Client Success Story: How exercise can improve your mental health!

Working with NDIS participants has resulted in some of the most rewarding experiences I have ever felt while working as an Exercise Physiologist. We are grateful for the NDIS as it allows people with disabilities to access our services more easily. We love helping people with disabilities work towards their goals and improve their outlook on life through specialised exercise treatment.

There are many success stories that we could share in the team however, there is one that stands out for me personally. This is a participant/client who I have been seeing for a couple of months now. This participant has challenges with mental health (anxiety, depression, OCD, ADHD) and was unmotivated to exercise. They spent most of their day sitting and in isolation at home. Their mental health challenges meant that they had few social interactions outside their home during the week. Their lack of exercise was dramatically impacting their physical and mental health.

Goals

The goals we developed together were to:

• Improve their physical fitness
• Return to running
• Feel comfortable in a gym setting
• Overcome their avoidance of handles and gym equipment

 

Our plan

As Exercise Physiologists, we understand that small, early wins are the key for developing long term behaviour change.  As they hadn’t exercised for a while, we broke their goals into smaller, more achievable goals that we knew they could achieve. We did this by first starting with one gym session a week. Then we increased it to one gym session and one walk throughout the week, then we increased it by having a more specific home exercise program incorporated into our training. We kept on building it up slowly.

Currently, this NDIS participant is completing exercise on 4 days of the week!

Recently, we retested their aerobic fitness and in 6 weeks it has increased by 13%. This is a significant increase and I have no doubt it will continue to improve. Another huge milestone is that they now enjoy being in a gym setting and do not shy away from using any of the equipment in the gym. Before they started, they never would have thought they would ever enjoy a gym environment.

 

“Recently, we retested their aerobic fitness and in 6 weeks it has increased by 13%”

The participant recently said to me,“My mood improves so much after doing my exercise!”

Isn’t that amazing to hear?!

Prior to starting exercises, they were frequently in a low mood. This has changed significantly and they are now better able to manage their mental health through exercise. We have also given them the tools to complete exercise at home so that they can continue to receive these benefits.

Our Longevity Exercise Physiology team have individually completed 4 years of university studies on the effect of exercise on disabilities and chronic disease and our team has a wealth of experience with physical and psychosocial disabilities.

Some common disabilities we treat with exercise are: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Depression, PTSD, Generalised Anxiety Disorder and Chronic pain to name a few.

Currently, our facilities are doing a free tour for NDIS participants and support coordinators!

 

If you know of anyone who would benefit from seeing an Exercise Physiologist, get in contact with us today!

Call Longevity Personal Training and Exercise Physiology Drummoyne, Edgecliff, Marrickville, Bella Vista, Randwick, Pymble, Balmain, Neutral Bay, Coburg – Melbourne, and Barrie, Ontario – Canada today on 1300 964 002!

 

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Written by Stefan Velevski