Women’s Health Exercise Physiology | North & West Melbourne

Evidence-based clinical exercise prescription for perimenopause, menopause, bone mineral density, and pelvic health.

Join our welcoming, private space and train without mirrors.

"Conveniently based in West Melbourne, our clinical studio provides accessible care just minutes from major medical centres, including the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, and St Vincent’s."

GPs & Specialists: Referrals and clinical summaries can be sent securely via email to studio@themovementrefinery.com.au or provided directly by the patient

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Specialised Clinical Care for Women

Women navigate complex hormonal and musculoskeletal transitions across a lifetime—yet their exercise prescription is too often treated with generic, one-size-fits-all fitness programming.

Our Accredited Exercise Physiologists (AEPs) deliver targeted, medically supervised exercise to support bone density, metabolic adaptation, pelvic floor integrity, and hormonal symptom management in a private, supportive clinical environment on Rosslyn Street.

Targeted Clinical Exercise Across Every Life Stage

Your body evolves through distinct seasons of life, and your movement should evolve right alongside it. Whether you are noticing sudden shifts in your energy, preparing for your second half of life, or navigating changes you were told to "just live with," you don’t have to figure it out alone.

Our studio is a supportive space where science meets practical, energising movement—helping you feel strong, capable, and at home in your body again:

Navigating Perimenopause & Menopause

If you’re feeling uncharacteristically fatigued, noticing changes in your body composition, dealing with brain fog, or waking up with aching joints, you are not imagining it. Hormonal shifts change how your muscles, metabolism, and nervous system respond to exercise. We design energising resistance and conditioning sessions that work with your changing chemistry—rebuilding lean muscle, lifting your daily energy, and helping you regain a sense of vitality and control.

Pelvic Floor & Core Confidence

Leaking when you laugh, run, or jump—or feeling heaviness from pelvic organ prolapse—is incredibly common, but it is never something you simply have to accept. Rather than keeping you fearful of lifting or moving freely, we teach you how to coordinate your breath, core, and pelvic floor under real-world movement. You’ll regain the freedom to exercise, maybe even lifting weights, run for the tram and to move as you please.

Pelvic Pain

When movement frequently triggers a flare-up, it’s completely natural to become cautious. We take the guesswork and fear out of exercise. By listening closely to your cycle and body signals, we introduce gentle, paced movement that calms an overactive nervous system, reduces inflammation, and restores your relationship with exercise—always meeting you exactly where you are on any given day.

Protecting & Building Bone Density (ONERO™

Receiving a diagnosis of osteopenia or osteoporosis can feel daunting, but a scan result is not a life sentence to fragility. Bones are living tissue, and they thrive on the right kind of challenge. As an accredited ONERO™ clinic, we guide you step-by-step through safe, supervised bone-loading exercises. You’ll build genuine skeletal strength, improve your balance, and step out into the world with renewed confidence in your body’s resilience.

Our 3-Step Patient Journey

Step 1: Thorough Initial Assessments

  • A dedicated, private conversation covering your medical background, hormonal stage, bone scan history (DXA), and daily energy patterns

  • Non-invasive movement, cardiovascular, mobility, balance, and baseline strength screening

  • A clear discussion of your personal goals, symptom triggers, and what success looks like for you

Step 2: Custom, Safe Prescription

  • A targeted exercise protocol tailored specifically to your body's current capacity

  • Integration of clinically validated loading—including ONERO™ bone-density lifts if goal-aligned

  • Practical education on managing intra-abdominal pressure, joint loading, and pacing

Step 3: Guided Progression & Ongoing Support

  • Attentive clinical environments, 1:1 or small groups

  • Real-time technique adjustments to keep you confident, safe, and moving pain-free

  • Regular re-evaluations to track outcomes with formal progress updates shared directly with your GP or specialist team

Rebates & Referrals

  • Medicare GPCCMP - formerly EPC or CDM:

    If you have a diagnosed chronic condition (such as osteoporosis, diabetes, or persistent joint pain), your GP may refer you under a General Practice Chronic Condition Management Plan (GPCCMP) for up to 5 Medicare-subsidised allied health visits per calendar year (Item 10953).

  • Private Health Insurance:

    Most major private health funds provide extras rebates for individual (Item 102) and group (Item 202) Exercise Physiology consultations. No referral is necessary to claim.

  • Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA)

    Gold and White card holders can access fully covered clinical sessions with an appropriate GP referral (D904).

  • NDIS

    Self-managed and plan-managed participants under Capacity Building: Improved Daily Living or Improved Health and Wellbeing.

  • Do I Need a Doctor's Referral to Start?

    No. You can book privately as a self-referred patient at any time. If you wish to claim via Medicare or DVA, a valid GP referral form is required prior to your first appointment.

  • On-the-spot claims (HICAPS/TYRO)

    This will be available by March 2027. In the interim, we ask you to settle your invoice at the studio and seek reimbursement independently.

The Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP) Difference

Navigating hormonal shifts or pelvic floor issues in a high-intensity gym or generic reformer studio can be intimidating—and at times, counterproductive or injurious. Accredited Exercise Physiologists (AEPs) are university-qualified allied health professionals dual-accredited with Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA). We understand:

The Interplay of Hormones & Connective Tissue:

Why tendinopathies, joint pain, and recovery times change dramatically during perimenopause.

Cardiometabolic Risk Factors:

How declining oestrogen shifts lipid profiles and vascular compliance, requiring specific cardiovascular dosage.

Intra-Abdominal Pressure Management:

How to progress functional strength without exacerbating pelvic organ prolapse or abdominal separation (DRAM).

Multidisciplinary Communication:

We collaborate directly with your Women’s Health Physiotherapist, GP, Obstetrician, or Gynaecologist to ensure your medical plan is unified.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • No. You do not need a referral to book a consultation as a private client or when claiming through your private health insurance extras. However, if you wish to claim Medicare rebates under a Chronic Disease Management (EPC) plan or access DVA funding, a formal referral from your GP is required prior to your appointment.

  • Yes. Our clinical space is safe, private, and discreet. We work extensively with women managing stress incontinence, urge symptoms, and pelvic organ prolapse.

    We frequently coordinate directly with local Women’s Health Physiotherapists to ensure the intra-abdominal pressure management in your resistance training complements your pelvic floor rehabilitation.

    Please note that we will require communication and clearance from your women’s health physiotherapist to ensure you are ready to exercise and how best to manage your intra-abdominal pressure.

  • Commercial group fitness or generic Pilates classes rarely account for the structural, hormonal, and bone-specific needs of women navigating perimenopause, menopause, or osteoporosis. AEPs program using calibrated resistance, objective diagnostic data (such as DXA T-scores), and clinical safety boundaries that standard fitness instructors are neither qualified nor insured to manage.

  • Yes. Most major private health funds offer rebates for Exercise Physiology consultations under extra cover.

  • Please wear comfortable movement clothing and bring any recent scan results—especially DXA bone density scans, spinal imaging, or relevant specialist letters—along with your Medicare or private health fund card.

  • Getting started is simple. Reach out through our contact form or schedule a call—we’ll walk you through the next steps and answer any questions along the way.

    All new clients begin with an Initial Assessment and subsequent consult for programme design. Then, it’s up to you whether you’d like to continue 1:1 or feel ready for our small group sessions.

  • Collaborative, honest, and straightforward. We're here to guide the process, bring ideas to the table, and keep things moving.

    We’ve done this before and are here to chat, answer questions and support you.

    And … we chat. Get ready to talk TV, podcasts, fashion, philosophy, even sport. Or, if you prefer, silent sessions are AOK.