
First up, what is an allied health professional?
Generally speaking, an allied health professional provides services to enhance and/or maintain the function of their client.
An allied health professional is an individual who has studied at university typically in health sciences. They have typically achieved a Masters or higher, and are registered to their relevant associations and practices with a code of ethics/conduct. An allied health professional uses evidence based practice to diagnose and treat an individual in order to achieve full function.
Allied health professionals include, but are not limited to:
- Physiotherapy
- Osteopathy
- Dietetics
- Podiatry
- Psychology
How do I choose who I should see?

If you’re unsure about which professional is most suitable for your needs, chat with your Coach or GP. We can help direct you to the best service based on what you are experiencing. When it comes to lifting, it helps to have someone who understands what we do. Aim to find a professional that either lifts or understands lifting. Just because they have the title, doesn’t mean they have the experience in lifting.
It’s important to make it super clear that allied professionals are here to support and aid you in your training efforts.
If you ever get a blanket no or don’t do this without a conversation, seek help from an alternative professional.
I’ve chosen someone. What steps can I take to get the most out of it?

It’s important to point out the hard truth. Your chosen professional is not there to ‘fix’ you. They are here to educate and guide you to get to the desired outcomes. They cannot do the work for you. Do not go into a session expecting a massage to fix everything. Too often we hear, “xxx didn’t do anything. They just made me repeat the exercises they’d given me in front of them and sent me on my way. I just wanted a massage”. If you want a massage, you can look to get a remedial massage and or see a myotherapist. But remember, a massage is not a long term fix.
Coaches and Allied Professionals work best together:
When Coaches and Allied Professionals work together, our clients win!
Strength Coach & Physiotherapist working together
looks like…
- A good Physiotherapist will spend most of the first session chatting to you. Gathering data and evidence from what you’re experiencing, when and how it’s affecting you. They’ll typically ask you a lot of questions before they begin to physically assess you. From there, they’ll demonstrate, and have you perform some exercises that they’ll send you home with.
- Open up lines of communication between your Physiotherapist and Coach. Give them each other’s emails so that they can work together. It makes both of our jobs SO much easier. Don’t forget your coach sees you a lot more frequently than your Physiotherapist does. This will help by giving your Physiotherapist more historical data about your lifting from our observations and information about your current programming. It also helps your Coach by giving them direction about what they might need to remove, or add to your program, where you’re at with rehabilitation, and where you’re going next. Lastly, it helps you. When you’re getting treatment it often is normal to forget a few things. You don’t have to remember what they said about what muscle is impacting what movement.
- Do the damn work. The more committed you are to doing your exercises, the quicker you’ll see the results. If you’re struggling to motivate yourself, let your coach know. We can help by strategizing suitable times, utilising them as part of your warm ups or putting them into your program. We all want you to succeed!
- Have open and honest communication with your Physiotherapist. Ask questions and be honest. Tell them what’s working and what isn’t, what you’re struggling with and what you might need help with. Don’t bother lying to them. They know when you haven’t done the work… It’s clear as day.
When Coaches and Allied Professionals work together,
our clients win!
– Coach Rach

A good allied health professional is an incredible resource to have by your side. There is so much that you can learn from them, and so much benefit to gain in pursuit of your health and fitness goals.
But you have to be willing to do the work, in order to reap the rewards.
Coach Rach x
Keen to get lifting again?
Hit the button below and let’s construct a plan going forward.
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