We consider your health, assess relevant capacity and identify where exercise can help. Exercise prescription, education and review guide the plan, whether you attend supervised sessions or exercise independently with agreed reviews.
The aim is to help you work towards the activities and level of health that matter to you.
When you know something needs to change
You may have stopped exercising because of pain, illness or uncertainty about what is appropriate. Perhaps your strength or fitness has declined, or a recent change in your health has made you reconsider how you look after yourself.
You may already exercise but feel stuck, or want guidance from someone who understands your health as well as your training.
An Exercise Physiologist helps you work out an appropriate approach and put it into practice. You do not need to have the exercises or the answers worked out before your first appointment.
Clinical expertise throughout your care
Our clinical training includes physiology, biomechanics and pathophysiology, which is the study of how disease changes the way the body works.
We use that knowledge to consider how your health, symptoms and treatment affect your response to exercise. It informs the exercises we prescribe, the resistance and effort involved, the recovery you need and how the program progresses.
During appointments, we observe how you are responding and make adjustments where appropriate. We also recognise when an exercise should be stopped or further advice is needed from your treating team.
The exercise is the part you see. The clinical reasoning shapes how we prescribe it, guide it and adapt it.
What that looks like in practice
An exercise may suit the strength goal we are working towards but bring on symptoms in a particular position. Depending on the situation, we may change the position, range, resistance or exercise itself, then review your response.
The decision is not simply to push through or abandon the goal. It is to consider what is happening, whether an adjustment is appropriate and whether further review is needed.
How much support will you need?
That depends on your health, goals, exercise experience and how much guidance or supervision is useful.
Regular appointments let us deliver your exercise treatment, monitor your response and review meaningful progress. We explain technique and effort, adapt the plan and help you understand what to manage between visits. Independent exercise can be combined with agreed reviews.
We discuss the proposed frequency and costs with you before arranging ongoing care.
What does Accredited mean?
Accredited Exercise Physiologists meet the education and professional standards of Exercise & Sports Science Australia, known as ESSA. Accreditation involves university education, supervised practical experience and ongoing professional requirements.
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?
When you discuss your program, you should be able to explain the essentials in your own words.
Scroll to see all columns.
| Part of the plan | A useful question to ask |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Which problem or goal is this exercise intended to address? |
| Starting dose | How much should I do, how often and at what level of effort? |
| Technique | What are the main things I need to get right? |
| Response | What should I monitor during exercise and afterwards? |
| Adjustment | What would make us progress, reduce or change the exercise? |
| Review | When will we check whether it is helping? |
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.
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.”
Start with a conversation and an individual plan
At Longevico, your first consultation gives us time to understand your health, goals and current ability. Relevant assessment helps us decide where to begin.
Your report and first exercise program are included in the standard private Banyo initial consultation. Follow up appointments are arranged separately, with the level of support discussed with you. Read what your first consultation involves and the current fees and funding information.
The standard private Banyo initial consultation costs $200 for 60 minutes. We aim to complete the discussion and relevant assessment within that time. If further assessment is needed before the program can be finalised, we explain why, discuss the timing and agree on any additional appointment costs before proceeding. The first program remains included in the initial consultation fee.
Your report summarises the discussion and available assessment findings and is provided after the appointment. We explain when to expect the report and program, including any further assessment needs.
A separately arranged first follow up can include discussion of your report, further assessment where needed and delivering your exercise plan. We review your symptoms and response, explain adjustments and agree what to do between appointments. The standard private Banyo follow up costs $150 for 45 minutes. We explain the fee and what the session will cover before you book.
Health Review and Private Health Management have their own suitability discussions. The full Health & Performance Report belongs to the separate Health Review. It is different from the report included in the standard assessment. Ordinary supervised follow up appointments do not require Private Health Management.
Questions worth asking before you book
What will the first assessment cover for my situation?
Is an exercise program included, and when will I receive it?
What does a follow up appointment involve?
How will we decide how much supervision I need?
What will further appointments and reassessment cost?
What should I bring, and what access arrangements should I know about?
When would another health professional need to be involved?
Discuss whether Exercise Physiology is right for you
A complimentary call is an opportunity to explain what you are struggling with and ask how the service works. It does not replace the clinical assessment or book a paid appointment.
See what your initial assessment includes
Initial assessment inclusions · Fees and funding · Banyo location and access
Related reading
Exercise Physiology or physiotherapy? · Exercise Physiology or personal training?
Evidence and further reading
Exercise & Sports Science Australia. What is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist? Current consumer information. Read source
Exercise & Sports Science Australia. Accredited Exercise Physiologist scope of practice. Current document linked from ESSA’s professional standards collection. Read source
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Osteoarthritis in over 16s: diagnosis and management. NG226. 2022. Recommendations on therapeutic exercise. Read source
Exercise & Sports Science Australia. Exercise Physiology Accreditation. Education, practical experience and professional accreditation requirements. Read source
Australian Catholic University. Clinical Assessment and Exercise for Chronic and Complex Conditions. EXSC679. Handbook 2026. Read source