game sees the players cover on average 13.2km, make 19 tackles, 205 kicks, 169 handballs and 88 marks. That’s a massive demand on the body in a short timeframe, and with that, comes the very real risk of injury.

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Brittle-Thick-Or-Yellow-Toenails

Have you been watching your toes over these summer months and feeling unhappy with how they look?

While some people turn to a salon pedicure to help hide their toenails, a study that used ultrasound to observe the effects on nails when having a gel polish manicure found nail weakness, brittleness and nail thinning. This leaves two options: continue with pedicures indefinitely – or have to eventually deal with nails that are even more damaged than when you started. Or – you can start to improve the appearance of your nails today by using these five podiatrist-approved methods.  

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Love your feet
Love your feet

Just like any relationship in our lives, the one we have with our feet is two-sided: we look after them, and they’ll look after us as we take approximately 2.7 million steps every year. Whatever the challenge – hot ground, countless stairs, unsteady terrain, sharp rocks at the beach – we have the one pair of feet that get us through – and the way we treat and look after them will determine how long they can keep doing it for.

When it comes to caring for our feet – it’s easier than many people realise as it’s the little things over time that can make a big difference. To help treat your feet, our podiatrists have shared ten things your feet will love that will help them stay healthy and happy.

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Keeping up with our children’s growth and development is a difficult task – and the feet are no exception.

A new day can see us noticing something different that our child has started doing, like the way their foot turns in when they walk, leaving us wondering whether that’s normal, if we should keep an eye on it, or if big alarm bells should already be going off.

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The new school year brings a mix of excitement and chaos. Amongst the never-ending to-do list to get the kids prepared is a key priority: buying your kids a new pair of well-fitting school shoes that you feel confident will keep their feet supported and feeling great throughout the school year.

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Heel pain is a common source of frustration for many Australians whose jobs, physical and social activities, and their overall lives can become greatly restricted when they’re battling this frustrating problem. Foot orthotics are one proposed treatment for heel pain where a device that resembles a footbed is inserted inside the shoe, in place of the shoe liner. 

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Have you ever heard a myth about your feet and wondered if it was true? Our podiatrists often get asked about common foot and leg myths – some bizarre, some ‘secret remedies’, and others that may seem like common sense. So today, we thought we’d debunk ten of these common foot myths and stomp out what truth – if any – there is to them. 

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