Movement Prescription

We have all been there. You feel fatigued, runny nose, coughing. You're sick and need to see your primary medical doctor. The doctor takes a history, checks your vitals, and performs various exams to figure out what’s wrong. Finally towards the end of the visit, the doctor prescribes an antibiotic or other medication to help reduce your symptoms and make you feel better. Then you are instructed on how often to take the medication. If you're like most people, you understand that you need to take the prescribed medication a certain number of times per day or week so that you can feel healthy. So the question is, why aren’t we treating movement like any other prescription from a doctor? 

When a licensed movement specialist such as a chiropractor or physical therapist develops a treatment strategy for aches and pains, he or she will give patients a set of exercises to help reduce symptoms and help the patient back to doing what they love. While providers like us will demonstrate these exercises and have patients perform them in office, this is not the only time those exercises should be done! 

Movement exercises should be treated like a pharmaceutical prescription. One wouldn’t take a medication for one day and expect to be a 100% the following day. Physical rehabilitation exercises work the exact same way. If one does not regularly perform a given set of exercises, it becomes a longer and tougher process to heal. For example, according to a study on progressive resistance training it is recommended that 6-12 repetitions over 3-4 sets is necessary to build strength and resilience in muscle and tendons (Ratamess, 2009). 

In short, we need to start thinking of prescribed exercises like any prescription we receive. If we do not carry out the exercises, it limits the ability to get better quickly. By following a movement prescription, you can help take charge of your own health. If you know someone that needs a plan or movement prescription to start moving and living better, let us know!

Alec Domjan, DC

Works Cited

Ratamess NAAlvar BAEvetoch TKet al. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults: ACSM Position Stand. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009; 41(3):687–708