Physical therapy or Physiotherapy is a treatment method to help patients regain function and movement while also boosting healing and relieving pain. It can benefit persons of all ages who have medical conditions, illnesses, or injuries that make it difficult to function normally or may be utilized before or after surgery to regain function. Physiotherapy also promotes active and healthy lifestyle changes to improve overall health and well-being. Certain simple exercises use stretching and strengthening to promote painless movement. Even if you aren’t scheduled for surgery or aren’t recovering from an injury, incorporating stretching and strengthening exercises into your daily routine can help relax tense muscles, relieve minor aches, and make you feel better overall.
Stretching
The provision of various stretches for whatever area is causing concern has been the most common “do-at-home” intervention for patients.
Stretching can help to reduce pain, improve muscle contraction efficiency, and relieve tension in the nervous system.
Resistance Exercises
The next most common and the best exercise to do at home are resistance exercises that build strength, stamina, and endurance within the muscular system and in the heart and lungs.
Strength training has been shown to alleviate most musculoskeletal (MSK) pain.
Below are some easy stretching and strengthening exercises that you can perform to improve overall function, flexibility, endurance, performance and health.
Bridging
Using a bridge position, you activate your core and back musculature. Bridging is an excellent warm-up exercise. It improves spinal flexibility and allows your body to strengthen its core and abdominal muscles, improve balance, and can help to reduce knee, hip and back pain.
Chair squats
The squat exercise is arguably one of the most basic and primal movements required to improve sports performance, reduce injury risk, and promote lifelong physical activity.
When done correctly, the squat exercise boosts metabolism, protects against injuries, strengthens the core, and improves balance and posture. It recruits your gluteal muscles and core muscles and helps to strengthen them. But, it is important to remember that performing squats after specific knee injuries and operations might be harmful and may also be a contraindication. Consult your physiotherapist before performing the same.
Hip abduction
Hip abduction is the movement of your hip that causes your leg to move away from your body. The hip abductors are muscles that run from the thigh bone to the pelvis and support when walking, standing, or engaging in physical activity. Strengthening these muscles allows us to perform our daily tasks more easily. Regularly performing this exercise can help you avoid hip, knee, and low back pain and injury.
Bird dog exercise
This exercise is also known as the quadruped exercise. The bird dog is a simple home exercise that strengthens the spine musculature, provides stability, strengthens core muscles, and can aid in the relief of low back pain. It improves your core, hip, shoulder and back muscle strength. It also improves posture and flexibility. It is an excellent exercise for improving back stability, movement, and strength in the back and hip area.
Stationary Lunge
A good lunge exercise can help you build a stronger, more stable core. It is also considered a unilateral exercise, training one side of your body more than the other. This will assist you in achieving proper body balance and coordination. Lunges provide far superior stabilization benefits than other exercises like squats and deadlifts.
Knee Pushup
This exercise will benefit your health by strengthening your upper body muscles, increasing your metabolic rate, and improving cardiovascular fitness. When performed correctly, this exercise helps strengthen the lower back and abdomen.
Plank to Downward Dog
Downward Dog stretches your hamstrings and back while Plank works your upper body, abs, glutes, and legs. Dynamic core exercises, such as this one, have been shown to activate muscles more effectively than isolated exercises.
Child pose
Child pose provides a gradual and progressive stretch for your back, hips, knee and ankle musculature. It also helps stretch the upper back and your scapular musculature. This pose can help you with low back pain issues.
Cobra Stretch
Cobra Stretch, also known as Bhujanasana, is a great exercise if you suffer from low back pain during flexion on bending forward. This exercise promotes extension of your back. It works on your cervical musculature and opens your chest for better respiratory exchange.
Calf stretch
Tight calf muscles can lead to cramping and pain while walking or performing other functional activities. Calf stretches can improve flexibility and positively impact your gait cycle as you resume normal weight-bearing activities. You can perform these in various ways, including using the support of a wall or a chair or even on stairs!
You should perform the above exercises under supervision and discontinue if you elicit pain and discomfort. More often than not, the duration it will take to see improvement in your condition depends on your injury or pain and your commitment to performing the exercises. If your pain persists and interferes with your daily life, consult a physiotherapist for a more personalised exercise regimen.
Radian provides comprehensive online physical therapy services for various conditions and connects you to the best physiotherapists to ensure you get the best at-home treatment plan.
