Our muscles play a key role in supporting our bodies and allowing our movement, and keeping them in good shape is important especially after experiencing injury or strain. Learn more about the strengthening exercises that physio clinics utilise for patients in Singapore, and how they can benefit your health.
Why are strengthening exercises important?
At its core, physiotherapy is designed to help restore movement and function for patients affected by injury, pain, illness, or disability. As part of their toolkit, physical therapists in Singapore utilise manual therapy, education, as well as strengthening exercises to facilitate patients’ recovery and maintain their health as they go about their daily lives.
Strengthening exercises are designed to increase muscle strength, power, and endurance by making them work harder than usual and increasing lean muscle mass. With people naturally losing muscle mass due to ageing or atrophy as a result of injury or lack of physical activity, physio clinics in Singapore help patients to maintain one’s quality of life while engaging in daily tasks. These can range from doing general errands, maintaining a proper posture, or enjoying an active lifestyle once more following proper recovery. They also help to increase one’s metabolic rate, facilitating weight loss or weight maintenance plans as well.
Strengthening exercises conducted by physical therapists are particularly beneficial for elderly patients in Singapore, helping to build up both their muscle strength and muscle mass while preserving bone density and helping to reduce the risk of osteoporosis. One of the most important benefits of strengthening exercises is to reduce the risk of injury through allowing muscles to better support joints. This is particularly essential for athletes recovering from sports injuries, as their injured muscles will require time to build up their strength to eventually ease back into their original level of training and avoid further injury or recurrence.
In addition, strengthening exercises allow patients to take charge of their own improvement outside of therapy sessions, through following a daily routine of exercises as prescribed by their physical therapist. Generally, Singaporean patients who dutifully carry out their exercises see a marked improvement in health and achieve their recovery goals, as compared to those who only go for manual therapy or are less motivated to maintain their exercise routine.
What are some kinds of strengthening exercises?
Physical therapists will prescribe and train patients in Singapore with a variety of strengthening exercises, taking into account their presented condition, existing strength and fitness, as well as overall health. Some types of exercises include:
- Utilising weight machines or free weights that target specific or combined muscle groups
- Using resistance bands for versatile exercises and convenient exercise at home
- Using your own body weight for resistance, such as push-ups, pull-ups, crunches, and sit-ups
When planning out a prescribed exercise program and training, physical therapists in Singapore consider frequency of exercises, intensity of exercise, duration of exercise, as well as type of exercise (focusing on endurance, strength, flexibility, or a combination of them). This allows them to plan out achievable fitness outcomes without compromising the health of patients and avoiding overstraining.
While getting used to one’s strengthening routine may be challenging at first, it often gets easier over time with increased strength and muscle memory. It can be tempting to call it quits, but strengthening exercises are only effective when muscles are loaded appropriately, allowing you to improve and take that step closer towards your recovery goals.
With multiple physiotherapy clinics in Singapore, Edge Healthcare provides comprehensive and holistic treatment for our clients. Visit our website to find out more about our rates and services.