Reasons Physical Therapists Believe Strength Training is Essential

Strength training is key to enhancing your overall fitness. Also known as resistance training, strength training is a kind of training program that physical therapists believe is essential for maintaining a healthy body that's free from illnesses and injuries. Let's discuss the reasons physical therapists believe strength training is essential.

Strength training enhances your lifting, pulling and gripping capacity that eventually makes it easier for you to perform the activities of daily living with ease. Designed to boost your muscular fitness; it's one of the best ways to stay fit.

Most physical therapists believe that it has multiple benefits for both professional athletes and non-athletes. Yes, strength training not only enhances your quality of life, but it also takes your athletic performance to the next level. Whether you are a runner, basketball player, footballer, gymnast, boxer, or tennis player, strength training brings a significant improvement in your performance if you make it a part of your fitness routine at least twice or thrice a week.

Strength training is not only vital for kids and adults involved in sports, but it is equally significant for older adults to live a healthy and injury-free life.

Physical therapists, who treat a wide range of musculoskeletal conditions like hip and knee injuries, severe back and neck pain, shoulder problems, foot & ankle pain, balance & gait disorders, neurological disorders, and chronic conditions like arthritis, believe that sticking to strength training can help people struggling with these conditions recover quickly.

Although, they use techniques like laser therapy, massage therapy, manual therapy, myofascial cupping, dry needling, Kinesio Taping, and ergonomics, etc., to treat the problems linked to muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, joints, and more, they also believe that strength training has tremendous advantages.

For example, if you are struggling with a shoulder condition, it's essential for you to have healthy muscles and bones to deal with your problem, and to build healthy muscles you need to support your strength training.

You can experience pain in your shoulder due to conditions like frozen shoulder, shoulder dislocation, and rotator cuff injury. And to heal such problems, you should seek physical therapy from a well-known physical therapist, who can use advanced physical therapy techniques along with an exercise program that consists of a wide range of strength-building moves.

Some people seek surgical treatment straight away for treating a severe injury or a chronic disease; however, they can prevent surgeries if they opt for physical therapy immediately.

On the other hand, if surgical treatment is utterly vital, physical therapy can still be helpful for you.

According to Rehab Dynamics Physical Therapy, "Many people can recover from various types of shoulder conditions without having surgery. Physical therapy can play a crucial role in your recovery without having to use invasive methods. Even if surgery is required, physical therapy can help you both before and after to improve healing time and increase your range of motion."

Here's why physical therapists emphasize strength-building moves to boost the overall fitness of their patients.

For Maintaining Healthy Weight

Maintaining healthy weight is vital for people of all ages including children, adults, and seniors to prevent injuries that stem from day-to-day physical activities like bending, stretching, and twisting.

And on top of that, if you are someone who practices intense physical activities then your weight can become a big obstacle for you. Since your joints can't take your body weight comfortably, you end-up injuring yourself while hitting the gym or while practicing your game. So, one of the best ways to reduce weight to eliminate the risk of injuries is to incorporate strength training in your fitness routine.

Apart from your gym trainer, your physical therapist can also guide you in strength training. What sets physical therapists apart in this area is, they get a feel of how physically fit you are after examining your range of motion and based on that they include only those strength-building moves that are healthy for you.

Remember, if you incorporate the wrong exercises into your fitness plan, you won't be able to achieve your fitness goals. Therefore, it's better to rely on a physical therapist when it comes to selecting the right strength-building moves to reduce your weight.

What's surprisingly great about strength training is that it boosts your body's potential to burn calories even when you are at rest or when you are not performing any physical activities. In short, if you stick to strength training, your body will continue to burn fat even after your workout session.

This way, you get better results with strength training than relying on activities like swimming, walking, and running.

For Strengthening Bones

Healthy bones are vital for enhancing your athletic performance. Yes, whether you are a runner or a footballer, you won't be able to excel at your game if you have weak bones. Strength building moves are not only significant for improving your bone density, but they minimize the risk of bone diseases like arthritis - that affects the ability of your joints to function effectively.

So, make sure that you stick to strength training to strengthen your bones. Again, your physical therapist will include the strength training exercises that suit your needs. It's crucial for you to learn these exercises effectively from them in the first place. Yes before you start doing them without the advice of your physical therapist, you must be aware of how performing them wrong affects your health.

Push-ups and squats are pretty good for bone health so you can perform them regularly.

 For Boosting Muscle Health

Having strong muscles is imperative for living an active life. No matter what you do, you need strong muscles to function effectively. Whether you talk about bending forward to lift a dumbbell in the gym, or you want to reach an overhead shelf to pick a bottle of juice, you must have strong muscles to carry out these activities with ease.

Strength training, which includes isometric resistance and isotonic strength training, is the best way to make your muscles stronger. It also helps in preventing the loss of muscle mass - a natural activity that stems from aging.

For Managing Chronic Diseases

If you are suffering from a chronic disease like diabetes or arthritis, you can rely on strength training to manage them. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 9.4 percent of Americans have diabetes, which is a massive figure. So, if you are also one among them, you can observe a significant improvement in your health with strength training.

For Enhancing Energy Level

Strength training is one of the best ways to boost your energy levels. It helps in producing endorphins, which not only help in relieving pain that stems from different types of musculoskeletal conditions but they are also beneficial for elevating your mood and energy levels.

So, if you want to be happy and feel better and stronger, make sure you include strength training in your fitness plan.