Physical Therapy vs. Training

When you hear the words “Physical Therapy” what comes to mind?

Let me guess. Elastic band exercises, massage, e-stim, hot or ice pack. Am I right?

If you thought those things, its not your fault. Its what we’ve been conditioned to accept as physical therapy.

Believe it or not, physical therapy and training is the same thing with one real difference: Pain.

Put simply, physical therapy is training in the presence of pain. Obviously, pain can complicate things and create more doubt but in essence thats what it is.

Because of pain, we assess for things like mobility limitations, weaknesses, and movement faults, and restore those things.

But the most important thing is slowly, carefully, and deliberately training to get through the pain and build resilience so that you can come back better and stronger.

There is some more listening involved in physical therapy. Listening to your body, how it responds to the load/movement/treatment, and adjusting accordingly.

With the proper attention and framework, you should go from training with pain, I mean physical therapy, to training without pain and beyond.