Vocational opportunities for Australian Accredited Exercise Physiologists (AEPs) are expanding. Australians with chronic disease may be able to claim some of the healthcare costs associated with AEPs through Medicare. This document aims to explain the place of AEPs in the Australian healthcare system and related industries.

Cognitive functioning may be preserved or improved through exercise. Both acute and regular exercise have positive effects on cognition, particularly on measures of attention, executive functioning, and memory. Improving fitness may be especially beneficial to cognitive function in older adults and persons with chronic medical conditions. Future studies should identify the mechanisms for these benefits and seek to determine the clinical utility of routinely recommending exercise to promote better neurological outcomes.

Exercise prescription is quantified based on frequency, intensity, time, type, volume, and progression, but differing injury rates associated with various modalities and types of exercise are often not accounted for. We propose an effectiveness ratio, a quantification of benefits associated with exercise relative to the injury risk associated with training.