- July 21, 2020
- Posted by: Daniel Ryan
- Categories: Exercise, Gym Training, Knee Injuries
Quite simply, most physiotherapy ‘rehab’ exercises are simply not hard enough.
Too often, people will come into the clinic are given the same set of exercises – clams for glute weakness, pilates for abdominal weakness, shoulder blade setting for shoulder pain – and it is simply NOT ENOUGH.
What most physiotherapists are failing to do is recognise the functional demands of the person coming into the clinic.
The level of rehab required for the athlete who needs to pivot, change direction, sprint, start and stop is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT to the person with hip pain struggling to carry their child on their hip, or walk 200m. Yet why do people go into a clinic and receive the same set of exercises?
It’s not good enough.
The glute bridge exercise is a GREAT exercise. It is often the first exercise prescribed to patients who are bed-bound in hospital following an operation. But, quite frankly – if you’re moving around like an everyday normal person, you can most likely assume that your glute bridge exercise is NOT HARD ENOUGH to actually make a change in your strength.
It is the old adage – if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you!
Again, most physios are failing to take into account the functional demands of the person standing before them.
And what this leads to, is recurrent pain that might improve slightly with rest and stretching, but as soon as you go back to your aggravating sport – your rehab hasn’t prepared you well enough for it – and your body tightens back up, or does another soft tissue injury and breaks down AGAIN.
Let’s use knee pain as an example:
A common cause of knee pain at the front of the knee is not controlling the position of the kneecap through movement. This can often be attributed to weakness through the glutes – in doing so, the knee collapses inwards with movements such as climbing stairs and squatting; and creates a pressure behind the knee cap onto the femur – and thereby causing knee pain at the front of the joint.
It is a common problem throughout the lifespan in athletes both old and young!
But, the level of training required to teach someone how to control their knee joint through range is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT for the athlete who is required to stop, change directions, sprint and accelerate as compared to the person whose only demand is to walk the dog and climb the stairs.
As such, the intensity of our rehab sessions will be COMPLETELY different.
The long and short of it – is that most of the time, our rehab intensity doesn’t match up to the demands or goals of the person. And if you’re currently the person who is only walking and climbing the stairs, but wants to get back into running – WE CAN GET YOU THERE.
If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.
THIS is why we have invested so heavily in a full rehabilitation gymnasium. It means we can rehabilitate EVERY PERSON – whether you are an ATHLETE, a MOM, a weekend warrior or school athlete.
Experience the Move Physiotherapy difference with a $67 Initial Physiotherapy Appointment, today.