Move Sports Physiotherapy & Pilates

How to actually treat POTS

You don't start with "push harder."
You work with the nervous system, not against it. Build tolerance to being upright, bit by bit. Strengthen the legs so blood stops pooling. Breathe. Pace. Progress.

How to build strength without post-exertional malaise

Post-exertional malaise is the crash that can hit a day or two after you overdo it.
The fix isn't doing nothing. It's starting smart:
– Begin lying down or seated, where the heart isn't fighting gravity
– Go low and slow. Small doses, plenty of recovery
– Strength before cardio
– Watch how you feel 24–48 hours later, not just on the day
– Only progress when the body says yes
Recovery isn't the opposite of training. With POTS, it's part of it.

If you've got POTS and you've been told it's "just anxiety," or to "just exercise" — we see you.

There's a way to get stronger that doesn't wreck you for days. Joe helped teach us how.
Move Sports Physio, Geelong — we take on the complex cases other clinics aren't sure what to do with.

The thing we hear most in Bone Builder
"I haven't felt this strong in years."

It comes from women who spent a decade being told to be careful.

Slow down. Don't lift too heavy. Now they're deadlifting, jumping, and laughing between sets.

The group is small on purpose. The coaching is hands-on. Nobody's stuck next to a 20-year-old doing something that's got nothing to do with them.

This is what we mean when we say we work with you. You're not managing decline — you're building.

Come see what a session actually looks like. Comment "BONE" or call the clinic and we'll talk you through it.

Hear from the team - there are many common misconception in the health space that many of us still hold onto, so we’re here to bust some of those myths until science tells us otherwise.

Walking is good for you.
It will not build your bones.

Here's the truth most women over 50 never get told properly. Save this one.

Bone is living tissue. It responds to what you ask of it.
Ask very little, and it quietly gives ground every year after menopause.

Ask the right way, and it gets stronger.
But "the right way" is specific.

Bone doesn't respond to gentleness. It responds to loads that are heavy and fast.

Light weights, water aerobics, walking? Wonderful for your heart and your head.
Not enough to change bone.
What actually works: heavy resistance training and impact.

The Australian guidelines are blunt about it — bone "responds positively to impact activities and high intensity progressive resistance training."

"But isn't lifting heavy dangerous for fragile bones?"
It's the fear that keeps women on 2kg pink dumbbells forever. The research says the opposite.

In the Australian LIFTMOR trial, women with osteopenia and osteoporosis trained heavily. Twice a week. 30 minutes.

After 8 months, their spine bone density improved ~2.9%.The gentle home-exercise group went backwards. And safety? Under proper supervision, no fractures from the program.

Their posture actually improved.
The catches that matter: it needs supervision and good technique.

No heavy rounded-back lifting. Impact may need modifying if you've got arthritis or you're frail. And it all sits on top of enough calcium and vitamin D.

This is exactly what Bone Builder is built on.
We test your real strength with VALD. We load you safely and heavily enough to matter. We supervise every rep. Then we retest, so you see it working.

You were never too old, too fragile, or too late.
You were just never coached properly.
Want your bone-loading baseline? Book a Bone Builder assessment at Move Sports Physio, Geelong.

—
Evidence (via PubMed):
• Watson SL et al. LIFTMOR RCT. J Bone Miner Res. 2018. doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.3284
• Watson SL et al. Osteoporos Int. 2019. doi.org/10.1007/s00198-018-04829-z
• Beck BR et al. ESSA Position Statement. J Sci Med Sport. 2017. doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2016.10.001

The most common mistake we see? People aren't lifting heavy enough
Not even close. And it's usually not their fault — they've been told for years to "be careful" and stick to light weights.

Here's the problem: bone only changes when you load it properly. Lift too light and you can train for months and build nothing.

So in Bone Builder we don't guess how strong you are — we measure it. Every client gets tested on our VALD equipment. Real numbers, real force.

That tells us exactly how hard we can push you, safely. Then we retest, and you watch your own numbers climb.

That's the difference between "doing some exercises" and actually building bone.

Want to know your real strength baseline? Book a Bone Builder assessment at Move Sports Physio — Health E Medical, Geelong.

There is no better time than winter to have your head stuck in a good book.

Ps. Jess would love to hear your thoughts on how any of the recommendations land for you

Strong muscles build strong bones.
Lifting for longevity

liftingforlongevity