LOCAL STORIES
Meet Sabine Harrington | MS, Clinical Exercise Physiologist
June 12, 2023 Leave a reply
We had the good fortune of connecting with Sabine Harrington and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Sabine, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I am passionate about health and understanding the human body. If you think about it, no one gives you a user manual on your own body… but it sure would help! From my experience working in the healthcare, fitness and even academic worlds, it always struck me that the average person either does not know the basic operating mechanisms of his or her own body, or has no curiosity about it. If we expect people to care about their health, that all starts with understanding what they are made of, where they are starting from, and how they can change it for the better. It is one of my passions to help others better understand their own unique physiology. As an exercise physiologist, I believe I have a unique lens from which to view health that I really want to impart onto others. If people understood how basic physiological processes like breathing rate, heart rate, fat and carbohydrate metabolism all affect their everyday quality of life, I think they would want to pay more attention. This is an amazing age where high-level technology, previously available only to hospitals and Olympic-level training facilities, is now available to the average Joe. With the help of my PNOE metabolic analysis device and my training, I am able to meet people in the comfort of their own homes and conduct resting and exercise assessments that produce clinical-level data. This data is a fantastic complement to bloodwork, nutrition assessments and other routine medical diagnostics, as well as whatever data you are getting from your fitness wearable, and it gives a much more complete picture of the health baseline of an individual. Whether your goals are longevity, preventing chronic disease, weight loss, or athletic performance, breath analysis metabolic testing is the gold standard for providing the right starting data. I am so excited to bring this to the Tucson community and help us all reach our goals together!
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have diverse experience in clinical cardiac rehabilitation, movement and health coaching, research, and public speaking. I hold an MS in Human Physiology from the University of Arizona, a BS in Paleobiology from the University of Pennsylvania, and I am an ACSM Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist. Exercise Physiologists are a highly educated yet under recognized allied health professionals in the U.S. In the current framework, EPs work in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, cardiac stress testing, gyms, elite athletic performance centers, and in health education. Our background includes medical-level physiology with a focus on how the cardiovascular, pulmonary and muscular systems adapt to stress, mainly exercise-induced stress. I think we are very underutilized in all of these spheres and have much to offer. We could be instrumental in addressing the root of chronic disease and improving the overall health of our population. One of my goals is to help exercise physiologists become more well-known and also better-compensated for the important work that we do.
I want the world to know that lifespan and health span are directly improved by exercise, that almost every medical condition is improved by the proper dose/type of exercise, and that exercise is the most important “medication” you will ever take. Exercise, like most medications, has a dose-response of efficacy — a certain amount/intensity of exercise stress will illicit a particular physiological change in the body. Unlike medications, which are known for their dangerous side effects, more exercise is usually better up unto a point (which is often hard to reach), and most of the side effects are often positive. Exercise has the ability to manipulate our gene expression for the better, help us live longer and fuller lives, and improve the prognosis of almost every condition. I want to empower people to understand their physiology with high-quality, individualized data. From that point, whatever your goal, you have a solid starting point.
I love that my background as an exercise physiologist enables me to teach others about themselves with clinical data and exercise prescription, on-demand. As clinical as this is, medicine does not specialize in this testing for the individual. Decentralized, high-quality, personalized information is key to preventing conditions before they become serious, as well as improving good health if we already have it. You don’t suddenly have diabetes or obesity just because your doctor runs your numbers one day and poof, you’re sick! Don’t wait for a metabolic problem to occur — they don’t develop overnight! Chronic metabolic problems develop over years. Breath analysis metabolic testing uses our expired oxygen and carbon dioxide to tell the story of our cells. You cells speak long before any disease state has been reached…
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am a 4th generation native of Tucson, so I feel deeply connected to the land, plants and animals of the Sonoran Desert. I am so proud of my city and I love to recommend the most authentic things I can to give a Tucsonense experience! I would start with a trip to Yellow Brick coffee for an invigorating pour-over of single-origin coffee. Then I might head to Barrio Bread for some fresh cranberry walnut sourdough… Time to burn off some calories! Next would be a hike in the Tucson Mountains to take in the wildflowers and volcanic vistas… Time to chill by the Starr Pass pool and get a refreshing drink and a siesta, up in time for the free Tequila toast! Dinner at El Torrero and a beer at Borderlands Brewery patio… The next day might involve a fancy latte at La Chaiteria, pastries at the one and only La Estrella, and cycling on The Loop to stretch out the legs and lungs… No trip would be complete without a stop at the Botanical Gardens to see the amazing collection of succulents, and perhaps sampling some arid Arizona wines in Sonoita to round out the experience. There is so much to do in our corner of the Southwest!
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My parents made sure that I had access to a quality education, but never pushed me into any particular field. I gravitated towards biology and anatomy, and also loved fitness, so I went in this direction. For a long time I thought I wanted to become a physician, because I loved the physiology of medicine. I got my BS in Paleobiology from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, a field with a lot of science and pre-med courses. I returned home to Tucson and got my MS in physiological sciences from the University of Arizona, still positioning myself for a potential career in medicine. After some time in the workforce, I realized that it would be a huge challenge to stay healthy with the lifestyle of a doctor — I hate being indoors for too long, I don’t like 12-hour shifts, and I love being able to move my body when I feel like it — I simply could not force myself to adapt to a lifestyle that required suppressing so much of normal human biology (full respect to clinicians doing this grind!). I knew there had to be another way to combine my love of clinical-level knowledge with my love of physical fitness and community education, while still allowing myself to lead a healthy lifestyle.
Other: email: sonoranwellnesssolutions@gmail.com
Image Credits: Brianna Aguilar, Cathie Ashley, Richard Ashley
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