Therapy Education Consulting

Working with patients as a physical therapist can be very rewarding. The improvements, the reduction in pain, the return to activity. The trouble today is as soon as patients are out of pain, they figure they must be better. We try to sell them on movement quality, reduced risk of re-injury and completion of care but too many factors come into play that prevent comprehensive care at times.

One scenario is the patient who wants to use their injury as an opportunity to "get back in shape." The improvements noted while in therapy are there, the return of movement once lost and the ability to do things that couldn't be done are there and they are going back to the gym.  Trying to line up a program to follow at the gym can be difficult. Giving out some exercises with sets and reps is often done with no concern about progression and adaptation that need to be addressed over time.  The patients will want to return for updates with their program in a month but more times than not, they cancel or no show their appointment never to return. Are they following their program, did they get back into the gym, are they still symptom free? They might still be doing 2-3 sets of 15 reps of the same exercises or that sheet of suggestions never made it out of their car. We often never know but can only hope they found the right person to work with if they did go back to the gym.

Personal trainers and fitness staff are getting these folks into their "turf" and work their magic. They might give a call to the physical therapist to get some suggestions or they might adapt the latest fitness trend into their program. As a physical therapist, it is difficult to send a patient on their own with a program of exercises that will be sufficient for a brief time knowing that a progression will be beneficial. A sound strength program to follow is often what is needed but trying to locate one in which the patient can follow and adapt is difficult. I have run upon this scenario many times over the past 20 years. Many books are written with good exercises to follow but not many books describe in detail what to do with the exercises. Not many with sound advice on progression. Not many that don't over emphasize gym machines that have the patient sitting and selecting the weight with a pin. I recently found a program written by Patrick Ward of Optimum Sports Performance titled Take Charge: Everything You Need To Know to Write You Own Training Program.

This e-book is packed with not only exercises but education for the reader about various forms of exercise, warm up, basic and dynamic exercises and how to put a workout together. The information is up to date and solid in explanation. I feel it's a great resource for patient's or clients that need a training program and won't follow through with a personal trainer or the physical therapist on a basis that's needed to provide the appropriate guidelines for progression.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

Life has been busy and trying to finally settle down in this 2010.  Being April 1st I think a good time to devote more time to developing opportunities.  Plan on writing some interesting articles to both educate and spark discussion on various topics related to Physical Therapy, Athletic Training and Fitness.  Recently updated my primary site, http://www.therapyeducationconsulting.com/ and look forward to some exciting programs being developed this year.  Drop a note and stay in touch.

Michael