Choosing which allied health profession to study is often a hard choice to make for some people, but for Nicholas Steel, the choice was simple.
To help celebrate Exercise Right Week 2020, we sat down with Nick and asked him a few questions on why he chose this profession and what it means to him.
What does being an Exercise Physiologist (EP) mean to you?
“Being an Exercise Physiologist is extremely important to me. I’m passionate about health, fitness and helping people, so choosing Exercise Physiology was a perfect fit as I am able to help individuals move properly and get their health back on track.”
What does an Exercise Physiologist actually do?
“We use evidence-based movement and exercise interventions for chronic disease prevention and management, injuries and weight management. In practice, this means we help people make lifestyle modifications and by tailoring movement and exercise programs for their specific needs. We personalise our clients care by identifying activities that they actually enjoy and suggest ways that they can adapt to actively include them into their everyday life.”
Do Exercise Physiologists only look at physical wellbeing?
“While a lot of what we do centres around exercise prescription, we look at health holistically rather than just physically as every client is unique and will have their own set of goals/abilitieis and limitations that we tailor our advice around.”
What is your driving force behind being an Exercise Physiologist?
“I’m passionate about the scope of practice we experience as our clients come from a wide range of backgrounds. The variety of chronic conditions we treat is fascinating and no two hours or clients are the same.”
“Also, placing a large focus on what individuals are confident and ABLE to do and then providing motivation around that is vital – if they want to exercise in the morning because they are tired after work, then great, let’s look at a morning sessions and patterns. If they aren’t a morning person and prefer to clock off from work with some physical activity in the afternoon, then perfect – let’s look at that. It’s the freedom and choice to observe lifestyle as a whole domain that we can have an impact on that makes exercising right and EP so special to me.”
What does Exercise Right mean to you?
“Exercising right to me is about doing things that we enjoy doing, and maintaining a consistent pattern that will benefit our health. Rather than the idea of “shoving exercise down people’s throats” and making movement a chore, I aim to make health modifications as client-centred as possible. Examples of this are fitting in little amounts of physical activity throughout the day such as washing the car, mowing the lawn or an afternoon walk – as opposed to 100 burpees morning and night, every day for 10 weeks.”
About Exercise Right Week
May 25-31 is #ExerciseRightWeek. This year, the theme is “Movement is Medicine“. We want to highlight how powerful exercise, physical activity and movement are for your physical and mental health. We also want to showcase that exercise is for everyone, regardless of age, weight, background or health status, and to help everyday Australians understand where they can get the right advice for their individual needs.
Exercise can have a powerful effect on your physical and mental health, and regardless of your age, weight, background or health status, you can access the right advice for your personal requirements.
Exercise Physiologists are highly trained allied health practitioners who help their clients achieve better overall health through exercise prescription.
Join the My Health for Life program with Nicholas Steel
My Health for Life is a FREE support program and QLD Government initiative designed to help people improve their health and reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease or stroke. The program is being run by our resident Exercise Physiologist, Nicholas Steel, who is a trained My Health for Life facilitator.
Location: all consultations will be conducted online via telehealth.
Times: Wednesdays 5pm (from 27 May) over 8 weeks.
Cost: the program is completely free.
Contact: [email protected] or 1800 188 295.
If you’d like to start on your health journey or perhaps pickup from where you last left off, our exercise physiologists are ready to assist you. Please call 1800 188 295 or visit www.griffith.edu.au/griffith-health/clinics for more information.
