What is an Exercise Physiologist?

As you may or may not know, we have recently picked up a new Allied Health Pal, the Exercise Physiologist. Turns out, not many people really know much about what they are and what they do. So here are the top asked questions by people first meeting one in the wild.

What is an Exercise Physiologist?

The definition of an Exercise Physiologist as stated by the regulatory board ESSA is: “A university qualified allied health professional equipped with the knowledge, skills and competencies to design, deliver and evaluate safe and effective exercise interventions for people with acute, sub-acute or chronic medical conditions, injuries or disabilities.” 

Now that’s a mouthful! Basically we are allied health professionals who have completed 4 years of uni to be able to use exercise as medicine to help you achieve your goals and improve your physical and mental health.

What is it you do exactly?

As mentioned in the definition, we create exercise programs that are tailored to you and your needs. In order to do this, we have to talk to you about: 

• your past relationship with exercise
• any conditions or injuries we need to be aware of
• any limitations you have
• anything you flat out hate doing
• anything you LOOOVE doing, and most importantly; 
• what are your goals and how can we help you achieve them?!

We are trained in understanding how the body moves, and how to improve the performance of that movement in a safe way. This means if you want to jump higher, be able to roll over in your bed without struggling, be able to pick your child up and carry them around, we got you! 

Any movement that you struggle with or wish to perform better can 100% be integrated into your program design and will be a primary focus if you so choose it to be.

So, whether you are a top-level athlete, someone suffering from a chronic condition, or just your average Joe, an Exercise Physiologist can help you get where you need to go.

How is that different to a Physio?

We differ from Physio in quite a few ways but the most noticeable differences are these three:

1. An Exercise Physiologist cannot diagnose you with anything, where a Physio can. For example, say you rolled your ankle really badly walking down the street (we know… it happens!) A Physio can tell you if you have any damage such as a torn ligament. An Exercise Physiologist may be able to recognise that an injury is there but is not qualified to tell you what the injury is and will often refer you back to a Physio.

2. An Exercise Physiologist cannot provide manual therapy where a Physio can. Basically this means, an Exercise Physiologist cannot give you a massage, perform joint manipulations or mobilisations, do dry needling, cupping or any of those types of treatments as they are not based in exercise. 

3. Exercise Physiologists have had more training in the prescription of exercise than Physios. We are more equipped to create exercise interventions for you from the 6 week mark onwards where Physios excel at the initial exercise treatment and getting your body ready for movement.

How can EP benefit me?

Well curious reader, this entirely depends on your goals – we will develop exercise programs to target whatever goals you set (as long as they are relevant to EP – sadly our skills don’t extend to making you an algebra genius or a millionaire). 

We can create these programs to suit your likes including the location or modality such as cycling, swimming, boxing, walking, gym session etc. During this we coach you on how to exercise safely and correctly to eventually have you feel comfortable to be able to do it independently! 

We love to empower our clients to achieve their goals through their own hard work and promote independence leading to self-management, rather than telling you that you need us to supervise you forever and ever and ever – therefore creating dependency on the therapist and leaving you feeling powerless in your own journey. But don’t worry, we’ll still be here for you if you need a bit more of a push!

We achieve this progression towards independence by setting you up with a home exercise program to complement the program you will do directly with the Exercise Physiologist. This will allow you to hone your skills that we teach and see further improvement than simply exercising when you see us once or twice a week. 

We aim to provide you with good tips for your health both physically and mentally and hope to educate you on how to love and look after your body. And no, this doesn’t mean we are going to lecture you!

We also can provide preventative classes for certain conditions such as osteoporosis, cardiac conditions, diabetes, as well as falls prevention. If it is something that can be prevented it is much better to work on it now so it never happens, rather than waiting for it to develop and then have to treat it.

Who can you work with?

Exercise Physiologists can work with a large range of people and conditions. The types of conditions we are approved to work with include cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, respiratory, metabolic, mental health, cancer, renal, neurological, spinal cord injuries as well as people simply looking to lead a healthier lifestyle. As long as your Exercise Physiologist is registered and recognised to provide in each scheme, these are the options for coverage;

• Medicare
• NDIS
• WorkCover
• DVA
• CTP
• Private health insurance

You can be referred to an Exercise Physiologist or can see one without a referral privately.

Are you going to make me do thousands of push-ups like a trainer in a gym or the movies?!

GOODNESS NO! What a boring use of our time! We will always strive to push you to achieve your best but often that may fall shy of the 1000 push-up mark. I think even Chris Hemsworth would be hard pressed to do 1000 push-ups continuously!

We are looking to increase or maintain your strength, power, speed, balance, mobility, flexibility, and endurance, so you will be encouraged to test your capabilities and push yourself to be the best you can be.

We recognise that change doesn’t happen overnight and are here to help you every step of the way. This includes not smashing you so you cannot move for a whole week from excessive DOMS (check out our blog for info on what is normal). We look at gradual progressive training that is catered to your level and needs. 

As we are trained to work with many different people and conditions we are well aware of the limitations some people may have, and we ensure to keep our programs at a level that you feel comfortable with, and we know is going to make meaningful change.

Where can I find one of you?

We Exercise Physiologists are lurking everywhere… We can be found in hospitals, rehab programs, gyms, private practices, physio practices, mobile clinics and more. 

But you don’t have to go too far as we do have an Exercise Physiologist on board for you to trial if this type of treatment sounds appealing for you to try! Get in touch with us through our website or give us a call on (02) 4202 3874 if you’d like more info on booking an appointment with our resident Exercise Physiologist!