Sebastian Ignacio Oyarzo Lizama
Associate Physiotherapist · physiotherapist
APRAH· PHY0004077394
Post-Orthopaedic Surgery Rehabilitation · Sport-Related Injuries · Metabolic and Bariatric Physiotherapy · Diploma in Global Physiotherapy of Muscular Chains and Musculoskeletal Pain
Sebastian Ignacio Oyarzo Lizama is a physiotherapist with a Bachelor's degree in Physiotherapy from Universidad Del Desarrollo and a Master's in Clinical Exercise Physiology from Universidad Mayor, specialising in musculoskeletal physiotherapy, metabolic health, and preoperative rehabilitation. With eight years of clinical experience in Santiago at ClÃnica Dávila and Nutrimet, he developed expertise in managing obesity and metabolic syndrome through therapeutic exercise, surgical prehabilitation, and postoperative orthopaedic rehabilitation, whilst building a private practice treating sports injuries and joint trauma using manual therapy and evidence-based exercise prescription. Now practising in Sydney with an Interim Certificate from the Australian Physiotherapy Council, he serves patients requiring chronic disease management and metabolic health optimisation, drawing on his diverse background that includes work with a national football selection team and gait analysis research at Macquarie University.
About
Sebastián Oyarzo Lizama is a Chilean physiotherapist with eight years of clinical experience spanning musculoskeletal physiotherapy, metabolic health, and preoperative rehabilitation. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Physiotherapy (Kinesiology) from Universidad Del Desarrollo, followed by a Master's in Clinical Exercise Physiology from Universidad Mayor, establishing a strong foundation in evidence-based practice.
Throughout his career in Santiago, Sebastián developed particular expertise in managing overweight, obesity, and metabolic syndrome through therapeutic exercise at ClÃnica Dávila and Nutrimet, where he specialised in preoperative assessment and surgical prehabilitation. Concurrently, he built a private musculoskeletal physiotherapy practice, treating sports injuries, joint trauma, and post-orthopaedic surgical rehabilitation. His therapeutic approach integrates manual therapy techniques with evidence-based exercise prescription, functional movement assessment, and patient education strategies tailored to each individual's needs.
Sebastián's diverse experience extends to high-performance sport, having worked with a national football selection team in 2009, contributing exercise physiology expertise in a hypobaric chamber setting. In Australia, he expanded his skill set through gait analysis work at Macquarie University and holds a Certificate III in Fitness from Australian Fitness Group.
Granted an Interim Certificate by the Australian Physiotherapy Council, Sebastián now practises in Sydney, where he continues to integrate his postgraduate training in clinical exercise physiology with physiotherapy, focusing on chronic disease management and metabolic health optimisation.
Clinical Approach
Sebastián approaches each patient through a biopsychosocial lens, recognising that musculoskeletal conditions extend beyond mechanical dysfunction. He emphasises that pain serves as an alarm signal where the brain often adopts protective strategies that create muscular imbalances, requiring both muscles and the brain to be retrained. His clinical philosophy centres on education and team building with patients, treating dysfunction collaboratively rather than prescriptively. He works to re-educate the mind to experience pain-free movement, addressing the fear of movement that often develops alongside physical conditions.
Drawing from his Master's in Exercise Physiology, Sebastián understands that each person has unique internal and external experiences with exercise and movement. His approach involves thorough screening of beliefs, past experiences, and previous physiotherapy outcomes during initial consultations. He focuses on identifying factors beyond mechanical issues that may affect pathology or recovery, considering the physiopathology behind each case, the patient's context, and their capacity for commitment outside the consultation room. This comprehensive approach allows him to address not just isolated painful segments, but the interconnected nature of the body's systems in achieving functional, pain-free daily life activities.
In Sebastian's own words
YOUR SPECIALIST CONDITION
I like to help people with musculoskeletal conditions that affect their activities of daily life. Whilst pain is just one indicator, I like to help my patients see themselves as a whole biopsychosocial person, where many other factors can interfere with the musculoskeletal condition they are presenting. Education is primordial for every condition, and team building with the patients is also non-negotiable for me, so that together we can treat any dysfunction. I also explain that in some cases the body develops a fear of movement, so I clarify that the work I do is also to re-educate the mind to experience pain-free movement and improve quality of life.
