Medical fitness – tailored exercise guidance for patients
Medical fitness is a healthcare service designed to help patients achieve the benefits of physical activity. Doctors, physiotherapists and medical fitness trainers work together to create an individual exercise plan that takes the patient's health condition and goals into account. Medical fitness programmes generally focus on conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, joint pain, excess weight and stress.
Today, illness is a serious problem for most people. Employers generally do not look favourably on frequent and prolonged absences. Illness can therefore affect a person's ability to earn an income and create financial difficulties. The most important goal for the affected patient is to regain their health, first their ability to care for themselves and then their ability to work, as soon as possible, so that they can return to their job, responsibilities and family.
Medical fitness is a new approach that supports recovery in the most natural way possible: through individually tailored physical activity. I have written before about the importance of exercise. For example, in my article The story of the peasant and his horse.
Methods used in medical fitness
The methods used by the trainer may vary, as the programme depends on the patient's individual health condition and goals. The following methods can generally be used for everyone:
- Aerobic exercise aims to strengthen the cardiovascular system and improve cardiovascular health. Examples include walking, running, cycling, swimming and other cardio exercises.
- Strength training aims to strengthen the muscles and bones. It can involve bodyweight exercises or training with weights. Both dumbbells and machines may be used.
- Stretching aims to stretch the muscles, joints and spine and improve range of movement.
- Functional training aims to strengthen the muscles and joints that are most important for everyday activities and improve their range of movement.
- Rehabilitation training aims to help the patient return to normal everyday activities and regain their ability to work or, at least, their ability to care for themselves.
- Health counselling provides the patient with advice on a healthy lifestyle. This may include suitable nutrition, stress management and avoiding smoking and alcohol consumption.
Medical fitness trainer
You certainly know that fitness trainers help with healthy living, disease prevention, physical and health development and conditioning. This knowledge is primarily intended for healthy individuals.
For practising fitness trainers, further training in medical fitness provides significant additional knowledge. This enables them to create a complex health improvement plan for people with chronic illnesses that they can carry out safely despite their condition. Medical fitness programmes are highly significant in the prevention and treatment of diabetes, heart disease, abnormal blood lipid levels, metabolic syndrome and even cancer.
A medical fitness professional can communicate and work with treating doctors and other therapists at a competent level. With the patient's interests and goals in mind, they can offer the possibility of high-quality, safe and lasting recovery.
It is important to recognise that this is a major paradigm shift. Doctors and fitness and lifestyle professionals can finally speak the same language while respecting the boundaries of their competencies. They can show people in need that medication and symptomatic treatment are not the only options in the recovery process. Correctly guided lifestyle therapy can lead to much better results and may even help people overcome their illnesses. Medication alone is unlikely to offer the same possibility.
Physiotherapy – supports the effectiveness of medical fitness
The methods used by a medical fitness trainer can be complemented with further physiotherapy methods, as these are intended to treat musculoskeletal conditions and improve physical function. The methods used may include, for example:
- Massage: reduces muscle pain, improves circulation, relieves tension and improves range of movement.
- Muscle and fascia treatment: stretching and relaxation after exertion, using and learning to use an SMR roller.
- Electrotherapy: treatments using electric current, such as TENS and muscle stimulation, can help reduce muscle pain, strengthen the muscles and improve circulation.
- Ultrasound therapy: when used before exercise, it relaxes tight muscles and ligaments. Tension is reduced, and exercises can be performed with a greater range of movement and less pain.
- Rehabilitation equipment: many devices are available that are optimised for restoring a specific function. They support targeted, focused exercises that can be performed with significantly less effectiveness without the aid.
Combining these methods and applying them according to the individual's health condition and goals may help the patient achieve the desired results.
Find a medical fitness trainer
