Answers to Commonly Asked Questions on Exercise
Physiology
Find answers to your mental health questions from Ramsay Health Care specialists
Understanding Exercise Physiology
What is an Exercise Physiologist?
A: A Exercise Physiologist is a university trained health professional who will help individuals who are either
dealing with mental health issues or physical injuries and provides direction and programming to help them
recover.
What does Exercise Physiologists do?
A: The role of an Exercise Physiologist is to guide support and motivate people dealing with mental health
issues. Quite often they don't have the motivation to really move in to exercise on their own accord, so
we're just there to give them a helping hand.
When you come to see an Exercise Physiologist you’ll normally go through a health screening process. We
want to make sure that there aren't any underlying physical conditions that would prevent you from
exercising safely; but most importantly, even if there are underlying physical conditions, there are so many
things that you can do to start really moving forward in terms of your health and well-being that an
Exercise Physiologist can really tailor an individual program for you, so that, no matter what condition
you're in the end, no matter what you're facing, that there will be something that you can do to really
empower yourself.
What is the most common question about exercise?
A: The most common question we get from patients regarding exercise is probably ‘How do I fit this into my
day’? and the number one response we give them is, it really isn’t an amount of time, it’s a question of
priorities, really making your exercise a priority and a lot of the times when I feel like doing our exercise, but
it's one of those things that once you've done it, you'll never regret having made the time to do it.
Page 1
What does exercise mean?
A: In terms of how we define exercise. If you're really inactive just that active getting up off the couch is
really so powerful, the recommendations by the Exercise Science Council is really we need people moving
thirty to sixty minutes a day, and their recommendations are actually of moderate to high intensity which is
terrifying for most people to think that they need to exercise at high intensity. So just remembering that just
to get moving is the crucial component and working within the boundaries of what's appropriate for you.
We do want to elevate your heart rate and an elevated heart rate means you should be able to answer me
‘Yes’ and ‘No’, if you can carry on a long winded conversation you are not exercising intensely enough, so
that's a really black and white way of looking out without having to use heart rate monitors.
So we want you breathing more deeply. We want you to be breaking out in a little bit of a sweat, but we
never want you to be pushing yourself to the point where you feel like you're really fighting for your breath
and just consciously thinking ‘I can't do this’, that's ever the zone we want you to be in.
What does moderate to high intensity exercise mean?
A: An example of moderate to high intensity exercise will be dependent on the individual's exercise level
and fitness level. So for some people walking briskly would most certainly be a high intensity exercise and
then if you have someone with a really high fitness level, going for a run, or for a jog would be more so
conducive to them elevating their heart rate to the right level.
So again, it's always really looking at the individual person finding out where their current fitness level is
and then prescribing things that are appropriate for them so large movements, like walking, swimming,
cycling, running, yoga, basketball, tennis, anything that just gets you moving, gets your heart rate elevated,
putting on your favourite music and dancing – that’s exercise.
What are some other benefits of exercise?
A: In terms of additional benefits other than just the physical component to exercise sessions. You'll also
see enhanced mental wellbeing through self-esteem, self-confidence, people sleep better, they make better
decisions in terms of their nutrition. Overall, their mood is elevated, but also overall their mood is more
stable. So there are so many other benefits to be found other than just the pure physiology of exercise.
Is there a downside to exercise?
A: At times we are asked, ‘What is the downside of exercising’? There isn't one, there really isn't one. It’s all
positive, and it’s all beneficial, unless you hate to sweat, that might be the only downside.
Page 2