Darwin Health

Learning about physical therapy can be beneficial to anyone, not just those who have suffered an injury or are suffering from a long-term disability. At physical therapy’s heart is an understanding of the body as a whole, how one structure effects another and how to make sure the benefits you derive improve your whole self, not just your injured leg or arm or what-have-you.

The best way to learn about physical therapy, then, is to go to a physical therapist. Many of them are covered by the typical health insurance plan, and their job is not only to train you physically but to educate you about the risks and rewards of improved nutrition and diet, exercise and sleep cycles.

My cousin is actually a physical therapist who runs a program for overweight seniors designed to combat not only their waistlines, but the other negative health side effects that come from carrying too much weight. This means everything from diabetes and heart disease to various forms of arthritis and tendonitis brought about by repetitive stress and the constant pounding your joints take from carrying the extra pounds. He begins by putting them on a moderate, low-impact exercise regimen that includes walking for thirty minutes a day, stretching and crunches if they are able.

Walking is the most important part because it does three things: it raises your heart rate, it burns calories and it builds muscle. Raising the heart rate is the most important of the three, because good cardiovascular health is the best way to ensure a long life, and obese people tend to have the worst cardiovascular health of any group except smokers.

The benefits of burning calories is self-explanatory. Obese people take in more calories than they can use, and those excess calories are turned into and stored as fat. If the goal is to prevent these folks from getting fatter, burning the calories they take in is an important step.

The third step, building muscle, is important for several reasons. First, the muscles you do have burn calories naturally, and at a higher rate than any other body tissue. The more muscles you have the more calories you’ll burn even when sedentary. Secondly, it’s muscles stabilize your joints, taking less pressure off of them and making you less suceptible to degradation of the knees, hips, ankles, elbows, shoulders and wrists.

The next part you should know about physical therapy is to improve your diet. Eliminate fats and processed foods and add fresh fruits, vegetables and lean proteins like chicken and fish when and where you can.