It’s #ExerciseRightWeek!
Exercise right week is our chance each year, to celebrate movement as medicine and the profound impact it has on the lives of many people in our community. The benefits of exercise for overall health and wellbeing are astronomical, especially when you’re receiving the right advice for your particular abilities.
It’s no secret just how important we believe exercise is, which is why this week we’re going BIG!
This week on our Instagram page @therapycareaus, you will see reels of different participants, celebrating what exercise means to them while getting a glimpse of what it looks like to incorporate exercise into their routine throughout the week.
We’re also doing a 1,000 sit-to-stand challenge which all our participants are getting involved in! Be sure to check our Instagram and Facebook stories to see how we progress.
And lastly, we’ve spoken to one of our exercise physiologists, Chris (below!), who explains exactly why exercise is so important.
We’d love to hear from you! If you’d like to share how exercise has impacted your life, or even better – show us, leave a comment on our blog, Instagram or Facebook posts this week. Alternatively, you can tag us in your posts, @therapycareaus on Instagram. If you’d prefer to get in touch with us privately to talk about what exercise means to you, we would love to hear from you in our Instagram DMs or Facebook PMs
Without further ado, let’s get stuck into our conversation with Therapy Care’s Exercise Physiologist, Chris Hattingh
Movement is vital for sustaining life. Our bodies are made to move and doing so regularly gives us the best chance of maintaining healthy joints, strong bones, physical strength, good circulation, coordination, concentration and keeps our reflexes firing.
Beyond the physical reasons, exercise is a great tool to help us with our mental wellbeing and when done in a group setting or with a coach, can be excellent for our social and emotional wellbeing too.
For our community; people living with disability, exercise can improve a participant’s ability to perform functional tasks which increases confidence and independence. This in turn enables access the community. Because of this, we have witnessed countless participants go from living a somewhat sedentary, isolated lifestyle, to making movement and socialising a part of their everyday lives!
Chris says, “exercise is my way of improving myself physically and is the outlet I need to stay on top of my mental health. It’s my way of relieving stress and having fun with friends. For these reasons and so many more – one way or another, I ensure movement is a part of my everyday routine.
“From a young age I have always been passionate about helping people and empowering them to see what they’re capable of.”
Chris always envisioned a career that would encompass his passion for helping people and his love for exercise. Chris started out at Therapy Care as a personal trainer, and immediately became inspired by the career prospects he saw around him. This led Chris to undertake further study while at the same time working at Therapy Care as an allied health assistant. A journey that four years later has seen Chris become a qualified and exceptional exercise physiologist.
Chris explains, “I was inspired by the difference I saw exercise physiologists at Therapy Care make in the lives of people living with disability. I knew early on that supporting people living with disability and/or chronic conditions through physical movement and therapy is what I wanted to spend my life doing.”
Harry*, who lives with a bilateral hearing impairment has been working with Chris in the gym for two years. His goal was being able to perform compound lifts – such as bench press and squats, independently.
On the road to achieving Harry’s goal, Chris had to prioritise technique to ensure Harry could perform compound lifts safely and effectively. Chris is proud to report Harry can now bench press 25kg and squat 30kg!
While watching these numbers increase weekly, Chris continues to motivate Harry so he realises what he’s body is truly capable of.
Atishay who is living with mild autism spectrum disorder, has been working with Chris for the past year and a half. Initially, Atishay was aggressive and showed signs of self-harm.
Over time and with the intervention of additional NDIS supports with Therapy Care, Atishay’s behaviour has become much more regulated and he is now able to make progress on his goal to improve his overall health and wellbeing.
Chris now has Atishay on a regular exercise regime which has already proved to be effective. Atishay has lost weight but more importantly, enjoys his sessions with Chris.
On top of this, Atishay now engages more in the community and participates in social and recreational activities.
Chris says, “I’m so proud of Harry and Atishay and how far they’ve come. It’s unbelievably rewarding to see how our sessions and their commitment has led to achieving their respective goals.
Chris loves being a part of Therapy Care’s allied health team and training amazing people like Harry and Atishay. He says, “Being part of a team that is just as dedicated to making a difference to the participants lives as I am, is extremely inspiring.”
If you would like to add more movement to your lift and integrate it into your NDIS plan, get in touch with us by emailing info@therapycare.com.au or calling us at 02 9626 8119.
*Harry is not the name of the participant featured above. They chose to remain anonymous.
