Is fitness exercise the same as physiotherapeutic exercise?

By José Luis Tabueña
Physiotherapist

Let’s solve the doubts from the beginning: fitness exercise is not the same as physiotherapeutic exercise.

Professionals who work in the area of fitness are highly qualified people who work with physical activity and physical exercise as a type of physical activity that consists of planned, structured and repetitive body movements made to improve or maintain one or more components of physical fitness—elements such as strength, endurance, etc.

But Therapeutic Exercise is performed only by the physical therapist. It consists of the prescription of a physical activity program that involves the patient in the voluntary task of completing a muscle contraction and/or body movement.

Unlike exercise performed in fitness, the primary goal is to relieve symptoms, increase function or improve, maintain or slow the deterioration of health.

In physical therapy, therapeutic exercise is used as a first choice tool for the treatment of specific chronic and acute pathologies.

When there is some dysfunction or injury, on the way from the injury to being recovered with basic physical health without dysfunction, the weight of the treatment and the exercise is guided by the physiotherapist. This professional works in everything that has to do with your injury, time or type of exercise, among others.
The physical trainer (or personal trainer) will also have a role, but in a less present way than from the moment, the patient has already recovered from the injury. Then he will be the protagonist. But they are always continuing with the help of the physical therapist.