We are very happy to be able to offer Exercise Physiology as a service for our community. Exercise Physiologists are few and far between in our local area and so we are privilaged to be able to help patients that would benefit from this service.
But what is it?
Exercise Physiologists have completed a minimum of 4 years at university, learning all things exercise and in particular, exercise in an unhealthy or medically unwell population. This is compared with Personal trainers - who work more with people who are medically well and don't have any restrictions on their exercise (think weight loss, toning, general fitness and wellness).
How is this different to Physiotherapy?
Physiotherapists work with patients to help diagnose pain and injury and establish ways of firstly reducing the pain, but also rehabilitating the injury. In our clinic, we believe that our physiotherapists are best suited to the early and middle stage rehabilitation where there is more attention required to specific movement patterns while there may be restricitons on some movements.
What is the next step after the middle stage of rehab?
After this middle stage of rehab, there are several options. We can look at continued physiotherapy led classes (which may be appropriate for pilates based rehabilitation), or exercise physiologist led sessions, which can be run off site in larger gyms with more available equipment. This can be good for those who have gym memberships but are not sure how to get back into the gym, those wanting gym memberships but again, needing some guidance, or those who are looking to extend their rehabilitaiton.
What other services does our exercise physiologist offer?
Our exercise physiologist runs several sessions that are not currently run by our physiotherapists. This includes:
- Hydrotherapy - water based exercise sessions which can help to reduce load on the body while increasing resistance to movements
- Over 55's exercise classes - groups where there is a focus on strength, balance, control, falls prevention and endurance in older adults to ensure appropriate and targetted exercise
- Type 2 Diabetes Classes - Focus on exercise for those who have type 2 diabetes. Exercise is key to reducing medicine intake and optimising blood sugar levels and wellness and exercise physiologists are the only health professional who have access to Medicare subsidised exercise sessions.
If you have any further questions regarding our exercise physiology service, please feel free to call us on 95801985 and have a chat to our EP!