Physiotherapists are experts in exercise prescription. As part of physiotherapy training, your physiotherapist is highly trained in exercise physiology (the science of exercise).  Your physiotherapist is therefore able to assess and diagnose your injury, AND prescribe injury or fitness appropriate exercises tailored for your recovery or goals.

Your physiotherapy treatment includes the careful selection and instruction of specific exercises by your physiotherapist to maximize your recovery or help achieve your fitness goals. The exercises may be specific exercises that are to be done in the clinic during your treatment session, or they may be assigned as a progressive home program, to be done outside of clinic or at your own fitness facility.

Should Exercise Hurt?

It is important that your exercises should not be painful. While some of your exercises may cause mild discomfort while you perform them, after their completion you should not feel worse having done them.  If you are experiencing increased pain from your exercise program, please make sure you inform your physiotherapist right away so that they can assess and discuss with you what changes may need to be made.

If I’m injured, why would I exercise?

Sometimes certain muscles can become weak from overuse or disuse. When these stability muscles are weak, your injured structures may not be adequately supported which can predispose you to injury or prolong your recovery.

Sometimes, even if you exercise regularly, you may have weak stability muscles.  If you have an injury, you run the risk of over-using these adjacent supporting structures and can cause additional injury.

Your physiotherapist can help prescribe specific exercises that specifically strengthen your stability muscles without overloading your injured area. Your physiotherapist will also guide the progression of your exercise program to ensure appropriate increases in your training without re-injury.

Please seek an exercise expert, such as your physiotherapist, when you are planning your rehabilitation.

Stretching

Stretching is a form of physical exercise to lengthen a specific muscle (or muscle group) in order to improve the muscle’s elasticity and mobility. There are many methods of stretching your physiotherapist may use. Some of the common examples are:  static stretching, dynamic stretching, PNF stretching