What is medical exercise?

Medical Exercise is the new modality to assist and facilitate safe and effective exercise programing for individuals with medical conditions. Medical Exercise clients must be released from Physical Therapy, with a Physician's approval, and or approval by Doctor of Chiropractic and or it has been one year since the onset of their condition. 

As a Medical Exercise Specialist, I use up to 62 different exercise programs and protocols to manage pain and improve the functionality for people’s lives. All exercise programs include cardiovascular exercise, strength training, and flexibility pertaining to the specific need of each client. 

Some of the Medical Exercise client’s I’ve worked with have had high blood pressure, partial and full knee replacements, hip replacements, hip impingement, multiple sclerosis, torn rotator cuff, shoulder impingement, ankle arthritis, low back pain, carpal tunnel, lateral epicondylitis, scoliosis, and knee arthritis. 

The BIG 5 chronic diseases in the US are:

1. Diabetes - 34 million Americans, costing 327 billion dollars (1)
2. Hypertension - 45% of Americans, only about 1 in 4 have condition under control (2)
3. Low Back Pain - leading cause of disability worldwide (3)
4. Osteoarthritis - affects over 32.5 million Americans (4)
5. Joint Replacements - during COVID it was estimated 30,000 primary and 3,000 revision hip and knee procedures were canceled each week. (5) It’s estimated that by 2030 the number of total knee replacements in the US will increase by 600% compared to 2005. (6)

All of these chronic conditions, with proper medical attention and assistance, can be managed with exercise.

How is this exercise helpful?

1. Structured, safe and effective exercise programing.
2. Emphasis on cardio, strength, balance, and flexibility.
3. Use of functional outcome measures through ingoing, intermittent, and outgoing assessments to determine effectiveness. For example, monitor blood pressure, bone density, range of motion, muscle length, function, cholesterol levels, pain scale, and resting heart rate.

What is the difference between corrective exercise and medical exercise? 

Corrective exercise focuses on muscular and postural imbalances whereas medical exercises focuses on medical conditions. For example, a corrective exercise program may emphasize stretching the calves and inner thighs while strengthening the glutes of a client whose knees bow inward while squatting. A medical exercise program will strengthen the muscles of the hips, quads, and glutes, bike, and stretch quads and hamstrings to support a client who has knee replacements.   

What is Medical Exercise NOT?

I do not provide any aspect of medical diagnosis or treatment. I work with individuals who are in a chronic management phase and it has been a year since the onset of their symptoms or are released from physical therapy and need to establish a new normal exercise routine. 

If you or someone you know fits the criteria for medical exercise, please feel free to contact Brie at [email protected]. 

Cited Articles:

1. https://www.diabetes.org/resources/statistics/cost-diabetes
2. https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/facts.htm
3. https://www.acatoday.org/Patients/What-is-Chiropractic/Back-Pain-Facts-and-Statistics/Back-Pain-Facts-and-Statistics
4. https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/basics/osteoarthritis.htm
5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32381441/
6. https://www.ucihealth.org/blog/2017/05/hip-knee-replacement