Using Physical Therapy To Rebuild Strength

Starting to lose strength can feel stressful, especially as you’re getting older.

There are hundreds of little activities we do on a day to day basis, but what happens when they start to get more difficult?

Maybe you’ve been managing pain that limits your mobility, or you’re recovering from a recent surgery.

There are many causes for loss of strength, but you don’t have to worry about the loss being permanent.

Injuries are a common reason you may have lost strength recently, especially sports related injuries.

Here at Capitol Physical Therapy, we’re a sports performance physical therapy clinic that can help.

Surprised that physical therapy is a great way to start out building up strength?

Let’s talk about why it’s actually a great idea.

What Causes You To Lose Strength?

You may have noticed that you’re not as strong as you used to be.

Maybe you never quite recovered from that old ankle injury, or you’ve gradually noticed that lifting objects feels more and more difficult.

There are so many setbacks we can experience to our physical health.

We talked about a few of them above, but there are other health concerns that can decrease our strength as well.

Your dwindling strength could be linked to osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, increasing frailty, recovery from a surgery, or the aftermath of an accident or illness.

Sports related injuries, neural damage, and pain that causes you to move differently can also cause strength loss.

Maybe you’ve experienced a long term condition like chronic pain that led to some muscle waste.

Or perhaps you’re just feeling the effects of aging.

RELATED: Healthy Seniors Physical Therapy Near Me

Physical therapy can assist you in recovering your strength, in part or in full.

If your physical capacity has changed due to an injury, physical therapy can also help you build up the strength to compensate and work around it.

When To Use Physical Therapy Vs A Personal Trainer For Rebuilding Strength?

Any personal trainer will usually agree that you’ll want to make sure you’re medically cleared and healthy enough before you start your strength building journey.

Physical therapy is a safer place to start to slowly build yourself back up.

Yes, personal trainers can help you build strength, but they won’t have the expertise you guide you in your recovery from injuries or medical complications.

Personal trainers aren’t going to know about rehabilitative exercises, or exercises that are suited for conditions and injuries.

A personal trainer could accidentally push your body past its limits because they don’t have the experience in rehabilitation that a physical therapist would.

The exercises might even be similar, but your physical therapist has assessed if you’re ready for them before giving the suggestion.

Your physical therapist has more specific expertise, which will help you build up your strength slowly and healthily.

Physical Therapy Approaches For Rebuilding Strength

After giving you a thorough assessment and deciding where you’re at, your physical therapist will design routines based around your needs.

Whether you’re trying to build your strength to make your daily life easier or want to improve your athletic performance, we’ll be there for you every step of the way.

Here are just some of the ways physical therapy can help rebuild your strength.

1. Rebuilding Strength For Everyday Life

Your core strength is important, especially when it comes to preventing injuries.

If you’ve lost any of your core strength you may notice effects to your day to day functioning.

A physical therapist will assess how you can best strengthen your core by prescribing certain exercises.

This will help you with your posture, which will make most of your daily activities easier.

Core strength building can also help prevent pain when you’re walking and running, allowing you to improve your fitness even more.

2. Rebuilding Strength For Return To Athletics

If you’re an athlete who’s recently taken a bit of a break, you may want to have a physical therapist assist you in getting back on the court or field.

Physical therapists have all the keys to the joints and muscles to target for specific activities.

They can also help if you’ve had a recent injury, to make sure you gain back all of the strength you had before without reinjuring yourself.

3. Rebuilding Strength After An Injury

Even if you’re very careful, no one is immune to the occasional injury.

Whether from a repetitive strain injury, a car accident, or an injury related to falling, accidents happen.

Your physical therapist will not only help you get your strength back after your injury, but will target your exercises to help reduce risk of recurrence.

Muscles have a reaction that follows a pattern similar to a chain reaction – if one area is off, others will follow.

We’ll help you build things back up in a healthy way, making sure your muscles complement each other.

RELATED: Physical Therapy Injury Consultation In Washington DC

Book Your Appointment With Capitol Physical Therapy Today

If you’ve noticed certain areas of your body are weakening, it’s a good idea to work with a physical therapist as soon as possible.

We’re here to help you rebuild your strength, reducing your barriers to returning to your usual exercises and activities.

Don’t wait, book your appointment with Capitol Physical Therapy today to get started.