Return to Weightlifting
As physical therapists, we play a key role in helping people return to their normal activity safely. Weightlifting means a lot of things to different people from Crossfit, powerlifting, Olympic lifting or daily lifting around the house or work. We have seen a big need to help people return to their level of desired lifting safely and confidently after an injury or a pain episode. Our staff brings a background of weightlifting, physical therapy and now we have certified providers in the Barbell Rehab Method (BRM) to help our clients successfully meet their lifting goals and not let pain prevent them from doing what they love. BRM is a program with advanced training on the key lifts of weightlifting: bench press, squats, dead lifts, lunges, rows and overhead press. It is intentionally designed to help professionals master a basic set of skills that can apply to all kinds of weightlifting.
We believe that return to weightlifting safely requires coordination between physical therapists who are experts in movement and injury management and fitness professionals who highly trained in performance. BRM is the perfect blend of these two professions as both are trained in the program and develop the same understanding of how to work with each other to help clients achieve their goals.
At Therapeutic Associates Oregon City Physical Therapy, we are offering both physical therapy and personal training services to help clients return to weightlifting successfully. If you don’t have pain, your entry point to the clinic may be with one of our personal trainers to work on your performance goals. If you do have pain, your entry point will be with one of our physical therapists who are BRM certified to help you return to weightlifting on your own or with one of our personal trainers.
Click to learn more about personal training services offered at Oregon City Physical Therapy.
Barbell Rehab Method Mission Statement
At Barbell Rehab, our mission is to unite fitness and rehab professionals to improve the management of clients with pain or discomfort. Far too often I see healthcare providers hesitate to refer their patients to a personal trainer after discharge in fear that they might “undo all of their progress.” On the other hand, fitness professionals may be hesitant to refer their clients to a healthcare provider in fear that they’ll be told to stop lifting. We want to offer a better solution. One where rehab and fitness pros work TOGETHER to help prevent overmedicalization and unnecessary surgeries.
Only 23% of adults in the United States meet the recommended physical activity guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO). One of the major barriers to strength training and physical activity in general is musculoskeletal pain. Many people falsely believe that the presence of pain warrants a discontinuation of the activity and opt to rest instead. While older treatment strategies for pain may have recommended complete rest, this simply is no longer the case. We now know that pain doesn’t always mean something is “damaged” or “wrong” with the body, and that movement and exercising is actually one of the best things we can do for it!
Here’s where Barbell Rehab comes in. In our live and online continuing education courses, we teach fitness and healthcare professionals how to coach and modify barbell exercises for clients with pain. These professionals, who range from personal trainers and strength coaches to physical therapists and athletic trainers, serve a pivotal role in their ability to promote strength training to the masses. By teaching these professionals how to make strength training exercises more comfortable for their clients, we believe we can make a great impact on keeping people exercising for life!
