Millions of Americans have gym memberships, but that doesn’t mean millions of people are going to the gym multiple times a week. Even if you are one of those people that regularly get to the gym, there’s a chance that you’re not getting the most out of your workout routine for one reason or another. And while these gym memberships are less costly per visit than a physical therapy session, we want to use today’s blog to explain how a few sessions with a physical therapist can be more beneficial than a gym membership.
Choose PT Over A Gym Membership
Both physical therapy and doing a workout routine can help you become a healthier version of yourself, but here’s a look at some of the reasons why you may find more benefits in connecting with a physical therapist instead of investing in an annual gym membership.
- Expert Oversight – When working with a physical therapist, they’ll ensure that you’re doing the movements and exercises correctly. Moreover, they’ll teach you how to do them correctly so that you can continue your exercises at home or whenever you have a little spare time on your hands. You can get similar advice from a personal trainer at the gym, but that typically involves more out of pocket costs on top of your gym membership. You can have peace of mind knowing that you are doing your exercises correctly when you work with a physical therapist.
- Efficiency – How many times have you gone to the gym and gone through an inefficient workout because you were lacking motivation or the understanding of how to get the most out of your 45 minutes at the gym? Your physical therapist knows how to get the most out of you so that what you get done in a half hour is better than any routine you’d do at the gym given your current goals and limitations. Working with a physical therapist keeps you on task and ensures an efficient exercise program.
- Targeted Care – You may want to strengthen your arms or help improve your knee after a soft tissue injury, but you probably don’t know the best ways to target these areas. Sure, you can do a weight lifting routine or some resistance band exercises that hit these areas, but your physical therapist understands how to target specific structures, not just areas. We can help protect an injured meniscus or rehab a plantar fascia strain, or we can simply help you develop an arm care routine that hits all the important muscles so that one group doesn’t become overdeveloped compared to others.
- Sport-Specific Knowledge – Oftentimes high school and recreational athletes want to improve their sport performance, and they think the best way to do this is by hitting the gym. It’s a good start, but unless you really know what you’re doing, you may not be improving your game as much as you hoped. We work with athletes all the time and explain how different body systems impact their performance. For example, a pitcher doesn’t just need to improve their arm strength, they also need to develop their hips and their core. We can help you develop a sport-specific strengthening program, something you might have difficulty developing on your own at the gym.
- Cheaper – Yes, a single visit with a physical therapist will be more expensive than a one-month membership to a gym, but when you’re working with a physical therapist, you’re working with someone who wants to help you make the strongest functional gains and help you develop the skills you need to continue your targeted exercises on your own. Our goal is to wean you off of physical therapy by helping you hit your fitness goals and showing you how you can continue to become stronger on your own. Many of the exercises we give you can be performed on your own from home without access to special equipment. You may only need a few sessions with a PT to make more gains than you’d make in a year of unguided time at a gym.
So if you are working to overcome an injury or become a better athlete, don’t just assume that a gym membership is the way to go. Consider connecting with a specialist like a physical therapist to see faster results and get some expert insight into how you can continue to progress when you’re not at the clinic. For more information, reach out to the team at OrthoRehab Specialists today at (612) 339-2041.