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When you meet Dr. Naresh Rao in his Chelsea office in Manhattan, one thing is clear: His gentle bedside manner, compassion and incredible expertise leave a lasting impression on you.
Dr. Naresh Rao, Head Team Physician for USA Water Polo at team practice in Rio. (courtesy N.Rao)
“ He has this way of making you feel calm in the face of serious injury and pain ,” explained one patient as Rao, head team physician for USA Water Polo, was making preparations for Rio 2016. The grueling sport demands teamwork first and foremost, but also strength, incredible stamina and concentration.
“It’s an honor to serve my country,” explained Rao, who just five years ago began serving as a volunteer physician for the USOC. “ I feel that it validates my approach as an osteopathic primary care sports medicine physician. ”
Rao looks back on when he began volunteering as an Olympic physician as one of the most gratifying periods in his career. Rao recalls first marveling at the Olympic training center when he arrived for training in Colorado, and was quite impressed with its ability to offer athletes the most advanced equipment and imaging techniques to optimize their performance.
Merrill Moses, goalkeeper for the 2016 USA Water Polo team in Rio, and now entering his third Olympic Games, feels that Rao has been a guiding force behind the success of the team over the years, and credits him with keeping the team in top medical condition--not only physically, but emotionally.
“Dr. Rao has been an inspiration to me over the years, and has really been there to support our team—we can always count on him to make sure we are in the best state of body and mind,” explained Moses. “He is one of us, and we have always made sure he feels that way.”
Alex Rodriguez, an assistant coach for USA Men's Water Polo, states that "Naresh has gone above and beyond with our team. He works long hours with the players during his off time on trips."
Rodriguez also recalls another circumstance, when Rao was available for a medical emergency while the team was traveling and competing in Italy. "We were able to call Naresh at 4:00 in the morning in New York to get his help," recounted Rodriguez. "To be basically on call at all times with his family and schedule is really a true testament to his loyalty and professionalism."
Rao believes what makes Olympic athletes unique is a combination of genetics, allowing them to perform consistently at high levels, along with a razor sharp focus, as he explains in his book, Step Up Your Game: The Revolutionary Program Elite Athletes Use To Increase Performance and Achieve Total Health, released by Skyhorse Publishing in February 2016.
His book is a comprehensive step-by-step game plan for all athletes that embraces not only the mechanics of training but also establishes the importance of a “team” approach to optimizing all aspects of an athlete’s well being, from workouts to nutrition to psychological prowess. In fact, getting “into the zone”—the state where the mind and body are in sync and performance is optimized—is best attained, according to Rao, by practicing “mindfulness” such as yoga, deep breathing and other forms of meditation. Integral to his program is the importance of creating a strong foundation by focusing on specific core exercises he describes, along with smart and sensible eating to help athletes increase their overall performance.
Rao’s extensive sports background in high school (basketball, football and tennis) along with experience as a collegiate water polo player at Colgate University, was also invaluable to him as he developed his approach to caring for athletes over the past 15 years.
“Being an athlete has its advantages to understanding athletes—it takes one to know one,” as he puts it. “I can truly understand the mechanism of injuries and gain greater respect of athletes since I can relate to it myself,” added Rao.
Rao spent ten years practicing sports medicine in San Diego after completing his fellowship specialty training, but decided to move to New York with his family in 2011, where he currently holds appointments in sports medicine at NYU School of Medicine and Mount Sinai Family Medicine Residency, as well as Northwell Health/Plainview Hospital Sports Medicine Fellowship.
Simply put, Rao is a pragmatist--and that is what makes him a winner not only on the playing field but also in everyday life treating patients in his sports medicine practice. He understands people, is able to guide their healing, and gets them back on their feet again.
"Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence," as Vince Lombardi once said.
Rao opens his book with this quote, and it only seems fitting to conclude with this thought as this sums up his approach to life and work.
