If you build a house on an unstable foundation, will the house be livable? Yes, but you would expect to deal with challenges as the foundation shifts and have to deal with these problems as they arise. Likewise, if your “brick house” of muscle is built on top of a poor foundation, you would expect to have compensations and possibly injuries as time goes on.
Old injuries that plague you from time to time, “tight hamstrings my whole life”, or occasional pain in the knee, back, hip, ankle, etc. means you have faults in your foundation or stability system. Imbalances in your foundation can be such issues as strength deficits, flexibility or tightness of muscles, lack of mobility of joints, and even your breathing patterns.
Assessment of your postures and movement strategies under low load (your body weight only) can reveal these imbalances and asymmetries that could lead to further injury. If you cannot move optimally without a load, why would you go to a class or gym to lift weights and get stronger? Adding load to a faulty movement strategy is simply enforcing the faulty movement strategy.watch King Arthur: Legend of the Sword film online now
Many fitness professionals can perform assessments, yet physical therapists have at least 7 years of school emphasizing musculoskeletal assessment and treatment and often have continued education to further develop these skills beyond formal schooling. A physical therapist can determining if you have faulty movement patterns and then go deeper, analyzing the reason your body is compensating in that way. It is often a bit more complex than tight hamstrings or lack of stretching. Helping patients understand their bodies and more importantly teaching patients how to address deficits enables the therapist to steer patients down the optimal path in their fitness pursuits.
Most of us are very active as well and have at least tried various fitness models available in our community. We can advise to which programs, classes, workout routines will be best for your body and the stage of preparedness you are currently in. Everyone is different! We have close working relationships with many fitness and health resources in the community and can communicate to other persons you may be working with to help everyone on your team understand your best exercise regimen and how that will progress.
Seeing a physical therapist is not limited to times when you have pain. We can help you reduce the likelihood of pain or injury occurring during play! Don’t build fitness on a poor foundation!