I have heard “Movement is Medicine” a few times in the past and I really like this statement. I am a big believer in the benefits of physical activity, so I want to dive into it more. I’ll try not to beat a dead horse, as I’m sure many of you have heard that you should exercise. I know better and I enjoy being active, but I am not always consistent myself. It’s challenging and life gets in the way for everyone at times. If you have been to a physical therapist, you’ll know that we almost always give home exercise programs to people as part of a treatment plan, but why is that?
Well, movement is medicine, but it can also be more than that. The healthcare system historically treats people once an illness or disease is present rather than focusing on preventing illness and disease. You don’t have to wait for things to get to that point. Regular physical activity is preventative and can help you live a longer and healthier life. I encourage everyone to take control of your own health and make physical activity a part of everyday life.
Physical activity can have immediate benefits by making you feel better, improving your mood, increasing your energy, and helping improve sleep. Over time it can help people maintain a healthy body weight and has positive effects on the function and health of our brain, heart, lungs, muscles, and bones and every system in our bodies. Research shows that being inactive has a negative effect on our health and is considered an important cause of many chronic diseases. A 2015 review by Pederson and Saltin summarized the evidence for the role of exercise in treating 26 chronic diseases. The diseases included things like obesity, cancer, diabetes, COPD, high blood pressure and coronary heart disease. They found that maintaining an active lifestyle can help to prevent and lower the risk of getting many chronic diseases. Using exercise as part of the treatment of chronic diseases is also supported. So the earlier in life you become active the better, but it’s never too late to start.
There are generally very few risks when starting to exercise, especially at a lower level of intensity (e.g. walking). The current ACSM guidelines recommend that you see your doctor before engaging in moderate to high intensity physical activity. They also suggest being cleared by your doctor if you have heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes or symptoms of these diseases and you don’t normally exercise. If you aren’t sure if exercise is safe for you, talk to your primary health care provider before you start. The current recommendations for physical activity levels are for children and adolescents to get at least 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity. At least three days each week should incorporate vigorous intensity and muscle + bone strengthening exercises. For adults and older adults, it is recommended to get 150-300 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise per week. With two days incorporating muscle and bone strengthening exercises. This might seem lofty if you aren’t currently active, you should progressively work towards these numbers. If they just aren’t possible there are still health benefits that can be achieved from smaller amounts of physical activity, so doing some physical activity is better than doing none.
If you aren’t sure where to start physical therapists and exercise therapists are a couple of health care providers that are well equipped to help. Remember that physical activity can take many forms. It refers to any body movement produced by muscles that requires energy expenditure. Anything you do throughout the day where you are moving your body counts! Including at work or during leisure time. It doesn’t have to be running or lifting weights, which is what many people think of when they hear exercise. The important thing is to find ways to be active that you enjoy.
Research shows that adherence to exercise programs prescribed by rehabilitation professionals is a significant problem. Non-adherence increases the risk of reinjury and has fewer positive outcomes long term. While people who adhere to their prescribed exercises tend to have better outcomes and greater improvements of physical function. The effectiveness of home exercise programs given to people by a physical therapist is dependent on people doing it. I think there are lots of reasons people don’t follow through with their home exercise programs. A lot of people tend to want a quick fix and unfortunately exercise doesn’t give that to you. Rehabbing an injury takes work, and like I mentioned above life can get in the way as well. Just like medicine is prescribed though, exercise should be prescribed too. We must make sure that the exercise program we give you is tailored to your specific needs, and it is helping you recover from your injury and achieve your goals.
We need to communicate openly with you, so we understand what your expectations are, what works for you and what doesn’t. We have the responsibility of making sure we progress your program at the right pace, explain why the exercise program can help, and ensure you have clear instructions for each exercise. We want to help set you up success, reduce any fears you might have and lead you down a path to feeling confident moving your own body.
At the end of the day, it’s still up to you to make the choice to be active and complete your exercise program. You can try some strategies that might help like exercising with a friend or family member, joining a fitness group, and trying to include physical activity into how you spend time as a family. I find it’s helpful to make a schedule for when you are going to exercise during the week and stick to doing it at that time. Track your progress, so you can tell when things are improving or maybe when things need to be adjusted a little bit. Ease into things, you can’t move a mountain in one day. It’s important to have realistic goals in place, so you can feel the gratification of achieving those goals. If you falter, don’t get too discouraged because everyone does at some point, just try to get back moving your body as soon as you can, because movement is medicine!
-Jory, Physio student
References
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