Musculoskeletal injuries
Musculoskeletal injuries are very common and can occur both in everyday life and in sports. This can be caused by sudden impact, force, vibration, sustained postures, incorrect lifting practices, and muscle imbalances. These injuries can influence the muscles, nerves, ligaments, joints, and blood vessels.
An Exercise Physiologist can help in restoring function through firstly undertaking a comprehensive assessment and then prescribing a tailored exercise regime dedicated towards your soul purpose.
Through exercise therapy we can ensure function is restored by returning range of movement to optimal ranges, improving your movement, strengthening surrounding and involving structures to provide stability and security, and if neccessary creating a return to sport plan to minimise risk of re-injury.
Osteoarthritis
Exercise is crucial for people living with osteoarthritis. It increases strength and flexibility, reduces joint pain, and helps combat fatigue.
A structered exercise routine can assist in lubricating the joints which in turn helps them to move more freely through day-to-day stressors of activity. Exercise can provide significant improvements in managing arthritc related pain and functionality. Strengthening the surrounding structures is important for reducing inflammation, improving stability and overall function,
Diabetes
Modifying lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise should be prioritised in the management of any diabetes treatment intervention.
When we exercise our blood sugar gets sent to the working muscles and in return the body is able to use this sugar more efficiently rather than it being stored as fat and clogging areas leading to other health complications. Our body after exercise is able to become more sensitised to insulin, meaning less insulin needs to be released and therefore less belly fat is created.
An exercise physiologist can help you modify your lifestyle factors that may be stopping you from achieving stable readings within the dedicated ranges. In addition, they can help prescribe the appropriate type of exercise and formulate a plan for you to assist in managing these blood sugar levels within a safe range.
Mental health
When you exercise "happy chemicals" such as endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin get released from the brain which help stimulate the receptors that reduce your perception of pain and regulation of mood.
Mental disorders increase the risk of chronic physical conditions, exercise can therefore play a role in helping to maintain well-being, and prevent recurrences of poor mental health.
Benefits of exercise in treating mental health include:
- Reduce symptoms of depression, stress, and anxiety
- Reduce social isolation
- Improve sleep quality
- Increase engagement
- Reduce addictions
- Increase self-esteem
- Improve quality of life
Osteoporosis
Exercise therapy for individiuals with osteoporosis solely focuses on increasing bone mineral density, falls prevention, and strength training. As these invidiuals are at an increased risk of fractures we educate on the importance of diet and exercise in the prevention, management, and treatment of this condition.
The type of exercise includes:
- Weight-bearing activities
- Strength exercise
- Balance
- Impact exercise
Cardiovascular disease
When prescribing exercise for any cardiac presentation we address the following considerations: The type of exercise prescribed, the intensity, and the duration. We carefully monitor all objective measures of blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, and angina and claudication levels.
We work closely with the following heart conditions:
- High blood pressure
- Atrial fibrillation
- Post-operative coronary artery bypass graft
- Post myocardial infarction (heart attack)
- Valve replacement
- Post pacemaker and/or defibrillator insertion
- Ischaemic heart disease
- Unstable angina
- Arrhythmia's
- Cardiomyopathy
- Heart failure
- Peripheral artery disease
- Any other cardiac related condition
Cancer
A tailored exercise approach by an Exercise Physiologist is safe and effective for people with cancer prior to, during, and post treatment.
We understand that every cancer experience is different. Therefore, each individual is carefully assesed and considerations are made prior to creating a suitable and safe exercise program.
The primary health outcomes we strive to achieve through exercise and cancer include:
- Diminish short and long-term side effects associated with
treatment/enhance recovery.
- Decrease the risk of cancer recurrence/ increase survival.
- Improve quality of life and psychology. Reduce emotional stress.
- Decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease.
- Maintain bone health.
- Improve immune function
- Improve physical conditioning and functioning.
- Maintain a healthy BMI.
- Improve body image, mood and self esteem.
Parkinsons disease
Parkinson's Disease affects everyone differently and progression varies greatly between individuals.
Regular exercise can decrease or delay secondary effects on
musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory systems that occur as a result of
reduced physical activity.
Evidence demonstrates that exercise improves gait performance, balance, quality of life, reduces disease severity, and improves aerobic capacity
in individuals with Parkinson's Disease.
Because Parkinson's Disease is a chronic progressive disease, sustained exercise is necessary to maintain benefits.
Our primary focus is to slow down the progression of the disease, reduce incidence of falls, reduce stiffness, improve mobility, and help the individual remain as independent as possible.
Stroke
As an Exercise Physiologist our primary goals are to help the individual return to their physical and mental capabilities as close to pre-stroke levels as possible. In addition, we strive to reduce the risk of recurrent stroke and the occurrence of cardiovascular disease events.
Adaptations to exercise in stroke include:
- Increases in VO2 regardless of stage of recovery
- Increases muscle strength (paretic and non-paretic)
- Improved functional performance
- Improved balance
- Increased gait recovery
- Increased max work capacity
- Improved body composition
Joint replacement
Whether undergoing joint replacement surgery for a knee, hip, shoulder we strive to help our clients achieve a faster recovery, less discomfort, improve joint range of motion and a faster return to activities of daily living and enjoying life.
Sports performance
At Levitate, we strive ourselves on firstly teaching our athletes how to perform the fundamental patterns of movement correctly and ensuring optimum ranges of motion are achieved during all movements the human body performs. We help them achieve this through undertaking comprehensive assessments and use any disparities identified to lead our treatment. Once adequate movement and mobility is achieved we stear our focus to sports performance where we specialise in vertical jump training, speed and agility, and strength and conditioning.
Pulmonary disorders
Regular exercise results in favourable improvements in oxygen utilisation, work capacity, breathlessness, relieving symptoms, exercise tolerance, health status, strength, anxiety and quality of life in people with pulmonary disorders. It can also prevent the progression of some pulmonary disorders and reduce rates of mortality.
At Levitate we use heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation levels to modify and adjust the exercise intensity and duration accordingly to meet the individuals needs and capabilities.