Therapeutic Exercise

DeLateur defined therapeutic exercise as bodily movement prescribed to correct an impairment, improve musculoskeletal function, or maintain a state of well-being.^[1] It may vary from highly selected activities restricted to specific muscles or parts of the body, to general and vigorous activities that can return a convalescing patient to the peak of physical condition. Therapeutic exercise seeks to accomplish the following goals:

• Enable ambulation
• Release contracted muscles, tendons, and fascia
• Mobilize joints
• Improve circulation
• Improve respiratory capacity
• Improve coordination
• Reduce rigidity
• Improve balance
• Promote relaxation
• Improve muscle strength and, if possible, achieve and maintain maximal voluntary contractile force (MVC)
• Improve exercise performance and functional capacity (endurance)

The last 2 goals mirror an individual's overall physical fitness, a state characterized by good muscle strength combined with good endurance. No matter which types of exercise may be needed initially and are applied to remedy a patient's specific condition, the final goal of rehabilitation is to achieve, whenever possible, an optimal level of physical fitness by the end of the treatment regimen.

Types of therapeutic exercise

Therapeutic exercises aimed at achieving and maintaining physical fitness fall into the following major categories:

• Endurance training
• Resistance training
• Flexibility training

Patient education