Helping To Rehabilitate And Optimise Movement
Exercise Physiology is a holistic approach to understanding your body’s unique needs whether recovering from injuries, navigating the physical challenges of pregnancy or postpartum, or you’re an athlete aiming to optimise performance.
The practice offers tailored strategies to enhance health and accelerate recovery using movement, exercises, stretches and nutritional advice to optimise the body functions, improving metabolic processes, and ensuring that everything works in harmony. Through evidence-based practices, It bridges the gap between medical science and physical health, ensuring that movement becomes a powerful tool for your healing, recovery, and vitality.
Our clinical exercise physiology services are specialised in:
- Pregnancy
- Postpartum
- Women’s Health and Wellness*
- Nutrition Assessment, Planning and Programs
- Injury Rehabilitation*
- Workers Compensation*
*Services eligible for medicare rebate or fees covered wholly by insurance with a claim number. Check with your private health insurance for coverage of exercise physiology services (HCF coverage).
1. Pregnancy & Postpartum Programs & Offering
We have a comprehensive initial pregnancy assessment which takes into account your family history, health record, previous and current lifestyle, and an understanding of your pregnancy. Our aim is to understand how you function in daily life so we can work in with you.
Your baby and your health is paramount during pregnancy so when it comes to physical activity, our approach to your bespoke treatment will depend on your activity levels:
- For those physically active – we aim to keep clients moving well and progressively deloading as pregnancy progresses
- For those less physically activity – it’s about finding what they enjoy, and safely increasing strength, heart and lung function.
Recent research conducted both in Australia (Brown et al 2022) and overseas (Mottola et al 2018) shows that physical activity during pregnancy has far less risk to mum and bub than no physical activity at all.
You choose the best option to support you. We offer:
One-on-one sessions, and/or
- Our specialised group exercise classes tailored for each trimester (9 sessions per trimester, with 3 Womens Health Physio reviews)
Regain Movement Today
For Postpartum services, we focus on the period around your pregnancy, reviewing your birth, screening for postnatal depression and assessing when you can start specific physical activity as directed by your GP, OB, Gynecologist and/or Pelvic Physiotherapist.
Our group sessions have a maximum of 8 per group and will run weekly for 12 weeks. Postpartum consultations and group sessions work to stretch out muscles that have become tight since giving birth, rebuild strength and reactivate muscles that haven’t been used properly due to pregnancy. This program includes rehabilitation exercises to improve pelvic health symptoms such as pubic pain and incontinence.
2. Functional Rehabilitation
Recovery is a journey, and our Functional Rehabilitation services are designed to support you every step of the way. Our rehabilitation services cover:
- Musculoskeletal injuries
- Post-surgery recovery
- Chronic injury management
- Workers compensation*
Our sessions are designed to reset, reactivate, and reload, ensuring you regain your strength and mobility. The two functional rehabilitation options we offer are:
- A comprehensive initial assessment, one-on-one guided exercises, a graded functional rehabilitation program, and follow-up sessions as required.
*Workers compensation services will be in line and as approved by SIRA.
The initial assessment will review referral details, injury history, any interventions to date or planned, and an active assessment to understand how much the injury has impacted overall functional movement patterns. There will be a number of guided exercises provided during the initial assessment as the first stage of the functional rehabilitation plan as well as an overall graded rehabilitation program with scheduled follow up sessions as indicated.
The 6-week functional rehabilitation block will run weekly and have a maximum of 10 per group. Sessions go for 45 minutes with a range of rehabilitation exercises to be completed under the guidance from your Exercise Physiologist.
There are 3 levels of difficulty for each exercise with the goal of resetting, reactivating and reloading. This block aims to build stability and strength through range of movement then progressing to functional strength.
Meet Noella: Exercise Physiologist, Nutritionist, Elite Athlete & Mum
Beginning her journey as a professional Rugby Union player for both Australia and the NSW Waratahs, Noella transitioned her passion for sports into a 15-year clinical career as an Accredited Exercise Physiologist, Exercise Scientist and Nutritionist. Completing her studies at James Cook University, she has worked across the rehab spectrum from Sydney Adventist Hospital’s cardiac rehabilitation unit to the Wests Tigers NRL team.
Noella’s clinical expertise encompasses functional rehabilitation for a range of conditions, from joint injuries to metabolic syndromes. Her dedication to women’s health led her to specialise in pregnancy and postpartum exercise and nutrition programming. She has worked with female athletes on an international level to help guide their return to sports, and she regularly delivers female athlete education workshops to various sporting groups.
As a Registered Nutritionist, Noella offers tailored nutrition assessments and programs, working with clients to improve their general health, weight loss and improve sporting performance.
Being a new mum herself, Noella understands the importance of maintaining a strong and healthy body and mindset. She’s an esteemed member of the Australian Institute of Sports industry reference group for the Female Performance and Health Initiative and is an ambassador for their research program to develop best practice guidelines to support pregnancy in elite sport.
Through her work, Noella aims to empower individuals to embrace physical activity as a form of self-care, ensuring they and their families lead healthier lives.
