While working travel physical therapy jobs, you've likely learned the difference between activating and strengthening muscles. In fact, you can use activation exercises to strengthen muscles if a patient has lost mobility in due to injury or surgery. In other cases, you will need to use muscle activation workouts before you can focus on strengthening the problem zone. So, let's take a look at the difference between these two techniques and a few activities you may want to implement with patients.
Muscle activation
According to research published in The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, core exercises are a great way to improve muscle activation. This can help to improve a patient's stability and mobility as well as reduce their risk of future injury – all goals you look to achieve as a travel PT. Some of the specific exercises professionals from The Pennsylvania State University tested in this study included crunches and upper body extensions. However, there are plenty of other core workouts you may want to try out. You will only need to spend a few minutes with your patients on this part of their rehabilitation routines. Generally, one or two sets of 10 to 15 reps will do the trick.
Muscle strengthening
Depending on what part of the body you are working to strengthen, there are a variety of exercises to choose from when building muscle in PT patients. For instance, different areas of the arms will benefit from arm curls, chair dips or seated rows that are completed using a resistance band. However, the legs can benefit from toe stands, knee curls and leg raises. Or, you can take things a different route on travel therapy assignments with activities such as jumping rope and stair climbing. Generally, these are goals you will help your patients to work up to. These routines can help get those you are treating get back to their standard of living, and maybe even progress them further.
Through the rehabilitation process, you will want to track your patient's progress. Testing range of motion and asking questions about any pain being experienced are key to knowing whether or not his or her routine is effective. This will also give you some insight as to when the patient is ready to focus on muscle strengthening exercises. While you may have a rehab plan in mind, remember that every patient you treat on travel therapy jobs is different, so that schedule may require some altering.