I'm an Exercise Physiologist - but what does that mean...?

I get asked what an Exercise Physiologist actually is all the time. Sometimes I find it difficult to find the right words. So I thought I’d write this blog to help all of us get a better understanding and tell you my story.

So, where do I even begin..? Let’s start at the very beginning. I’ve always been a sporty girl – love playing team sports. You name the sport and there’s a good chance that I played it. It would probably be easier to name the sports that I didn’t play! So it was even as a kid that I knew that, when I grew up, I was going to work in sport or exercise.

I had a few options to choose from when it came to what to study at university – physical education, physiotherapy, sports science, sports management. I narrowed it down to sport science as my number one choice because there were a lot of pathways I could follow afterwards.

I went to the University of Notre Dame Australia in Fremantle and graduated with a Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science. It was at this point that we all had to decide which direction we wanted to take our degrees. We could continue on as a Sport Scientist; do a graduate diploma in Education to become a PE teacher; study to become a physiotherapist; or study to become an exercise physiologist.

And I chose to continue with uni and do my Graduate Diploma of Exercise Science to become an Exercise Physiologist. So this leads me into what an exercise physiologist is because that is what helped me make the decision to keep studying.

I always knew I wanted to help people with their health and fitness and use exercise as the means to do so. To put it into context, exercise physiologists use exercise as an intervention tool to help people with acute, sub-acute or chronic medical conditions, injuries or disabilities. We are allied health professionals, which means your doctor can you refer you to us through Medicare or DVA, or you can use your private health fund to claim back money.

So if you have osteoarthritis – an exercise physiologist can help you. If you have a shoulder injury – an exercise physiologist can help you. If you are pregnant or just had a baby – an exercise physiologist can help you. I can help you.

Please contact me HERE for more information on how I can help you.