WHO HAS SHAPED YOUR PRACTICE
Exercise Physiology was definitly the subject that made my mind blow in university while i was preparing my degree. To undersatand the unlimited capacities of the body to trigger different type of comunications and consequences in different systems along the body is just amazing. when i see exercise from the perspective of a muldiminesional effect in the human body and the multifactorial outcomes in healing process. jose lopez chicharro has been one of the main doctors in this field that has wrotten many books about this field and also the fact that there are so much more to discover is very excicitng
EXPLAINING PREOPERATIVE ASSESSMENT AND PREHABILITATION TO PATIENTS
Usually my patients ask me if their musculoskeletal condition can be fixed because it's affecting their daily life activities, and most of the time they feel that it could be something very serious. Normally my answer is that pain is an very good alarm sign and in most of the pain conditions the brain will take a protective strategy to avoid any pain, and the outcome of that is a muscular imbalance, so the muscles and the brain need to be retrained to avoid any other imbalances and to teach the brain that movement is alright. For that, education and movement guidance are essential.
YOUR CLINICAL APPROACH
I know the biopsychosocial model is fundamental to understanding what's going on with the patient. My approach to that is to find out which other factors apart from the mechanical issue or dysfunction can be affecting the pathology or recovery. That's why in the interview it's important to do a very good screening about the beliefs, the faith, the experiences in the past with any other injury and physiotherapy. When I did the master's in exercise physiology, it helped me to understand that not every human has the same internal and external experience with exercise and movement. That's why it's important to understand the physiopathology behind every case and also the context, and finally how much time and effort the patient can commit outside of the consultation room.
THE BIGGEST MYTH ABOUT PREOPERATIVE ASSESSMENT AND PREHABILITATION
One of the biggest myths or misconceptions amongst patients in general probably comes down to two main factors. Firstly, there's all the information they can find on the internet and all the negative consequences of their pathology based only on loose information, or even because someone they know, including doctors, has told them that's the way it's going to be forever, and that the only solution could be a permanent pill without even trying any other approach, or sometimes using the pill but in complement with other tools of approach like movement or exercise or manual therapy for example.
Secondly, one big myth is when the patient reads the results from any medical examination and they think that's 100% the root of the issue. What they don't know is that maybe any other human has exactly the same findings but without any symptoms and is having a normal life. We can live with a permanent injury but still be at a functional level, re-educating the surrounding structures and making them more functional, which means pain-free with no consequences in daily life activities.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
One of my best friend back in chile had a ankle sprain while she was on holidays, becuase of that she had to go to the emergency room overseas just to double check all the strutuctures that were damaged. they told her thath she had a grade 3 sprain in her ankle and that would have to use a safety boot fot 6 weeks, do rehab with a physio and see how she could progress because of there was not a good outcome she could be on risk to need a surgery. in the emergency room they meassured her blood pressure and did a blood test just to check her parameters in general. she was diagnosed with: ankle sprain, high blood pressure, hipercolesterolemya and pre diabetes. So when she came to my consultation i expalined her that the mechanic factor that was affection was just one part of the problem, because she also was developing a metabolic dysfunction that was affecting every organ of his body. \ she went to have a consultation with a nutiologyst which suggested a bariatric surgery which made her think that it was too invasive and also could have a long term consequiences for her health too.
So she came to me beaucse she wanted to the her own self the opportunity to treat all her conditions in a conservative way. so we started treating her ankle first, helping her to feel mosre strong and confident on her foot. once we solved that problem she decided to stay in the rehab gym so she could exercise under supervision, 18 month later she lost 34 kilos and she integrate every change thath i suggested and they became part of her new life, nothing extreme, just small changes thath we achieve together, so thats what i think is most important in every case there are going to be opportunities for big or small changes depending case by case, but it will be always the chance to change and improve the quality of life
Specialist Areas
Sebastián brings specialised expertise in metabolic and bariatric physiotherapy, developed through eight years of clinical practice and reinforced by his Master's in Clinical Exercise Physiology and 42-hour certification in Training Planning and Coaching for People with Obesity. At Nutrimet (2017-2019), he specialised in comprehensive preoperative assessment including physical condition, mobility, strength and respiratory function evaluation, delivering targeted prehabilitation programmes for surgical patients. His approach to metabolic conditions integrates therapeutic exercise prescription with coaching methodologies specifically designed for patients with overweight, obesity, and metabolic syndrome.
