At Your Gym Physiotherapy Service
You’ve been showing up for yourself, sweating through sets and reps, and smashing through intense aerobic classes. Then that unwelcome guest shows: an annoying ache in a joint or muscle that wont quit. You think it’s a growing pain, something that would go as you push through, but it gets worse and slows you down. That’s a familiar story for a large number of sports lovers and fitness enthusiasts across Australia and the world at large.
Based on an annual 2022 study by the Australian Sports Commission, about 19%(3.47 million) of all people involved in Sports and regular physical exercise sustained some form of an injury. Of these, about 7%(737000) were involved in fitness activities like bodybuilding, crossfit training, yoga and powerlifting. Mainstream cardio activities like jogging, running, cycling and swimming were responsible for the highest number of injuries.
Dealing with injuries like these often require much more than just acute management and standard rehabilitation procedures. The clinical environment can be great for restoring basic flexibility, muscle strength, and functional capabilities. However, it’s often a challenge to provide an environment that better prepares the athlete or gym enthusiast for specific activities that matter to them. Limiting recovery to the clinical environment renders the recovery program less ideal. This is where our At Your-Gym Service comes in.
So What’s Involved in At Your Gym Service
The main aim is to optimize recovery by factoring in your specific needs as an athlete or regular exerciser looking to restore the highest possible functional capacity. As pointed out earlier, the clinic environment may not cut it when it comes to safely transitioning your recovery process to the actual movement patterns and intensity you need.
Consider this case:
A 26 year old football player, John(Pseudonym), limped into our clinic some months ago using a single crutch on the left. He couldn’t put weight through the right leg, which had a knee brace to stabilize the injured knee. He sustained a right ACL(Anterior Cruciate Ligament) injury, and had undergone surgical repair.
It was the first week post surgery, and he’d been referred for physiotherapy, which he wanted to continue at our clinic. We successfully rehabbed him through the initial stages of the injury at our clinic. After a few weeks, he regained full range motion, and could partially bear weight on the affected leg.
In 5 months, the ligament had healed successfully but there were obvious deficits. We discovered that we needed to do more if we were to be useful beyond this stage of recovery. We needed more space, equipment, and an environment that reflected his occupation. Prior to the injury, the gym was his second home. Most of his lower body workouts were done in the gym, and it was the perfect environment for us to get him close to his previous fitness levels.
We designed a workout routine to build strength and endurance. Compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges were a key part of the process. We also incorporated task specific drills mimicking natural movement patterns required in football. In 2 months, he was back on the training pitch, and is now back to being an important part of the team in their pursuit for another championship.
