The goal of any exercise program is to leave you feeling healthier and stronger than when you began. Therapeutic exercise has similar goals but incorporates a wide range of activities that help you regain or maintain your strength, flexibility, balance, endurance, or stability. Whether you have been injured, experienced an illness, or are simply noticing you are losing your physical abilities, therapeutic exercise can prevent impairment and disability while improving your overall fitness.
Each therapeutic exercise is classified by its purpose.
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Range of Motion
- Exercises aimed at increasing the range of motion in your joints and soft tissues. This may be done through active, passive or assisted stretching activities designed to help your joints move better, without pain.
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Muscle Performance
- Increasing power, endurance and muscle strength is vital to good balance and stability as well as bone and joint health. Resistance exercises and endurance exercises are designed to increase muscle strength without injury.
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Posture
- Hours spent at desks, bending over keyboards, poor muscle tone, can all lead to poor posture. Posture has a direct impact on muscle strength, balance and a tendency toward injury. Posture exercises correct poor posture which can alleviate aches and pains.
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Balance & Coordination
- Every time you stand or sit, bones and muscles work in conjunction with one another to help you remain upright. With every step, every movement, you are testing the coordination between the muscular and skeletal systems in your body. Balance and coordination exercises are important, especially after an injury or illness.
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Relaxation
- While it is important to work the muscles, joints, and soft tissues in the body, it is also important to help them relax. Pain relieving techniques including heat, cold, electrical stimulation, massage, or trigger point therapy can all help the body relax, improve your sleep, lower your blood pressure, and keep you moving.
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Area Specific Exercises
- It’s easy to think of exercise as something we do with our muscles, but it is also important to help the body’s other systems. In these cases, exercises that target breathing or circulation may be recommended to help speed healing, improve blood flow or lower stress on the body.
To schedule your appointment, contact Vineyard Complementary Medicine.