Three Ways Physiotherapy Can Improve Your Exercise Routines

Exercise is a great way to maintain a good state of physical health, especially for those who spend most of their time sitting at work or driving to and fro. Unfortunately, some people put in the time to do their workout but fail to see significant results. While this can be caused by a lot of other factors, a sure way to get you back on the right track would be with the help of a professional.

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Physiotherapists have the experience and the knowledge of the human body in pursuit of finding the right treatment for everyone, whether they are recovering from an injury or simply working towards fitness. Here are some ways how physiotherapy can improve your exercise routines:

Setting realistic goals

Healthmax’s Physiotherapy in Whitby places emphasis on the importance of goal setting between the therapist or their clients, especially in rehabilitation. This is the part where they set and negotiate goals that are both attainable and relevant to their overall target

For either injury rehabilitation or fitness improvement, goal setting helps direct the program towards the desired outcome, experience greater satisfaction, and improved recovery rates with less chance of recurrence. For fitness purposes, a session with your therapist as a supplementary activity for your exercise also provides the same benefits. Physiotherapists initially conduct an assessment of your physical capability based on a variety of factors such as age, lifestyle, and history with injuries and illnesses. These form the basis of goal-setting which you can negotiate in return.

Of course, these goals are measured in regular intervals to measure your performance with respect to the set goals, which are then adjusted or modified accordingly. For example, strength training exercises follow increasing repetitions of similar activity. A physiotherapist can start you out with a few sets until you feel slightly uncomfortable. As you progress, feeling comfortable, the number of repetitions is increased and so on.

Increased Range of Movement

An exercise program guided by a trained physiotherapist is designed in such a way that joints are not exposed to unnecessary strain. Most therapists include a basic range of movement exercises in the program, activities with less movement and usually assisted by gravity and the patient himself. This range of movement exercise is ensured to be within your achievable range.

For first-timers looking to achieve better wellness, a visit to the physiotherapist will help you find the right exercise and enjoy the following benefits:

  • Increase joint function and flexibility and subsequently, the whole involved limb
  • Decrease pain
  • Increasing movement efficiency
  • Maintain, and later on improve, your joint integrity.

Usually, these kinds of exercises are designed for people suffering from a decreased range of movement. In recent years though, it has found increased popularity for people who are experiencing stiffness or pain due to posture or as a side effect of certain routine activities. Either way, your therapist will prescribe any of the following activities after your physiotherapy assessment. 

  • Passive exercises – completion of these exercises are done by another body part or another person.
  • Gravity assisted exercises – muscle activation is achieved as gravity helps pull the limb up to the limit of the joint’s current available range.
  • Auto-assisted exercises – the patient moves the concerned joint up to the currently available range, then applies a little more pressure to extend slightly beyond the limit.
  • Exercises using water – physiotherapists sometimes recommend the addition of warm water to relax the joint tissues, allowing them to surpass the achievable range.

Reduce Injury

Before injury prevention during exercise is as simple as doing stretching and warm-ups before starting. However, there are no established standards and we usually follow what we see and learn from our trainers, teachers, and even sports celebrities. The problem with this is that most of these preparations are a mixture of pseudoscience and mindset, and mostly, this is not a one size fits all solution.

Here is where physiotherapy comes in: conducting studies, understanding the science behind it, and using them as a basis to generate customized solutions for every patient. In doing this, trained physiotherapists develop an injury prevention program through the use of an intervention mapping protocol. It refers to a six-step systematic procedure to develop evidence-based health promotion programs,

After creating the appropriate treatment plan, your therapist also includes education as well as suggestions to prevent recurrence and future injuries. Once you finish your exercise, your therapist can also provide post-exercise treatments to facilitate recovery and condition your muscles. Therapeutic modalities such as ultrasound, therapeutic electrical stimulation (TENs), and application of interferential current improves tissue recovery and increase pain tolerance.