What is Exercise Prescription?
What is an exercise prescription?
Exercise prescription is a tool for improving health, fitness and function. The principle is based on ‘dose-response’. Like any medicine, the dose must be appropriate to the patient’s needs to deliver the desired response.
Patient health status and risks are assessed to understand their needs. From this information, appropriate recommendations are made specifically to the patient’s needs.
When making recommendations, the FITT principle can be applied. FITT is an acronym for ‘frequency, intensity, time and type.
As osteopathy is used to treat a range of musculoskeletal conditions. Exercise prescription is a critical component of patient treatment plans.
Exercise prescription at TMO
I use various tools besides palpation and visual observation to assess patient needs. These may include the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) and the Easy Angle.
These can be used to assess the musculoskeletal system and functional capacity. The most appropriate assessment is performed depending on the presenting complaint and functional needs.
Below is a video from Trinity College Dublin. The video’s a promotional tool for an online course called ‘Exercise Prescription for the Prevention and Treatment of Disease’.
The video outlines how the perception of exercise as a preventative and treatment tool has changed in recent years. This webpage includes the video as it provides insight into how exercise has been clinically studied and can be applied to different populations to deliver clinical outcomes.
I’ve included a link below if you want to consider accessing the course. You don’t need any previous experience or qualifications to access the course.
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/exercise-prescription
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