What Is Functional Training?
Whether it is recovery from surgery or an injury, your physical therapist may suggest or use functional training as a part of your recovery program. Functional training does just that; it trains your body to be functional. In other words, it supports your body in learning how to function in its daily activities.
For many of us, day-to-day activities come easily and normally. However, if your life has been interrupted by a stroke, accident, injury or surgery, it doesn’t take long to realize that the once easy, daily tasks that our bodies are capable of doing, can be taken for granted. For women, functional training is even beneficial in pregnancy.
A functional training program can look very different from one person to another. For example, if your job requires you to be at a desk all day on a computer, your functional training may include exercises that better adapt your body to perform the function of typing all day. If you are recovering from shoulder surgery, your functional training will include exercises that will help to retrain your shoulder and connecting muscles to perform basic functions such as reaching or grabbing.
Your program depends on your lifestyle and the movements your body is required to do. The type of exercises that your physical therapist may recommend will vary from person to person.
There are many benefits to functional training, including helping you to:
- Regain muscle strength
- Improve coordination and balance
- Reduce the risk of falling
- Make everyday tasks easier
- Rehabilitate after surgery or injury
- Improve overall quality of life
What is good for one person isn’t necessarily good for the other. Your chiropractor or physical therapist will create a functional training program tailored to you and your lifestyle based on your everyday activities. Whether it is to help retrain your muscles to do basic activities following injury, surgery or stroke or to help you have a healthy and strong pregnancy, functional training may be one part of your program recommended by your physical therapist. If you would like to find out more information about how physical therapy or chiropractic care can help you, contact us today.
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