Exercise Physiology at Urban Well
There is NO one-size fit’s all approach to your health and wellbeing. So why accept anything less than a tailored plan, based around scientific principals and implemented by a university-trained specialist in movement and exercise?
Our Brisbane exercise physiology team frequently hear stories of people who have experienced an injury or health event that has caused significant changes to their life. Often, when not managed effectively, their health, wellbeing and fitness is set back by years.
As this continues, these people are forced to make compromises to the way they live. These compromises quickly become accepted as an unchangeable part of their life. This can have long-lasting affects on cognitive, physical and mental health. Yet it does not have to be this way.
With an accredited exercise physiologist providing you with a tailored exercise plan that factors in you, your lifestyle and your body, achieve your health and fitness goals and get on the road to recovery today.
Exercise Physiology at Urban Well - The Bigger Picture
The greater concerns of an unmanaged chronic health condition, injury or health event are the potential, long-term consequences to our wellbeing and longevity.
Aerobic and cardiac fitness, in addition to strength have all been proven to be preventative measures for the development of dementia and metabolic conditions. Not only that, these are cornerstones in helping you to manage mental health, maintaining your quality of life and fostering happiness, long-term.
A Strategy With You At The Centre
At Urban Well we find that, through implementing simple and effective strategies, we can help you to take charge of your condition. We want you to stop feeling like you are being forced to make unnecessary compromises to the parts of your life you enjoy because of what is going on in your body.
Our first priority is to understand you, your life, and what you’d like to achieve. We use this information, combined with movement and fitness measures to create an exercise, strength and mobility plan, centred around you.
The Urban Continuum
Your initial session helps us map where you are on our continuum of ‘Out of Pain’ to ‘Performance”. There is no preferred starting point or right or wrong place to work towards. We meet you where you are at and use this as a baseline to create an evidence-based plan that moves you forward, whilst still factoring in real life.
Pain is your brain’s internal alarm system and the number one defence mechanism used by your body to avoid potential harm. Your brain is wired to avoid pain at all costs. It is no wonder that we stop doing particular movements and make compromises to the things we enjoy in life, when we are in pain. For this reason it is crucial that when pain is present we identify the cause and why it is not improving. Getting you out of pain, and working within pain free movement becomes your baseline and we build a program around what we have identified as the potential causes, before we move further along the continuum.
You may no longer be in pain but have made compromises to your movement patterns in order to become pain-free. Equally a health event or chronic condition may have impacted your health, level of fitness and/or strength to such a point that we need to rebuild your foundations first. These fundamentals include the basic necessities of life such as sleeping patterns, stress management and healthy eating shifts as well as your physical strength and movement ability. We create a plan that is based on gentle physical activity to match your level, whilst incorporating simple strength, stability and mobility exercises. The goal is to improve your movement patterns and general health, before we move beyond these foundational steps.
Function is our baseline that encompasses the following:
- Your body is showing signs that it is moving better and without pain.
- We have your basic indicators such as blood sugar levels and/ or blood pressure back to a healthy level
- You are starting to create positive habits around the basic necessities of life such as sleep, healthy eating and/or stress management
At this point we progress you to more complex exercises or activities that still focus on good quality movement pattens and matching your fitness or health level. Again we take a strategic and measured approach to this in order avoid injury or regression.
Our definition of smooth sailing is the point where you are doing the things you enjoy and your condition is no longer unnecessarily limiting your life.
Your health is under control and your physical activity, fitness and strength are at a level to give you the best chance of avoiding injury or reoccurrence. At this point we focus on managing your condition and setting up long term strategies to maintain health, happiness and quality of life, long -term.
Exercise physiologists are trained to help you get the most out of your body. Your exercise physiologist will apply scientific principals to create you a plan to help you achieve health and fitness goals, that you may never have thought possible.
With a sport specific plan, our team targets exercises that continue to help you avoid the risk of injury, whilst targeting areas of strength, fitness and mobility necessary to give you a competitive edge.
When should you see an Exercise Physiologist?
At Urban Well, we specialise in exercise programs for musculoskeletal and lifestyle-related conditions, including:
- Diabetes
- Arthritis
- Osteoporosis
- Musculoskeletal injuries
- Hypermobility
- Chronic pain
- Heart disease
- Overweight/Obesity
- Active aging
- Hip, knee, and shoulder joint replacements (pre- and post-surgery)
- Generalised muscle and joint pain
What is an Exercise Physiologist?
An exercise physiologist is a university-qualified health professional who has undergone rigorous training, throughout a 4 year degree.
They have in-depth understanding of the body and it’s unique systems. This enables them to apply science-based principals to help prevent and manage chronic injuries, maximise your performance in sport and physical activity and help you take the necessary steps to prevent and manage chronic health conditions.
Their ultimate goal is to improve quality of life and promote healthy living, long term.
What does an Exercise Physiology Session Involve?
Before you come in for the first time we will ask you to fill out a health, ,injury and exercise history form online, so that your exercise physiologist has time to review it before you arrive. We will also remind you to wear conformation clothing, that you can comfortable move in.
During your first session, we’ll have a chat with you to follow up any questions from your initial paperwork and to clarify and prioritize your goals. Then you’ll be guided through a simple movement screen so that your body can tell it’s side of the story. Once your starting point is established, you’ll be given some exercises to get you started on stability, mobility, strength, or whatever your body needs. Before you go, we’ll schedule a follow up session so that you can get your full program. It’s really important that you’re comfortable and confident in your ability to do your exercises; having at least a second session relatively soon after the first gives you the chance to cement your knowledge and technique. From there, we’ll suggest a follow up time frame so you can continue to make progress, and you’ll make the final call.
By coming to an exercise physiologist for your rehab, prevention, and performance needs, you’re getting the best programming Australia has to offer. Get ready to move better!