Exercise is without a shadow of a doubt my most used treatment modality. There is a huge body of evidence supporting its use in a wide range musculoskeletal conditions.

Often it outperforms other forms of treatment including manual therapy, massage and surgery. Hence why I use it so much. Simply put, for the vast majority of the time the science recommends it.

I have personally used exercise as a way to get out of pain. I have equally seen hundreds, more likely thousands of people who have been helped by exercise. Whether it’s strengthening, stretching, or cardiovascular exercise, it is a very powerful tool to treat pain and getting people back on track.

What makes exercise so powerful though? More and more I am realising that the reasons why exercise works is way more complex than it first seems.

To explain its success, we might need to go beyond traditional thinking. The success of exercise often isn’t just down to the biological changes that most people know occurs when we exercise. There are a huge amount of other factors and variables at play.

I am going to release a series of blogs that take a look at the three of the main types of exercise :
• Strengthening
• Stretching
• Cardiovascular

The posts will look closely at how and why they help in musculoskeletal conditions. By understanding the real reasons exercise helps we can use exercise more effectively to improve pain. At the end of each of blog I will discuss what I recommend to my patients when using exercise to rehabilitate injuries or painful conditions.

Ultimately however it is always better to get checked out by a qualified practitioner and receive personalised advice on exercise. Check out my other blog: why physio to see why I strongly believe physiotherapists are best suited to this.

If you would like to see how physiotherapy can help you, don’t hesitate to get in contact we can normally get you in within the week and get you back on the right track.

Hope you enjoy the blogs.