Supervised Rehabilitation Using Exercise: The Role of a Personal Trainer

Although a Personal Trainer doesn’t diagnose or treat injuries, they have an important role in helping you prevent re-injury through their knowledge of exercise physiology and their ability to build a program of supervised rehabilitation using exercise.

You had your surgery, and powered through physical therapy. During rehab, you pushed yourself hard to get your shoulder as close to 100% before the surgery as possible. The doctor is happy with your progress so far. But your insurance was only willing to pay for 20 sessions, and you no longer have any left. Your Physical Therapist wrote you an at-home exercise program, including pictures and links to YouTube videos on the correct way to implement them. You’re at 85% of what you were before the surgery and the world is your oyster. Now it’s time to get back to 100%!

“Is this discomfort I’m feeling normal for this exercise, or is my old injury flaring up? The discharge papers say to work the ‘subscapularis’, but I still don’t quite understand what that is.”

This is where having the benefit of a Personal Trainer comes into play. Supervised rehabilitation using exercise is important to preventing re-injury. A Personal Trainer uses an individualized approach to assess clients. They educate them on health and provide a knowledgeable selection of exercises in a safe plane and range of motion.

Preventing Re-injury: Supervised Rehabilitation Using Exercise

Workout Supervision

Personal Trainers provide a vital role in preventing re-injury with education and supervision of exercise. There is as much a mental component to recovery as a physical.

Kinesiophobia (the fear of pain during movement of a specific body part) can hold many people back, and even stop someone from continuing to attempt returning to normal. Working with a Personal Trainer will give you peace of mind knowing that you’re being supervised by an expert in the field, making sure you’re using the correct motions and weights. A Personal Trainer can even help you with accessory muscles, further helping stabilization of the affected area and making it stronger to prevent re-injury.

Cross Training

Recovery from an injury is not a fun process. Rehabilitation exercises aren’t always comfortable and adhering to them alone isn’t easy. Having as Personal Trainer by your side can help make the process more manageable by introducing cross training.

As we mentioned before, accessory muscle training is very important to help stabilize the affected area. Your Personal Trainer can implement cross training exercises, changing up your exercise routine. This brings a new balance to your fitness routine, improving your overall level of conditioning. A runner recovering from an ankle surgery can benefit from movements cross training gives, such as lateral agility work that soccer or football players use to strengthen the overall ankle. A recovering back injury can benefit from core stability exercises and even upper back strengthening to help keep the spine aligned and proper posture.

A Personal Trainer understands how the body works, and how it’s all connected. You’d probably be surprised to learn how each part of your body affects another. For example, your hamstrings actually affect a large part of your upper body! A professional with that knowledge can reduce the time of your recovery from injury.

You don’t have to go it alone. We as Personal Trainers and the whole family here at New Milford Fitness & Aquatics Club have your back. We want to see you succeed and live a happy and comfortable life, be able to return fully to your sport or live your daily life without pain. Your success is our goal, and your goal is our success.