What does an Exercise Physiologist do?

What does “Accredited” mean?

An Accredited Exercise Physiologist, or AEP, has university qualifications and meets the professional requirements of Exercise & Sports Science Australia, known as ESSA. AEPs work across health, rehabilitation and physical performance. Their scope includes people with acute, ongoing or complex conditions, as well as people seeking to maintain their health.

The accredited title matters, but so does the practitioner’s experience with your particular concern. An AEP who regularly works in neurological rehabilitation may have different expertise from one whose main work is musculoskeletal rehabilitation or sport. Ask about both accreditation and relevant experience.

What happens between “I want to improve” and an exercise plan?

A useful assessment connects three things: what matters to you, what is affecting it and what can be changed through exercise.

Consider someone with diagnosed knee osteoarthritis who wants to walk comfortably through an airport. Their concern is not simply whether their thigh muscles are strong. It is whether they can manage distance, repeated standing, luggage and the following day without an unmanageable flare.

A proposed assessment could therefore explore walking tolerance, getting up from a chair, leg strength, symptom behaviour and the amount of exercise they already do. Each measure should answer a question. A maximal fitness test would not automatically be useful.

The plan might then build walking exposure and leg strength while recording how the knee responds. This is consistent with osteoarthritis guidance, which recommends therapeutic exercise selected for the person, including local strengthening and aerobic activity. The particular exercises and progression would come from the assessment, not the diagnosis alone.

The example shows the distinction between prescribing an exercise and making an exercise decision. The decision includes a reason, a suitable dose and a way to review it.

What should your plan actually tell you?

Before leaving, you should be able to explain the essentials in your own words.

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You do not need to memorise every instruction. Ask for the important points in a form you can refer to at home. An exercise name without a dose or a progression plan often leaves important decisions unanswered.

Progress should connect to your life

Repeating a strength test can be useful, but it should not be the only evidence that the plan is working.

For the airport example, a proposed review could consider how long the person can walk, whether they need fewer rests, how their symptoms behave and whether they feel more confident travelling. The original strength measure may help explain progress, but the reason for improving it is still the person’s goal.

Bring back information about what actually happened. “I completed both sessions, but the longer walk was difficult the next morning” is more useful than “the exercises were fine”. It gives the practitioner something specific to adjust.

Does this mean I need supervision forever?

Not necessarily. The right level of support can change.

One person may need help understanding an assessment and setting up independent training. Another may benefit from regular supervision while learning unfamiliar exercises. Someone with changing symptoms or complex care may need more frequent review and communication with other practitioners.

It is reasonable to ask what you will do independently, what requires supervision and what would allow appointments to become less frequent. Ongoing care should have a purpose beyond repeating the same session.

Where does medical care fit?

An AEP can assess physical function and exercise response within their competence. At Longevico, medical diagnosis, medication changes and medical interpretation of pathology remain with the appropriate doctor. Relevant medical advice can inform the exercise plan.

New or unexplained symptoms may need assessment before exercise is progressed. An appointment with an AEP is not a substitute for urgent care.

Physiotherapy, personal training and Exercise Physiology can also overlap. The question is which skills you need now, rather than which profession is universally better. Our comparison guides explain those choices in more detail.

Make your first appointment more useful

Prepare a brief note with the activity you want to improve, what currently limits it and what you have already tried. Include examples from a typical week rather than only describing your best or worst day.

Have relevant medication information, existing exercise instructions and reports available through the agreed secure process. You do not need to purchase tests before the practitioner has established whether they would change the plan.

A useful opening statement is: “I want to be able to do this activity, this is what happens when I try, and this is the help I need.”

Starting with Longevico

For a new client seeking focused Exercise Physiology assessment, the starting appointment is the initial Clinical Exercise Assessment, $200 private fee, up to 60 minutes. A repeat consultation is for an existing client, not a competing initial appointment.

Health Review and Private Health Management have their own suitability discussions. The full Health & Performance Report is associated with the Health Review; it is not automatically included with every initial assessment.

See the initial Clinical Exercise Assessment. Funded pathways and referral requirements are explained separately on the fees and funding page.

Related reading

Exercise Physiology or physiotherapy? · Exercise Physiology or personal training?