His practice is distinguished by training in the Global Physiotherapy of Muscular Chains model, rooted in the work of Françoise Mézières and Léopold Busquet. Unlike conventional musculoskeletal physiotherapy that treats painful segments in isolation, this approach views the body as interconnected myofascial chains running from feet to head, recognising that dysfunction in one region often stems from compensations elsewhere in the chain. This framework, combined with his Postgraduate Diploma in Therapeutic Exercise and Dynamic Stability from Universidad del Desarrollo, enables him to address complex presentations where chronic hip issues might trace to foot restrictions or low back pain might be maintained by posterior chain shortening patterns rather than purely local lumbar problems.
Expertise & Credentials
Experience: 8 years
Qualifications: Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Kinesiology), Master in Clinical Exercise Physiology, Certificate III in Fitness, Interim Certificate (Physiotherapy), Pool Lifeguard (SISSS00133)
Notable Organisations
Universidad Del Desarrollo (school-university, 2007-2013)
Completed Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Kinesiology)
Universidad Mayor (school-university, 2017-2020)
Completed Master in Clinical Exercise Physiology
Clinica Davila (corporate, 2016-2017)
At ClÃnica Dávila, I provided private musculoskeletal physiotherapy and assessment to patients across all age groups, treating a diverse range of conditions and supporting patients through both pre- and post-surgical phases of care.
Nutrimet (other, 2017-2019)
At Nutrimet in Chile, I specialised as a physiotherapist in preoperative assessment, prehabilitation, and rehabilitation for surgical patients with metabolic conditions — bridging his exercise physiology expertise with hands-on physiotherapy to prepare patients metabolically and physically for surgery, and support their recovery afterward.
Physio K (corporate, 2025)
Physiotherapy clinical observation and supervised exposure in Sydney, NSW
Royal Sydney Golf Club (sports-team, 2025-Present)
As an Exercise Specialist at Royal Sydney Golf Club, Sebastián designed individualised exercise programmes for clients managing multiple, often co-occurring clinical conditions — applying his clinical exercise physiology background to tailor safe, effective programming.
Sutdio Athletica (corporate, 2022-2025)
At Studio Athletica, I worked as a personal trainer and strength coach, delivering one-hour sessions to clients spanning a broad age range from 16 to 77 years old — reflecting a versatile coaching skill set adaptable across youth training, adult strength development, and older-adult conditioning.
Ready Steady Go Kids (sports-team, Autumn 2022)
At Ready Steady Go Australia, I coached young children aged 1.5 to 7 years, delivering sessions that blended fundamental sports skills with gross and fine motor development, using games as the primary teaching tool to keep engagement high across a wide developmental range.
Achievements
Exercise in Bariatric Surgery (2018)
In December 2018, I appeared as a physiotherapist on the online TV programme Estilo Chic TV, where he spoke about bariatric surgery and the critical role of physical activity in both the pre- and post-operative process — highlighting his ability to communicate clinical exercise concepts to a public, non-specialist audience.
Physiotherapy (2013)
noted that the "with distinction" honour applies specifically to your Bachelor's degree from Universidad Del Desarrollo, not the Master's
Publications
Thesis: Correlation between phase angle and peak oxygen uptake in healthy young adults(other, 2019-12-08)
Thesis: Heart rate variability responses to cognitive performance tasks in healthy adults(other, 2012-12-10)
Continuing Professional Development
Prepation for Australian Physiotherapy Council Assesment (Australian Physio Preparation, 2026, 400.00 hrs)
Observership (PysioK, December 2025, 80.00 hrs)
Wearable technology for improved athlete monitoring (Macquarie University, 2021, 100.00 hrs)
Observership (Macquarie University, 2021, 100.00 hrs)
Postgraduate Diploma in Therapeutic Exercise and Dynamic Stability (Universidad del Desarrollo, 2016, 212.00 hrs)
Dry Needling (Global Education of Manual Therapists, August, 24.00 hrs)
Professional Links
Beyond the clinic
Outside of clinical work, I stay active in the water — swimming across the Eastern Suburbs with a few different groups, including Salties, BOSS, and Tamarama Gropers. I also love getting outdoors for hikes and long walks through Centennial Park with my puppy, Lewis, which keeps me grounded and gives me a break from clinic life. At home, I enjoy cooking healthy Chilean food, staying connected to my roots while keeping things aligned with a health-focused lifestyle. Beyond the clinical side of my work, I've always valued building real relationships with my clients — many of my professional connections have grown into genuine friendships, built around shared interests in healthy living and fun, active pursuits. For me, this blend of movement, food, and connection isn't separate from my work as a physiotherapist — it's part of how I live out the same principles I coach.