What Is Exercise Therapy and How Does It Help?

Fitness professionals can specialize in different types of exercise. Have you ever thought about using your exercise science knowledge to help clients recover from an injury? Or to help people with chronic conditions move and feel better? If so, you may want to consider specializing in exercise therapy. 

What Is Exercise Therapy?

Research defines exercise therapy as “movement prescribed to correct impairments, restore muscular and skeletal function and/or maintain a state of well-being.” (1) As such, this type of therapy can help nearly anyone. Can’t we all benefit from correcting our impairments? Wouldn’t it be great to have optimal musculoskeletal function? And who would be against a state of well-being?

Exercise offers all these benefits. This is true. That said, as a form of therapy, it is especially helpful for certain clients. One is a person who has sustained a sports injury. Or someone who has otherwise injured a muscle or joint. This therapy is also beneficial for individuals with a chronic condition. Examples include heart disease, diabetes, and more.

Exercise therapy involves using physical activity to reduce a person’s symptoms. It can also improve their function. It considers the person’s functional skills and limitations and works within them. With this therapy, clients can achieve their fitness goals. 

How Exercise Therapy Helps

Exercise therapy has two basic goals. The first is to prevent further dysfunction. Take a client with shoulder pain, for instance. The physical fitness program created by the therapist should not make the pain worse. It should also not cause any further damage to that area. 

The second goal of therapy is to improve or restore the client’s function. In some cases, the goal is simply to maintain it. Like with other exercise programs, this involves addressing different areas of fitness. A balanced exercise therapy program includes:

• Muscle strength exercises

• Muscular endurance exercises

• Cardiovascular or aerobic exercise

• Flexibility exercises

• Balance exercises

Exercise Therapy vs. Regular Exercise 

Exercise therapy sounds a lot like a typical physical exercise program. But it’s more than regular exercise. The key word to remember is ‘therapy.’ Therapy is used to rehabilitate. 

People engage in therapeutic activities to restore function after an injury. They also use therapy to overcome or manage a chronic condition. Exercise therapy aids in rehabilitation. It helps restore function.

Exercise Therapy vs. Other Types of Therapy

How does an exercise therapist compare to other rehabilitation therapists? The main difference is how they help the client. 

For instance, an occupational therapist helps with daily living activities. They also focus on building or restoring work-related functions. A physical therapist helps a patient recover from an accident, illness, or surgery. 

An exercise therapist helps clients with rehabilitation as well. One way they do this is by correcting movement dysfunction. They can also use exercise to reduce pain. Their ultimate goal is to improve physical fitness and movement.

Occupational therapy – focuses on activities of daily living and work

Physical therapy – focuses on illness, accident, and injury rehabilitation

Exercise therapy – corrects movement dysfunction to ease symptoms and pain

Who Can Benefit from Therapeutic Exercise 

Exercise therapy can be helpful for a variety of people. One relevant to fitness training is those with a sports injury. More than 3.6 million sports and recreational injuries occur each year. (2) Exercise therapy can help these individuals recover. With therapy, athletes can regain their strength. They can also rebuild their endurance. Certain exercises even assist with pain relief. 

Exercise therapy is also beneficial for people with chronic health conditions. This includes those with:

• Cardiorespiratory conditions, such as high blood pressure and heart disease

• Metabolic conditions, like diabetes and obesity

• Neurological conditions, such as brain injuries and epilepsy

• Orthopedic conditions, like low back pain, fibromyalgia, and arthritis

What Research Says About Exercise Therapy Effectiveness

So, exercise therapy aids in rehabilitation. But how well does it work? That’s what several researchers have attempted to discover. Their findings are positive.

One review looked at exercise therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). CFS involves continuous feelings of fatigue. It can also affect cognitive and immune system function. Eight trials were reviewed. Most involved aerobic exercise. One study used anaerobic exercise. Exercise therapy helped reduce feelings of fatigue. It may also improve physical function and sleep. (3)

Other research supports exercise therapy for chronic pain. Pain conditions include osteoarthritis, migraines, and rheumatoid arthritis. This type of therapy helps with pain management. In some cases, it reverses the pain cycle. It also reduces sedentary behavior, which can make pain worse. In the end, therapy improves both pain and function. (4)

Some studies have looked at specific types of pain exercise therapy that may help. A 2021 study found this type of therapy helpful for low back pain. (5) A 2019 study found it helpful for people with knee and hip osteoarthritis. (6) This gives a therapist many opportunities to help their clients.

How to Become an Exercise Therapist

Maybe your interest in exercise therapy is less about helping yourself. Instead, you want to help others. Earning your certification as an exercise therapist can prepare you for this role. 

In a certification course, you learn:

• Fundamental principles of therapeutic exercise

• Adaptive programming principles and techniques

• Proper application of functional fitness exercises

• How to design an exercise program for clients with chronic conditions

• The scope of practice for an exercise therapy specialist

Developing a basic understanding of exercise physiology is critical. You then build on this by learning which exercises work best. You understand when to focus on strength and when endurance exercise may be better. You also learn how to prescribe posture exercises. Or when to add muscle performance exercises to the plan.

Depending on your career goals, you may decide to only offer exercise therapy. Or you could provide therapeutic exercise as an add-on service. Either way, your clients enjoy the benefits of exercise therapy. And you can specialize in an area that you’re passionate about. 

You may even decide to continue your education. One option is to become an exercise physiologist. This role also helps people with chronic conditions. But it generally requires a bachelor's degree. That makes it a good option if you want to further your career path.

Ready to get started? ISSA offers an online Exercise Therapist certification course. This course includes a comprehensive textbook and study guides. You also gain access to an online exercise lab and more. You even receive a free professional website. Now you can connect with exercise therapy clients immediately after getting certified!

References

1. Bielecki, J. E., & Tadi, P. (2023, July 3). Therapeutic Exercise. StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf. https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK555914/

2. Sports and Recreational Injuries - Injury Facts. (2023, September 5). Injury Facts. https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/sports-and-recreational-injuries/

3. Larun L, Brurberg KG, Odgaard-Jensen J, Price JR. Exercise therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2019, Issue 10. Art. No.: CD003200. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD003200.pub8. Accessed 24 May 2024.

4. Borisovskaya, A., Chmelik, E., Karnik, A. (2020). Exercise and Chronic Pain. In: Xiao, J. (eds) Physical Exercise for Human Health. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1228. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1792-1_16

5. Hayden JA, Ellis J, Ogilvie R, Malmivaara A, van Tulder MW. Exercise therapy for chronic low back pain. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2021, Issue 9. Art. No.: CD009790. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009790.pub2. Accessed 24 May 2024.

6. Goh, S., Persson, M. S., Stocks, J., Hou, Y., Lin, J., Hall, M. C., Doherty, M., & Zhang, W. (2019). Efficacy and potential determinants of exercise therapy in knee and hip osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, 62(5), 356–365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rehab.2019.04.006